Electronics resale & recycling

That drawer of old tech
is worth more than you think.

Add up to ten devices. We price every one of them here on the page — buyback, trade-in and private sale — then tell you honestly where each should go, including the ones worth nothing.

$286 vs $180 What sixteen buyers offered for the same iPhone 15 on the same day. Checked 9 Aug 2026.

What have you got?

Add up to ten devices. Rough is fine — "iPhone 13, about 3 years old, cracked back" is enough to work with.

STEP 1 OF 2
1 of 10

Nothing is sent anywhere. The pricing model ships with the page and runs in your browser, so we never see what you own.

Your itemized valuation

Every device priced separately, three ways, as a range — because a used price is a range, and anyone quoting you one number is guessing at a decimal point.

STEP 2 OF 2
Valuing your devices…
Where these numbers come from

Each device is matched against a catalogue of launch prices and release dates, then run through a depreciation curve for its class, your condition grade, and the things you ticked — carrier lock, battery, box, prior repair. The three lanes are modelled off real head-to-heads: instant buyback lands somewhere between roughly half and four fifths of a private sale depending entirely on which service you ask — that spread is the whole reason this site exists — manufacturer trade-in sits near two thirds and pays in store credit only, and private sale is shown both before and after the fee the platform actually takes.

Prices move weekly, so treat a range as a range. Where we could not confidently identify a device it is marked rough estimate and the range is deliberately wide. Model calibrated August 2026 against published buyback quotes, Apple trade-in values and eBay sold-listing data. These are estimates, not offers.

Four ways to sell. They are not close to equivalent.

For the same device, the gap between the best and worst option is routinely 50% or more.

Sell it yourself

Most money · most effort

Swappa, eBay or Mercari. You list it, you post it, you deal with the buyer.

  • Usually 30–40% more than a buyback.
  • Swappa takes 3%, but refuses cracked glass.
  • eBay takes 13.6% — charged on shipping and tax too.

Instant buyback

Guaranteed · a few days

Get a quote, post it in a prepaid box, get paid. No buyers, no haggling.

  • Compare first on SellCell. Sixteen buyers quoted one iPhone between $180 and $286.
  • Quotes hold for 14–30 days.
  • Broken devices are welcome — try Back Market or SellBroke.

Trade-in

Easiest · credit, not cash

Apple, Samsung, Best Buy, Amazon and the carriers.

  • None of them pays cash — gift card or bill credit only.
  • Carrier offers are 24–36 months of credits. Leave early and they stop.
  • Apple pays $0 for damage. A buyback often still pays.

Recycle it

Worth nothing · still matters

Some devices really have no resale value. That does not mean the bin.

  • Free at Best Buy and Apple, any brand.
  • Many states ban electronics from household waste.
  • Wipe it first anyway.

Who to compare

These are the buyers still operating in the US. The right one depends far more on your device's condition than on the brand name.

ServiceTakesBroken?PayoutQuote held

Verified 9 August 2026. Decluttr closed in June 2025 — most "best places to sell" articles still list it. If a guide recommends Decluttr, it has not been checked in over a year.

Wipe it properly. Order matters.

The wrong sequence leaves the device locked to you — or leaves your data on it.

iPhone & iPad

  1. Back up.
  2. Sign out of iCloud — this releases Activation Lock.
  3. Settings → General → Transfer or Reset → Erase All Content and Settings.
  4. Remove the SIM, or delete the eSIM.

Android

  1. Back up.
  2. Remove your Google account first.
  3. Then remove the screen lock. The other order leaves it locked to you.
  4. Factory data reset.
  5. Take out the microSD card — a reset does not wipe it.

Mac

  1. Back up with Time Machine.
  2. Sign out of iCloud and any paid software licences.
  3. Apple silicon or T2: Erase All Content and Settings.
  4. Older Intel: erase the drive in Recovery, reinstall macOS.

Windows laptop

  1. Back up, and deactivate any licences.
  2. Check BitLocker is on before you reset.
  3. Reset this PC → Remove everything → Clean data.
  4. Remove the device from your Microsoft account online.
Two things people get wrong

On Windows, a device set up with only a local account may never have had encryption enabled — in which case a reset is a best-effort wipe, not a cryptographic erase. And do not run multi-pass overwrite tools on an SSD: they wear the drive without improving on the built-in secure erase.

When it really is worth nothing

A swollen battery, a decade-old laptop, a phone that will not charge. No buyer wants these, and they should not go in the bin — lithium batteries start fires in bin lorries and sorting plants.

Best Buy

Free · in store

Takes phones, laptops and tablets free at the door. The widely-quoted $29.99 fee applies to televisions and monitors, not to the devices on this page.

Apple

Free · any brand

Free recycling in store or by post, whoever made it. If your device still has value they will offer credit instead — but damaged devices are recycled, not paid for.

Staples

Free · small tech

Strong option for the smaller items that pile up: chargers, cables, keyboards, drives and old handsets.

Certified recyclers

R2 · e-Stewards

For anything unusual or in bulk, use an R2 or e-Stewards certified recycler. The certification is what separates genuine processing from export.

Swollen or damaged battery

If a device is bulging, hot, or the case has split, do not post it — carriers prohibit it and it is a genuine fire risk. Take it to a staffed drop-off point and tell them what it is.