Best Place to Get Rid of Broken Electronics?

[kristenrice]

I've been doing some major deep cleaning and I have found that we have a few old laptops and tablets that are in decent, physical condition, but they no longer power up. The power cords are gone (of course) and the machines have not been used in a few years. I have (2) 16GB Galaxy Tab 3's from Sprint that are in pristine cosmetic condition, but they don't power up because the power input is broken so it is a "worthless" device.

I can't just toss them in the trash can and I know that there are certainly parts in them that are still in great shape. Does anyone have any ideas if there is any sort of monetary value in these things? I have a Samsung Chromebook 2 (broken screen), (2) Dell laptops with no power, and a Lenovo laptop that had water spilled onto the motherboard, in addition to the (2) Galaxy tablets. Most places that offer trade-ins require that the items power on, which none of these do, so that is not an option.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Likely no monetary value, but Staples will accept and recycle a long list of electronics, free.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

You can drop off small electronics just in side the door at Best Buy for free.
Large ones will cost you.
For the larger ones I found that my city has a drop off on the first and third Saturday morning of each month. Its 2 minutes away vs 25 and its free so that's what I do with the big items especially.

 

[afan]

You can drop off small electronics just in side the door at Best Buy for free.
Large ones will cost you.
For the larger ones I found that my city has a drop off on the first and third Saturday morning of each month. Its 2 minutes away vs 25 and its free so that's what I do with the big items especially.

I was going to suggest.checking with your city and countuly too. My city only does electronic recycling events twice a year. You may also want to check other nearby cities if you are in a metro area since they may have different evemts etc.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I was going to suggest.checking with your city and countuly too. My city only does electronic recycling events twice a year. You may also want to check other nearby cities if you are in a metro area since they may have different evemts etc.

Some cities do require proof of residency.
Mine does not but another city near me does.

 

[runwad]

You can try a site like this https://sellbroke.com/ they'll email you a free shipping label to send your stuff to them. Probably won't get a lot, maybe you can buy a sandwich somewhere, but it gets it out of your house.

 

[_19disnA]

Best Buy lets you turn in old PC equipment for recycling (or they did a few years ago, perhaps they still do). Would remove and destroy the hard drive since it probably has passwords, perhaps your tax returns/SS#....etc. You just drop them off and they do NOT need to be in working order. They don't give you any money for them but it is one way to dispose of equipment you no longer use.

 

[tvguy]

Goodwill here is a state certified place to drop off e-waste for free.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I recycled my old laptop at Staples.

 

[Dakota731]

Twice a year in our area boy scouts have a fundraiser where they collect electronics to recycle. They make a little money and I get stuff out of my house

 

[Anthony1971]

To answer the other part of the question yes they have value but just not to the person getting rid of it...
there is silver and gold more so in older computer but also in newer ones but unless you are willing to take them apart know where it is scrape it off and melt it down into something usable and than have the facilities to recycle the plastic other metals etc....
the value for you is not filling a garbage dump and doing the responsible thing.
BUT sometimes staples and Best Buy will run an offer for maybe 25 towards a purchase of something new.. of course you buying something new so just a sale in the end...

 

[scard192]

My City has an electronics recycling event once a year and they do require proof of residency and 1 contribution of food to a food pantry for each item recycled.

A friend recommended to me that you take a power drill and drill a number of holes in the hard drive because even if you think you cleaned the files off things are will still there.

I am lucky, the landlord for the office I work in runs an electronics recycling event twice a year and takes everything except CRT TV for free and even AC units. Flyer says OK to bring your items from home.

 

[kaytieeldr]

BUT sometimes staples and Best Buy will run an offer for maybe 25 towards a purchase of something new.

Staples just did this earlier this month. In the same notice, they let people know they always accept a long list of products - they just typically don't give a bonus

 

[_19disnA]

A friend recommended to me that you take a power drill and drill a number of holes in the hard drive because even if you think you cleaned the files off things are will still there.

I agree as I mentioned earlier. Remove the hard drive and smash it with a hammer or dissemble it and toss in the trash. I would NEVER turn in any PC for recycling that still has a working hard drive in it.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I agree as I mentioned earlier. Remove the hard drive and smash it with a hammer or dissemble it and toss in the trash. I would NEVER turn in any PC for recycling that still has a working hard drive in it.

I had a stack of hard drives that had been removed from old computers until I got out the drill and drilled holes in them.