Categories: TECHNOLOGY

Make Money Off Your Old Cell Phone

For many people, getting a new cell phone is something that happens rather frequently. In fact, for some, having the latest cell phone model is as necessary as having a computer and a printer.

Cell phone companies and plan carriers have zeroed on this want and have focused efforts on constantly creating new fad style phones. In addition, many cell phone companies offer their customers the opportunity to upgrade their phones every couple of years. Sometimes the upgrade ends up being a free phone. In other cases, however, the consumer is left spending an extra $100 or more on a new phone (even though their old phone may have still been working).

As a result, this sort of relationship has created a major waste by consumers and the phone companies facilitating this waste. This has spawned a whole other niche business in the way of companies willing to buy back people’s old cell phones for cash or credit.

The phones are then reused which means they are put to good use even though the whole problem of people constantly wanting more in the way of technological gadgets is not really being fixed.

Companies such as cellforcash.com or sellyouroldcellphone.com will pay people back between $2 and $200 for their old phones – as long as those phones are still working.

The phones are then refurbished, repackaged and sold in India or Latin America.

Generally speaking, you will have a good chance of reselling your phone if it is no more than four years old. Obviously, the newer the model, the more money you will get for it.

When deciding who to go to for the resale of your cell phone, shop around. Sites such as cellforcash.com will match their competitor’s offering price, which makes it even more important that you would want to comparison shop to get the most for your money.

Other companies will give people credit for their old cell phones. Sites such as RIPMobile.com gives people gift certificates to places such as Circuit City or Starbucks in exchange for old cell phones.

In other cases, such as that of Sprint Nextel customers, Sprint gives its customers (at sprintbuyback.com) a credit to their cell phone plan account.

The entire process from selling the cell to getting your money, takes about a month. You can print postage paid labels directly online and even have some companies mail you a postage paid box.

The only catch (as if these are really catches), is that the phones you are trying to sell have to work. You will be required to make a test call and all of the features have to work as well. In addition, some companies take off dollar amounts for imperfections in the phones’ physical appearance (let’s say if someone dropped their phone several times).

If you do end up selling your old cell phone, make sure that you cancel your service and delete all of your personal information stored in the phone. Also, if you want to learn how to delete the memory of your phone, go to wirelessrecycling.com for some tips.

If you are one of those people who likes to constantly upgrade cell phones, then reselling your phone, might be a good idea – especially considering the phones are recycled. Plus, you make a little cash which could be reinvested in your new phone.