Recycle Old Mobiles: No hassle way to earn up to $150 for unused handsets

Is your old mobile phone made from hidden treasure? Each year, networks commonly offer to upgrade phones meaning an estimated 80 million old ones sit in dark, dank parts of US homes. This is a step-by-step guide to recycling mobiles for cash, including a full comparison of the top 'old-mobile buying’ companies, which pay up to $150 per handset.

STOP PRESS 10 Feb 09. Top payer Love2recycle is offering an extra $5 on all working phones when you enter a special code. See below for more details.

How 'old mobile buying' companies work

These are specialist, super-speedy, mainly web based companies, which will take an old phone and give you cash. You go to their websites, tell them what the mobile model is and they'll tell you the price they'll pay. If you accept they send you a jiffy bag to post it in. Better still, they pay much more than the ‘trade-in’ discount you receive when handing in your phone to a high street retailer.

What type of phones do they want?

Sadly, digging a mobile out of the wardrobe isn't a guarantee of decent cash...

Your phone needs to be in decent working condition, have no more than mild cosmetic damage, the original battery and be able to be switched on.

Companies won't pay a decent whack for all phones so if it's old or rare, a bigger hunt's needed to find one that'll accept it. If your phone's only slightly under the weather, check how much you'd get for a fully working model.

Often all it takes is replacing the battery, so it may be worth doing that yourself to get the decent sales value. You don't usually need to provide the charger but most will recycle it properly for you (though you could keep it as a spare or flog it on eBay).

How do they operate?

They give you a price and, if you accept it, they'll usually send a jiffy bag for the phone, which you can return freepost. Yet they don't accept responsibility for non-delivery so, depending on the value of the phone, it's worth considering sending it by ‘Recorded Signed-For' delivery, which insures it for up to $36 and costs around 72p on top of the usual postage.

Send the phone charged, switched off, without the Sim or memory card and remove any security or pin codes that'll hamper its testing. To do this, just opt for ‘reset factory settings’ on your phone’s menu. Plus don't forget to wipe off any private data.

If it isn't up to scratch (usually only 20% of phones are rejected) you'll generally be contacted and offered a reduced price, which you can accept or have the phone returned free of charge.

The Environmental Bit: Where do old phones go?

Getting rid of your old phone isn’t just about de-cluttering though. There are potentially noxious substances in decaying phones. It's reckoned cadmium batteries can infect the water system and lead, brominated flame retardants and beryllium could harm the environment if incorrectly disposed of, so even if no one will give you cash for it, don't throw your old phone out with the rubbish.

What happens to the phones?

Once they’re tested, if the phones are decent, they’re shipped abroad and flogged. For example Envirofone sells phones in the Middle and Far East, Africa and South America.

The one thing to be aware of is, if it’s a particularly high value phone, there's a chance these companies will sell it on eBay* to get the most money. Therefore if you find your phone is high value, you may want to consider doing that yourself and cutting out the middle man (see eBay Selling guide).

If your phone is of a lower class then it'll be broken down and sold as component parts. And if it’s totally worthless, these companies will dispose of it in an environmentally friendly way.

The top 'old phone buying' companies

While born just a few years ago, the industry's blossomed and now there are scores of competitors. Yet beware; many are simply "white-labels", which means while they look like a new company, they are just a commercial deal to rebrand an existing site, so it looks like the new company offers the service itself.

You can even hand in your old phone for Nectar or Boots points or hotel vouchers, but you tend to get a much lower value than pure cash.

Try at least three companies, it'll only take a minute or so to do each.

Just to prove the point...in one comparison where two companies said one old phone was worthless, a third was prepared to pay $20. For another phone the amounts varied between $25 and $75. So don’t give up too soon.

BEST BUYERS: For phones in good condition

Having reviewed the main companies the following are consistently the best payers...

    * Love2recycle. Top for almost all phones. New company but strong backing.

      New company Love2Recycle* came out top cash payer for almost all phone comparisons. It's a new site, so there's little feedback, but it is backed by large comparison site Moneysupermarket, so should be fine.

    * Mopay. High payer if you want M&S vouchers

      Long term company Mopay* usually offers 10% more in M&S vouchers than it does in cash, so if you want these vouchers it can be a good deal.

    * Envirofone. Strong feedback and consistent payer

      One of the original companies, Envirofone* has a history of good prices and tends to pay out more for higher spec phones. It also donates $1 to charity every time you recycle a phone and has strong feedback.

