What do you do with your old phones? (Motorola, 3G, Verizon)

[tvdxer]

It's now evident that many people have to have the "latest" phone, which entails getting rid of one they bought as little as a year or less ago.

What I'm interested in is: what happens to these phones?

My first phone, an LG camera phone (2004), broke. I still have my Motorola Q (handed down to me from my sister) from a family plan that was cancelled in 2010. My other phones have been ruined / stolen / etc.

[RC01]

I know if it's in decent shape, at verizon, you can trade them in for store credit. That's what I did.

[MikeJaquish]

I sell my phones on Craigslist.
You can offset most of the cost of the new phone.

When I got my S3, I sold my EVO 4G for $150, which covered about 2/3 of the upgrade cost.

[Hemlock140]

I probably have 20 of them in a box in the garage, including big old clunky ones from the early 1990s.

[20yrsinBranson]

Originally Posted by tvdxer

It's now evident that many people have to have the "latest" phone, which entails getting rid of one they bought as little as a year or less ago.

What I'm interested in is: what happens to these phones?

My first phone, an LG camera phone (2004), broke. I still have my Motorola Q (handed down to me from my sister) from a family plan that was cancelled in 2010. My other phones have been ruined / stolen / etc.

I love old phones. I keep them around and use them from time to time. I am really upset that I sold my StarTak because I though I would never use it again. I loved that thing.

20yrsinBranson

[davebarnes]

Personal experience with Gazelle.com
Great.
Amazingly easy to do business with.
Excellent purchase prices.
Highly recommended.

[sweetchas]

I keep it as a spare.

[RedZin]

I used to jailbreak and unlock my iPhones to sell on Craigslist. I did this with my first gen, 3G, and 3GS.

I started passing them down to other people here in the house with my first iPhone 4 (I had a black, then a white).

We are about to start selling some again soon. Probably next year, as my husband and my eldest will both have iPhone 5 models (along with me) and my younger two are inheriting 4S models, leaving us with extra iPhone 4 models to sell.

[fallingwater]

Due to my job I end up with the latest gizmo and recycle the old down to my husband and teenage son. The rest if I can get money I turn them into Best Buy or whatever retailer will give me some cash for them. I dont sell them to strangers because its a headache for me. I'd rather donate and take the tax deduction.

[ReblTeen84]

I keep a couple as spares and usually wind up taking apart the oldest ones. I have a Droid RAZR, a Droid X, a Droid, a pair of Blackberries and a pair of feature phones in my cabinet right now.