Apple has revolutionized many aspects of the smart-phone industry, but with the release of there latest smart-phone, they are now revolutionizing the way you hold your phone. In an e-mail sent to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, an iPhone 4 early adopter asks the obvious question. In famous Jobs style he reply’s. short and sweet.
Maybe a better solution to this problem would be a free bumper…
…or dare a I say it a recall of a defective product. The hole situation seems to be based around bad industrial design not allowing for the phone to be used by the user how he or she feels most comfortable. On the contrary though, the phone does have many unique features that sets it miles ahead of the competition. The biggest selection of apps and beautiful design are just a few to mention. I think I’ll wait for the next generation before I invest myself.
We all want to do the right thing for our old electronics gadgets. If it’s not too old and there is still life in them – the most effective way to recycle is to sell it on to the next user and get a bit of cash in the bargain.
However, not everyone likes the idea of a stranger in a puffer jacket pulling up to their driveway sometime between 7.30 and 9 to check out your merchandise – that’s if they show (Rarely do they cancel if they spot a better deal).
Then again there is eBay, which takes away the personal face to face anxieties, but adds stress, fulfillment obligations, good or bad ratings, bogus buyers then the not so occasional ‘not as described complaint’ case opened against your paypal account perhaps 2 months later.
Selling your gadget takes time and energy, and for many it just isn’t worth their busy time. For this and many other good reasons Goodwill has become good business. They’ll gladly take your old clothes for free, but they’ll be jumping for joy when you hand over your used Blackberry or iPhone. Their electronics reselling activities has help grow a 2,400 global store chain with $2.4 billion in retail and online sales.
So Hats off to Goodwill for enabling people to feel good about giving their stuff away for free. (They’ll resell your hat for ten bucks incidentally).
Now there’s a simpler faster, convenient and financially rewarding way to recycle laptops, cell phones and electronics for cash. Traditionally, online trade-in portals have leaned on the goodwill angle a little too comfortably, resulting in a ludicrous profit margin when they resold what you gave them. Seeing the fantastic profits to be made, more trade-in portals have joined in, and thanks to that old U.S. notion of competition, trade-in portals are now offering as good a price as you might have only thought possible on Craigslist.
Most, like our own portal trade2save.com offer free shipping, and as you’d expect, this is reflected in the price we give, but considering you get a free shipping label and even a box sent to your door, it really does take all the hassle out of reselling.
The basic principal is that people enjoy buying more than they enjoy selling – buying is a leisure activity, selling is something you have to do from 9-5 so that you can earn enough money to buy that holiday, the car, the new iPhone 4 – OK, so the reception is terrible – but it still looks great next to the iPad which look even better sitting next to the MacBook Pro.
As for your old old electronic item that has no cash value left in it do be aware that recycling electronics like cell phones and computers is far from a clean process. While some of the valuable elements like gold and cadmium may be reclaimed, the process inevitably results in a number of toxic by-products when it is incinerated. Under the radar is also the reselling of the old electronics to the third world with lax environmental standards.