    * Best of the rest

      If you've time, or not had a good result, then there are other companies to try, each with varying payouts and levels of reliability including Mazuma*, Fonebank*, Mobile2cash, Mobilephonebuyer, Mobilephonexchange*, Banana Green and Money4urmobile.


Please report your experience

If a company offers you a great price but doesn't deliver, it's pointless. So please feedback bad and good experiences in the mobile recycling discussion.

Get extra cashback on top

If you're planning to sign up for one of these companies, you may be able to get a further $10 to $40 on top if you do it via a cashback site. Though do ensure you still check a few of the recycling sites to see which will give you the most, first.

For existing cashback site users, simply using the Cashback Sites Maximiser to see which will pay you most, though if you're new to the concept then first read The Top Cashback Sites guide for a full explanation.

BEST BUYERS: For damaged phones

Most providers will look at non-working phones, offering a reduced price for these (expect to get around 10-50% of the working price) or at the very least will re-cycle them for you.

Typical examples of damage which might mean you'll get less whack include: badly damaged casing, pin locked, or if it does not power up. Phones that are water damaged, physically broken or have unresponsive or cracked screens will probably get zero cash. Make sure you click the 'damaged' box when searching for the best quote.

Alternatively Greener Solutions (which also runs Mobile2cash) works in partnership with Tesco and offers 50 Clubcard points (worth $2 in Tesco Clubcard Deals vouchers - see the Boost Your Loyalty Points guide for how to maximise these) for non-working phones or donates 50p to Tesco's current nominated charity.

It has an online mobile recycling service but non-working phones can only be exchanged for points by picking up a bag in-store, which are usually available from Tesco customer services.

Other options to cash in your phone

Phone-buyers aren't the only option and, whilst they're by far the least hassle, with a bit of effort you make make even more cash.

* Ebay or car boot

      The most profitable way to ditch your old mobile is DIY. There's a thriving old phones market on eBay*, earning you on average 20–30% more than the best ‘phone-buyer' sites. It's up to you to balance the extra cash with the extra hassle though and, of course, there are no guarantees of a sale.

      The best thing to do is go to eBay and search for a phone identical to yours and preferably in similar condition; then just check what price they’re going for. This should give you a rough indication of whether it’s worth considering. For more info read the eBay Selling Tricks guide.

* Sell it to a friend

      If you don't want to give it to a friend, selling it can be mutually beneficial, both earning you more and costing them less than doing it commercially. The difficulty is deciding on a price without ruining the friendship.

      My easy formula is, take the best price from the ‘phone-buyer' companies and add 10%. If there's a dispute, simply show them this guide, proving it's an unbiased parties' assessment.

* Re-use it

      Just because the phone no longer has the package you want, it doesn't mean you need a new phone. Most phones can be legally and freely unlocked to work on any network (see the Unlock Your Mobile guide).

      This also means it can be used as an alternative handset for things, such as becoming a texting-only-mobile, using Sim cards offering cheaper texts, as a phone for your children or specially to use abroad (see Mobile Phone Cost Cutting and Cheapest Roaming Mobile guides).

* What about the charity option?

      Many people see ‘we’ll collect your old mobile for charity deals’ and think woo hoo; yet I’m not a fan. This isn’t due to a philosophical objection to giving to charity, but more because this simply isn’t an efficient way to do it for mid to high value phones (it's not bad for lower value ones).

      These schemes work by simply giving the charity a cut of the cash you would’ve received; yet if you sell it, you get more than the charity does. So to maximise your donation, sell it yourself, then donate the cash to the charity; which means not only does the charity get more cash, but because of the ‘Gift Aid’ scheme (see the Boost Charity Donations guide) it can reclaim your tax too, which is an extra 28%.

* Trade in low value phones

      If you’re trying to get a new phone, and the recycling companies aren’t willing to give you much for your old one, you could try and trade it in with the company you’re buying a new one from (this mainly applies to high street retailers).

      Car Phone Warehouse, for example, offers $100 on old phones...but this comes with some hefty conditions. It’s only available on new o2, Orange and T-Mobile contracts that cost over $30/month and tie you in for 18 months. Don’t choose a phone on this basis but if you do fall into this category, it’s worth a look. For info on how to get the best mobile tariff read Mobile Phone Cost Cutting.

Size Of The Saving

What you can earn

 

 

Email to a friend