How to Recycle Gadgets for Money with ecoNew, VenJuvo, or Gazelle

So Christmas has come and gone. Regardless of what holiday or birthday you celebrated (Christmas, Hannukuh, Quansa, Chrismakuh), you may have received a shiny new gadget as a present. And as you took in that wonderful plastic/cardboard aroma that inevitably accompanies the opening of a new gadget, your eyes glance across the room and come to rest on the gadget you received last year or even 2 or 3 years ago. Maybe it's even the exact same gadget, only last a previous model (iPods come to mind). Or maybe it's something completely different. Either way, you have a new first love and your old love has lost its appeal. We are a spoiled bunch aren't we? :)

So what to do? Throw it away? A perfectly good, slightly used but no less cared for, year old gadget. That's definitely not the green approach. You could give it to a relative (or sell it to a relative depending on how that dynamic works in your family). Then again, that may simply mean a larger cell phone bill if this relative is gadget-challenged and you happen to be their "unofficial" tech support. I vote for option four: Recycle it (i.e. trade it in for some cash) using a gadget or technology recycling service. Check out the following three companies that offer this service. I've used a handful of my gadgets as a test group for a quick compare and contrast. Give it a whirl. In this economy, every penny counts.

For the following gadgets:

1. 3rd Gen iPod Nano 8GB (Video)
2. 1st Gen Microsoft Xbox (plus 3 games)
3. Dell Inspiron 1520

I was offered:

ecoNEW: $208

• NOTE: Oddly enough, the 3rd Gen iPod Nano 8GB was not listed.

VenJuvo: $449

• NOTE: Was offered $353 for the Dell Inspiron 1520. Seemed unusually high but who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?

Gazelle: $99

• NOTE: I was only offered $10 for the Dell Inspiron 1520. This could have been a fluke with their system. You can petition Gazelle for a review of the quote in these situations as they are still building their gadget database.

VenJuvo comes out the clear winner between these three but keep in mind that each company differs slightly in the type of gadgets they'll accept. For example, VenJuvo will take used plasma screen televisions and Gazelle will take used GPS devices. Also realize that this list is not all-inclusive. There are all kinds of websites that offer similar services. These three were just at the top of the list. Good luck earning money from your old and unwanted gadgets.