I have a secret. I’m something of a pack rat. 🙁 There – I said it.
My “pack rattiness” includes my tendency to hang on to old electronics, even those that don’t work. I currently have a few old cell phones and two dead laptops in a cabinet drawer right now. I just don’t have the heart to throw old electronics away, since I pay so much for them in the first place and it just seems so wasteful.
While doing a little cleaning out and rearranging the other day, I realized that it was time to get rid of some of this junk. I don’t really want to just trash them, so I did some looking around and weighed my options. First, I considered dropping them off at a recycling center, but I’d like to try and get some cash out of them. I really didn’t want to bother with Craigslist or eBay, though.
Then, I stumbled on eCycle Best, which looks promising. eCycle Best is an online company that has been around since 2002. It looks as though they are dedicated to the ethical disposal of electronic devices and keeping old electronics out of landfills to prevent more toxins from leeching into our environment.
The best part? They’ll pay you cash for old electronics – even if they don’t work!
Sounds good to me! So, I got started…
The first step to using eCycle Best is getting a quote for your old electronics. This is simple as all get out! Just go to the eCycle Best homepage and choose the type, brand, and model of the device you want to get rid of.
Not all devices are listed, and you may not be offered any money for certain items that they can’t use. After a couple tries entering my old dinosaur cell phones, I got an offer for my old Toshiba Satellite that doesn’t power on anymore. I don’t want to mess with it, and I probably can’t get much if I tried to sell it, so this seems like a plan to me.
Okay, on the next screen, you’ll be asked to enter a little more information about your device, such as whether it powers on as if the screen is in one piece.
As you can see from above, if my old laptop actually worked, I’d get as much as $200 for it. Nice, but it doesn’t work, so my quote fell to…
Fine by me! As far as I’m concerned, I have a $120 paper weight sitting next to me right now.
So, the next step is to create an account, which is simple. All you have to do is enter your email and a new password.
Finally, you have to fill in all those personal details, like your name and mailing address, choose how you want to get paid, and how you want to mail your device.
As you can see from the screenshot above, you can choose to get paid via PayPal or check. You can also have eCycle Best send you a box or print a prepaid shipping label. Either way, sending your old electronics is completely free.
I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to do just yet, but if I do send my old clunker of a laptop, I’ll most likely print my own shipping label, although it’s nice to have the option of having them send everything I need.
If I decide to send it, though, I have to send it out within seven days, otherwise they can tell me to take a hike. Once they receive the laptop, it will be inspected and they will either buy it for the quoted price or offer me a lower price based on the condition of the laptop.
Now, it’s in pretty good condition, but I doubt they’ll offer me the full quoted price. I’m pretty open to taking just about any amount of money for this old thing, though, since it’s completely worthless to me. I also have the option of asking them to return the laptop if I don’t agree with the price they give me, though, which is also nice.
So, what’s going to happen with my eCycle Best experience. Well, I’m not sure yet, but we shall soon see…
