Maximising the value and proper disposal of old electronic devices before they lose their worth

Households can significantly benefit from timely resale and proper disposal of outdated electronics, amid record e-waste levels and declining trade-in values, by knowing what devices are worth and how to securely prepare them for sale or recycling.

Old electronic devices are costing households money long before they stop working. A handset that once sat in the top tier of the market can lose much of its resale value within a few years, even if it still powers on and looks presentable. The International Telecommunication Union said the world generated a record 62 million tonnes of electronic waste in 2022, yet only about 22% was formally collected and recycled, leaving roughly $62 billion in recoverable materials unaccounted for. That makes prompt disposal or resale less a matter of tidying up than of avoiding avoidable loss.

The first sensible step is to take stock of what is actually in the house. Old phones, tablets, laptops, smartwatches, wireless earbuds, consoles and cameras often sit forgotten in drawers despite still having a market. Trade-in value is easiest to assess when the model, storage capacity and condition are identified clearly, because vague estimates usually understate what a device may still be worth.

Timing matters as much as condition. Resale prices for phones often weaken sharply around major launch cycles, particularly when new iPhone and Galaxy models are due. TechRadar has reported that sellers tend to do better in the weeks before those announcements, rather than after the market is flooded with trade-ins from upgrade buyers. For households holding on to an older handset, that means the difference between cash and clutter can be a matter of weeks.

Any device leaving the home should be wiped properly first. Guides from Device Giant, Techtippr, iPhone Trader Express and Uswitch all stress the same basics: back up data, sign out of linked accounts, remove SIM and memory cards where relevant, and then perform a factory reset. On iPhones, turning off iCloud-linked protections before erasing the device is essential; on Android, account removal before the reset helps avoid activation-lock issues for the next owner.

Not every item will justify a sale. Devices with cracked displays, failing batteries or very old hardware may have little or no resale value. Even then, they can still be repurposed as a spare music player, a kitchen screen, a baby monitor or a simple backup phone. If the hardware is beyond use, proper recycling is the safer option, as batteries and circuit boards should not go into household waste. Making this a yearly habit is enough to stop old technology from quietly draining value in the background.