Make money: recycle gadgets you don’t need anymore
If you have a collection of old and unused electronic bits mouldering in your drawer, get them out now and make the money you deserve when you recycle gadgets.
It’s possible to recycle old gadgets quickly and easily from the comfort of your sofa – and get paid to do it!
Read on to find out how Recycling Old Gadgets can make you money
- Recycle gadgets: mobile phone recycling
- Recycle gadgets: exchange printer cartridges for cash
- Recycle gadgets: cash for your other gadgets
- Recycle gadgets: sell your CDs, DVDs, books and games
recycle gadgets: Mobile phone recycling
Make anything from £5-350 for your old, battered phone.
Did you know there are over 80 million mobiles in the UK just lying around doing nothing?
So if you’ve got a few languishing in a drawer or under your bed, now is the time to use them to make yourself some money!
Get the best deal for your phone
Of course, with so many companies out there offering cash for your phone, you need to make sure the one you choose is legitimate and will give you the best service.
Use our comparison tool and find out who can offer you the best deal for your phone.
how to use the MoneyMagpie mobile phone recycler
Step 1
Type the make and model of your phone into the search bar and our clever little tool will tell you which recycling site will give you the most money for it – simple.
step 2
Click on your chosen price and you’ll be taken to their website to complete the process.
The amount you could get varies hugely depending on the model of your phone. For a newer model of smartphone like an iPhone or HTC you could be looking to get up to £350, but even a really, really old phone that doesn’t work anymore can make you £10.
Step 3
The site will ask you to fill in a few details about your phone – what condition it’s in and what the IMEI number is.
Remember! Most sites will still pay you for your phone even if it is broken. You won’t get as much as you would for a working phone, but often you’ll get up to 80% of the value.
Step 3
After that all you’ll need to do is fill in some personal details and confirm everything. You’ll then be given an order number and receive a confirmation email to tell you what to do next.
Most companies will send you a bag or packet to use when posting your phone so at this point you’ll just need to wait to receive it.
Step 4
When you receive your packet, enclose your phone and any other information the company has asked for and post it. All the companies have freepost addresses so postage won’t cost you a penny.
Step 5
Wait for your money! As long as the phone is not stolen and is in the condition you described, you should receive your money within a week to ten days.
What is an IMEI number?
This is the serial number of your phone and can usually be found on the back plate of the phone under the battery – it will start with either 35 or 01.
Recycle gadgets: printer cartridges
This is a quick way to make a small amount of cash out of something you would normally jut chuck out.
An estimated 57 million printer cartridges end up in landfill every year. Do your bit by recycling and make quick cash while you’re at it!
Cash for Cartridges will pay up to £4.50 for your old ink cartridges. Once you’ve set up a free account on their website you can post old cartridges to them for free. The drawback here is that they only pay out when your account reaches £25, so if you don’t use loads of ink it may take you a little while to see your money.
They accept both virgin (those that haven’t been refilled) and non-virgin cartridges from Dell, Canon, HP and Lexmark as well as a few other smaller brands.
Remember! You’ll always get more money for virgin cartridges, so if you have non-virgin ones a refill might work out better value than recycling.
What if you have a laser toner cartridge? There aren’t many companies who accept laser toner cartridges because they’re bigger and more expensive to recycle, but if you do have some empty ones that you need taking off your hands we’ve found Empty Cartridge Recycling – who are happy to pay you for them.
Not quite cash, but Tesco will give you 100 green clubcard points for every inkjet cartridge you recycle – handy if you do your weekly shop there.
Alternatively, you can simply save yourself some money by getting your old cartridge refilled. Companies like Cartridge World will happily refill your old cartridges in store, and it costs less than half the price of a new cartridge. So you’re still doing your bit for the environment and saving a packet at the same time.
recycle gadgets: Cash for your other gadgets
Happily it’s not just old phones and ink cartridges you can recycle – as we place more and more importance on recycling and reducing landfill some companies have started offering to recycle just about any old gadget and electrical item you can think of.
For laptops, ipads, digital cameras, desktop PCs and more, try Cashinyourgadgets.co.uk. Admittedly you could get more money by selling them on eBay but if you need the money now, this site is easy to use and will give you money quickly.
Cash in on old CDs, DVDs, books and computer games
A nice, easy way to get pretty much instant cash for these is to download the Ziffit app which enables you to scan the barcodes of your items to see how much you could get. If you’re happy with the price offered then you just need to pack your items (they can all go in the same box) and you can then either drop it off at one of their Collect+Stores or use their free courier service.
I have an Epson-ET 2850 brand new unused with 27 unopened ink cartridges to sell.
I would like to sell my Cannon Printer
Hello. Can I sell my HP printer?
Do you buy Hoover’s please
MoneyMagpie doesn’t buy or sell directly, but you can sell your hoovers on our Marketplace – https://marketplace.moneymagpie.com/
I HAVE 2 LEXMARK EMPTY INK CARTRIDGES THAT I WOULD LIKE TO RE-CYCYLE FOR CLUB CARD REWARDS OR CLUB CARD VOUCHERS WHERE CAN I SEND THE CARTRIDGES TOO.??
Hi I have a Haden filter coffee maker 10087, a Phillips battery ladyshave and an Epson D78 empyty cartridge and 3 compatible empty cartridges. Don’t want them to go to land fill any ideas where I can send these for recycling?