Defunct electronics values in growing marketplace

NEW YORK

Got a drawer full of old cell phones and defunct iPods? A 15-year-old computer monitor in the basement? There’s a growing list of companies happy to take such junk.

Gazelle.com and YouRenew.com will even give you cash for some aging electronics, a process Gazelle.com calls “ReCommerce.” Recycling firms like GreenCitizen.com will take gadgets for free or for a fee — depending what they can reuse. And many consumer electronics companies, including Best Buy and Apple Inc., have recycling programs. Some charities also take some cell phones and computers and resell or refurbish them.

Just remember, before turning in any electronics, especially an old cell phone or computer, delete all your contacts and other personal files.

“There’s a bigger marketplace for recycled equipment, particularly for consumer electronics,” than even a year ago, says Dudley Blossom, chairman of the marketing department at LIM College, a fashion and retailing school in Manhattan.

Here’s how it can work for you.

Take stock

Start by assessing what gadgets you want to get rid of and researching online what they’re worth. The prices sellers are getting on eBay.com or Glyde.com can offer a pretty solid hint of a gadget’s worth. Or try the calculators at Best Buy’s Web site, http://www.bestbuytradein.com/bb/calculators.cfm, or at YouRenew.com or Gazelle.com (which both pay for your shipping). ReCellular, which will give you cash for your old cell phone or recycle it, also has a calculator.

David-Michel Davies, editorial director of Netted.net, a daily online newsletter about mobile applications, services and Web sites, advises shopping around because prices vary widely.

But brace yourself. The Associated Press found that a two-year-old Hewlett Packard desktop hard drive (with an Intel Core Duo processor) was worth $67 in good condition at Gazelle.com. An iPod Shuffle with two gigabytes of memory in poor condition had a trade-in value of $4 at Gazelle.com or $3 at YouRenew.com. And a Juke cell phone from Samsung with water damage had no value on either site, though it would net $7 in good condition.

Donate for a write-off

Cell phones — working or not — are accepted by such organizations as hopephones.org and cellphonesforsoldiers.com. Hopephones.org sends the gadgets to its recycling partner called The Wireless Source, which either refurbishes, reuses or fully recycles them. The group uses the credit it receives from Wireless Source to buy more cell phones that it gives to health care workers around the world. Cellphonesforsoldiers.com sells the phones it receives to a recycler and uses the proceeds to buy calling cards for members of the military.

To unload a computer, check out reconnect partnership.com, an alliance between Dell Inc. and Goodwill Industries International that accepts computers and related accessories in any condition. You can drop things off for free at any participating Goodwill, but check ahead whether your items require extra preparation.