How To Turn Your Broken And Unwanted Electronic Gadgets Into Cash

It's something you never think about when you're buying them: what do I do with my cell phone, my computer or my PDA when it breaks, becomes obsolete or I get a new one?

If you're like a lot of us, you either throw it away or try to give it to someone else just to get rid of it. But it doesn't belong in a landfill and while charities will often gratefully accept these electronic cast-offs, it might be nice if you could get at least some of your money back for your unwanted techno-junk.

As it turns out, you can. A company called BuyMyTronics.com has figured out a way to turn your trash into cash, by buying up those old unwanted electronic devices from you. How much you get depends a lot on what you've got to sell.

Some examples? A broken iPod went for $228. They gave a customer $210 for a used BlackBerry. One consumer walked away with $250 for an unwanted Xbox 360. And an early adopter unlucky enough to have a smashed-up iPhone received $225 for his once worthless hunk of junk.

How do they make money on all this? They take the working components from the broken units and use them to fix other non-functioning devices, then sell those for a profit.

The consumer wins by unloading a device that might otherwise sit in a garbage dump. And the company gains by recycling products that someone else can purchase for a smaller fee than buying them new.

"It's a win-win," declares CEO Brett Mosely. "eWaste stays out of landfills and we are able to put cash in people's pockets. Our services are more profitable, faster and easier for the product owners than Craigslist or eBay." The company promises payment within 48 hours, although you have to front the cost of shipping it to them.

The firm, which is based in the U.S., has a growing number of customers in Canada. Pam Seatle will introduce you to some of them and tell you how you can get in on the action on CityNews at Five and Six.

Until then, here's where you can find an overview of how the system works, what they accept and how much you're likely to get back.

Items accepted:

iPods
iPhones
Laptops
Game consoles
Cell phones
PDAs
Digital cameras
Camcorders