What’s the betting you have a mobile phone sitting in a drawer/cupboard under the bed somewhere collecting dust? Over 10 million people each year upgrade their phone, that means there are a lot of old phones sitting about.

You probably don’t thinks it is worth anything, but think again, the second hand mobile market is booming these days, thanks to new mobile phone markets like India, South America and the Far East.

Where can I do with my old mobile phone?

There are various ways you can go about selling your old mobile phone, the first place is Ebay, do a search of completed sales and see what phones like your one have been selling for then stick on an advert and collect your cash. If you sell regularly on Ebay and don’t mind waiting for the auction to finish, collecting your money via Paypal or cheque then going to the post office to post it, then Ebay is the place you will get the most money for it, with relatively little hassle.

Another route you could take is selling it privately, Gumtree is a good place to sell, you can list for free and sell locally, you may not get the top price for it, but this is balanced with the fact that you don’t need to pay Ebay fees and Paypal fees, and you can do a straight swap mobile phone for cash.

The third option which is probably the easiest is to sell it to Envirofone. This is an online service they buy old phones, as long as they are working and don’t have too much damage.

It is actually very easy to use, register online they will then send you out a pre paid envelope, the minimum you can send to them is the handset to be paid, but they are happy to take all accessories, manuals and chargers for the phone as well.

Once the phone has been tested they will send payment to you within 20 days, either by cheque or by Argos vouchers (you get more for your phone if you take argos vouchers).

Examples

If you trade in a Motorola V8 at Envirofone you will receive either £38.89 in cash (sent as a cheque) or £44.72 in Argos vouchers.

If you trade in a Nokia 6070 at Envirofone you will receive either £20.09 in cash (sent as a cheque) or £23.20 in Argos vouchers.

Whilst you will not be getting as much for you phone as if you sold it yourself, it is very easy and hassle free to sell it to Envirofone, I sold an old phone of mine via Envirofone.

If your phone is completely knackered you can still sell it, Envirofone will pay a reduced price for the mobile phone, and at least you know it is being recycled, rather than heading to a landfill. (Mobile phones contain some nasty chemicals which are very toxic to animal and aquatic life, if your old phone it heading to a landfill site it is likely to cause environmental damage as it erodes.

Why bother?

One of the minerals needed to make new mobile phones is coltan this is mined in the Congo. In recent years the surge in cheap consumer electronics has caused a huge demand for coltan, creating a gold rush in Congo.

The Congo is also one of the final places that gorillas live in their natural habitat, but their numbers are in drastic decline as their habitat is destroyed by mining, and fighting over the valuable mineral. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2036217.stm

What else can I do?

Consider switching to an 18 month contract, not only will you get a better deal on you minutes and texts, but the interval between getting a new handset will be longer. Or just simply don’t get an upgrade, do you really need one?

If you are not looking for any money then consider donating your handset to charity, there are many that are happy to take them off people free of charge, which they can sell.

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_you_can_do/recycle/phones.htmhttp://www.helptheaged.org.uk/en-gb/HowYouCanHelp/Recycling/MobilePhones/