What Do You Do With Your Old Devices?

[Jerry Raia]

They started an interesting topic over at Pocket PC Thoughts and I thought it would be good to post it here as well. What do you do with your old and tired devices? I sell just about everything on ebay when the time comes. I usually don't have a Smartphone or Pocket PC for more than a year. The only exception so far has been my Cingular 2125. The only reason I have held on to it is because the "joystick" is a bit unreliable. I wouldn't feel right selling it like that or taking way less money because of it. In addition I suppose having a spare available isn't such a bad idea. I'm also curious if some of you get so attached to devices you have a "grave drawer" full of them.

[Stinger]

I usually give mine away to friends and family. There's nothing better than seeing a confused relative trying to use a flashy phone. :)

[Jerry Raia]

There's nothing better than seeing a confused relative trying to use a flashy phone. :)
:lol:

[Kris Kumar]

I won't say I am attached. There are the reasons for why I haven't disposed them.

1. Red-E : First Smartphone, I don't think it has any resale value. The battery would not charge. I am hoping someday I will be able to sell it at antique prices. ;-)
2. MPx200 : I opened the unit to install my own custom antenna. So no resale value. It still works.
3. MPx220 : My wife was using it till I upgraded her to 3125, by that time MPx220 had lost value, plus laziness caught on to me.
4. SP3i : Was using it as a test phone and backup phone. So it lost its value.
5. 2125 : My current backup and test phone.

Jerry, I think you have the best discipline. You put it on e-Bay while it still has value. I don't think some of these phones have much value after 1.5 to 2 years. :-( 6 months to a year is the best time to sell.

So long story short, I have grave drawer.

Edit: Here is my "digital grave drawer." (http://flickr.com/photos/kris_kumar/sets/72157594483959063/) ;-) Yesterday, I was going thru and finding photos of gadgets that I own or have played with.

[Mike Temporale]

I don't really have a method for handling these. I have a collection, but I'm not keeping them for any good reason. I have been known to spread them around at discounted prices to help people in need. Most notably I sold a MPx220 for a couple bucks to a high school student who managed to drop his MPx200 into a glass of water. He hacked the phone like no man has ever done - and he's lovin' it.

Right now my collection is kind of thin. I have an old Tanager - worthless, a SMT5600, and a C500.

[encece]

I always sell and buy at the same time. MANY times, especially in the Smartphone's early years, before they became popular here in the US, I was buying Orange phones, using them for a few months and selling them here for close to what I paid for them and a few times, made a profit.

That's not as easy to do these days, but since I only keep them a short time, around 3 months, I usually follow this rule: Sell for $100 less than I paid for it (unless it's almost new) drop an additional $50 if I know the person (family and friends discount). I make most of my money back and use that money for the new phone.

My transition between phones usually only costs me around $100 loss.

I just sold my Blackjack for $30 more than I paid for it...but I threw in my 1GB Mini SD as well...so it's almost a wash. Even if I did lose a bit, it's not a bad rental fee for me.

When I sold my SP5m to a coworker, I had them throw in their SMT5600 as well to make up the $50 discount. So now I have a phone to use in-between phones.

Currently, I dont know what I am getting next. I'd like a Trinity or a Herald...leaning toward the Trinity...but looking for a good price to save some bucks...even if it is slightly used, I dont care.

In the end...I dont invest tooo much switching phones using this method, which makes it easier to explain to those who believe I have a sickness.

Anyway, because of my frequent switching, I am less inclined to pay top dollar as those losses add up quickly when I dont hold on to phones for that long of a time.

6 months will be my new use period as I'm tire of minor upgrades. From now on, if I'm going to take a loss...I would like it to be for considerably more of a phone than my previous "greatest phone ever".

[Jerry Raia]

I kind of look at them as leases too. As was pointed out though, these things need to be turned over quickly.

[dckiwi]

I kind of look at them as leases too. As was pointed out though, these things need to be turned over quickly.

Likewise. I did have a really good run recently though; I went from Treo 650 -> T-Mobile MDA -> T-Mobile Dash within 8 months without too much loss.

The MDA was from Craig's List, and I used a contract extension for the Dash though.

I always end up buying a ton of extras (cases, memory cards, cradles, car mounts, etc.) and these seem to yield a higher return. I probably only recover about 50% max though...

[Rocco Augusto]

I just sold my Blackjack for $30 more than I paid for it...but I threw in my 1GB Mini SD as well...so it's almost a wash. Even if I did lose a bit, it's not a bad rental fee for me.

:shocked!: