You can hand down your phone to a person or company that can use it or recycle it. Here’s how.
If you are like me you have at least 5 old cell phones rattling around in the drawer. I was waiting for peak junk to happen but so far… it never did. Now am aching to let my old electronic devices go and I know that parts of them, maybe all of some could be put to good use. In one the screen is burnt out, in the other it’s a battery.
A couple of them I’d already purchased refurbished, so these ones are already treading a little lighter on our planet. But did you know that there are companies that will buy your old cell phones? So before you give them to the toddler to explore in the sand box, consider the company SellCell. They’ve been in the business of cell phone recycling since 2008, and have saved millions of phones from landfill.
But sending away your beloved for some cash in hand requires a little bit of work before you package it up. These are the tips for SellCell which takes back any kind of cellular device, and other electronics including tablets.
To ensure you get the best buyback price, when recycling Apple products and other smartphone devices, have your electronics ready in top shape. Some simple and basic things before recycling your cell phone include the following 5 tips:
- Clean your phone. If you have the fine microfibre cloths, give it a on over making sure not to scratch the screen. You don’t want to send in a grimy phone, so polish off the handprints and croissant crumbs.
- Back-up your device. With an iPhone it’s always good to keep a cooly on the iCloud, and with Android, sync with Google storage or backup to a new hard drive that you can store in your attic. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. So make sure you have a copy of baby’s first steps or the first day he said I love you.
- Give your phone a reset. When it arrives to the new buyer it should be ready to roll. The receiver will turn on the phone to see its working shape. If you have already reset it to factory settings you are already increasing the value of your phone. For Android or IPhone go to the “Settings” menu and look for Reset or Reset to Factory Settings.
- You won’t believe it when we say it but remove the SIM and external memory card if there is one. You don’t want to be paying cell phone charges from Hawaii.
- Take photos for insurance. To protect your property that you are about to sell, make sure you take a picture of your old device. We want it to be in the same condition that it left your house when it arrives to its new owner or recycler. Use your new phone or borrow one at the time and take a short video. Just in case.
