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Even though Mary and Steve Burt Godwin had been saving up to buy bunk beds for their girls, Lexi and Lilly, they still found themselves $700 short.
So ABC News had Jessica Dolcourt, a tech writer for CNET.com, visit the Burt Godwins’ home in Carlsbad, Calif., to shed some light on a four-step hidden tech treasure map that she said could unearth a cache of old electronics to help the family raise cash.
“Even if you get half price,” Dolcourt said to Mary Burt Godwin, a mommy blogger, as the two went through the house, “that’s some serious money.”
The Burt Godwins scored $758 — enough for their little girls’ new bunk plus a little extra money to spend.
Below are the four tips that Dolcourt shared:
- Round up old cell phones and cameras. Dolcourt said they have the highest resell return of any electronics in your home. Even if the phones are broken, she said, the parts are still valuable.
- Don’t be lured off the treasure map. There are three big things that resellers will not pay for: printers, fax machines and stereos. They are usually too outdated to be worth much.
- Cut out the wait and haggling and sell your stuff online. On BuyMyTronics.com, Dolcourt looked up Steve Burt Godwin’s Nikon DSLR D90 camera and found that she could get $265 for it. They went to Gazelle.com to look up a Mac Book Pro and found that it could be resold for $300.
- Use an ecoATM, a self-serve robotic automated teller machine that doles out cash on the spot for old mobile devices. The ecoATM identifies the phone’s make and says what it’s worth. Find out where the nearest ecoATM is in your area.
On average, most cell phone users replace their phones every 18 months, according to ecoATM. Compass Intelligence, a consulting firm, estimated that there were more than 278 million idle cell phones in the U.S. And only one in five were reused or mined for parts.
At ecoATM’s San Diego headquarters, the phones are assessed, refurbished and then resold. It’s called “e-cycling.”
“About 75 percent of everything that we get finds a life as a cell phone,” said Tom Tullie, CEO, president and chairman of ecoATM. “About 25 percent of everything we get is going to get smelted for the gold and platinum and palladium.”
There are about 150 ecoATMs in the U.S. and that number is expected to double this year.
The Burt-Godwins’ old working iPhone garnered $146 and their shattered iPhone got $37.
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Probably already old news, but I will share anyway.
Be sure to wipe the memory off an old smart phone or computer before selling it or trading it away. Old files with bank account numbers, passwords, pin codes, text messages or emails from adulterous lovers, personal medical or protected business information, geez all sorts of stuff. There are hackers out there who make their living snagging that sort of information off old smart phones and computer hard drives and using it to fleece unsuspecting people either by theft or blackmail.
And to be clear, “wiping” a hard drive does not mean simply deleting the files (they’re still there in the memory), but it’s a complex process that usually requires some real computer savvy. If that’s not you, probably best to get your technerd friend to help you out.
Cheers!
Posted by: MiddleagedDad1 | October 25, 2012, 1:12 pm 1:12 pm
Too bad that you can’t locate any of the eco atm’s. I tried to google it & was not able to pul anything up after it pulled up the options.
Posted by: Jeni Fetter | October 25, 2012, 6:56 pm 6:56 pm
Links to ecoatm and buytronics websites are not good/working.
Posted by: Sherry | October 25, 2012, 6:59 pm 6:59 pm
I too have trouble getting into the ecoatm site. Maybe a list of areas where ecoatms would be a good idea to put on this site (Sharon Alfonsi).
Posted by: Annette | October 25, 2012, 7:08 pm 7:08 pm
Cannot find the locations for the eco ATM’s. Any advice?
Posted by: Debbie | October 25, 2012, 7:12 pm 7:12 pm
Although a great idea and i could make some much needed $$$ here, I agree, and would be worried with what middleageddad1 said. Ther are a lot of hackers that could get a lot of personal info. Would like to know how to clean out phones and computers. ABC should look into this a little more
Posted by: Sue | October 25, 2012, 7:17 pm 7:17 pm
That’s a lot of old electronics… perhaps if we didn’t upgrade all that stuff every few months we could afford bunk beds for our kids.
Posted by: Karyn | October 25, 2012, 8:44 pm 8:44 pm
Do your homework people! I just priced my iMac on buymytronics, and they were offering $221, and they have this same model that have been sold recently on eBay for over $600. There was even an iMap with flickering display issues, that was sold for $400!
Posted by: Naren | October 25, 2012, 8:55 pm 8:55 pm
I had no trouble at all accessing ecoATM and finding sites in my area
Posted by: Robert | October 25, 2012, 10:35 pm 10:35 pm
For those who want to get rid of info on your computer – look for “shredder” apps. Those are hard core data eliminators…used by intelligence communities worldwide to destroy information.
Posted by: TJ in CA | October 25, 2012, 11:55 pm 11:55 pm
Interesting story about how to get cash for your old tech, however..
I have a real problem with this family.
They have a ‘cash flow’ problem and cannot afford new beds for their children.
Yet, they have several phones(Including iPhone4), several laptops, many cameras and other very expensive tech just lying around?
Sure they are going to get some cash so their children’s feet do not hang off their bed, but maybe they should have made that decision Before they bought the latest and greatest gadgets.
Posted by: Chris | October 25, 2012, 11:58 pm 11:58 pm
Chris expressed my view point exactly. I was shocked by all the old tech they had lying around… obviously they had the money for the lastest tech, but not to spend on buying beds for their children. This sounds more like an issue of priorities then money!
Posted by: julie | October 26, 2012, 12:21 am 12:21 am
Does anyone know a good place to sell PC desktops? I stupidly bought a new one in 2010 and decided I really only need a laptop.
Posted by: LJB | October 26, 2012, 10:26 am 10:26 am
Agreed with those who thought this family was poorly chosen for this story – bad priorities. iPhones and Mac computers are expensive ,but they can’t afford beds for their kids? Shame on them.
Posted by: Karyn | October 26, 2012, 1:33 pm 1:33 pm
I tried selling my old cell phones and a Canon camera on these websites and they were worth nothing. If its old equipment you will get nothing for it. This article was very misleading.
Posted by: David | October 26, 2012, 2:23 pm 2:23 pm
I’m sorry…but to pay THAT much for beds is ridiculous.
Posted by: Robynne | April 2, 2013, 12:58 pm 12:58 pm