Bye, bye gadget

But there’s no need to throw unwanted gizmos away

HEDIRMAN SUPIAN
hedirman@mediacorp.com.sg

EVEN if you’re not a gadget hound, you’ll find that your stash of electronics tends to accumulate faster than a dustball. With new gifts from the festive holiday season rendering old ones obsolete and the coming of the Lunar Near Year precipitating a healthy dose of spring-cleaning, it’s an opportune time to let those old gadgets go. Whether it’s for profit or for charity, Today finds that there are plenty of ways to get rid of them.

BACK TO THE SOURCE

If your gadget’s wonky and you don’t fancy spending any money repairing it, you can always return it to the manufacturers. Most major gadget makers commit to a recycling programme in the name of environmental sustainability.

Motorola, for instance, has extended its Ecomoto programme so consumers can drop used phones, batteries and even pagers into the recycling bins at selected outlets.

You can even drop off used goods from other brands. Nokia has a similar programme at its Care Centres as well.

If you’ve got an unwanted desktop, you might not even need to lug it down to a recycling outlet.

Some companies like Dell will pick up your unwanted gadgets for free, as long as you schedule an appointment.

Even consumable supplies like ink cartridges are covered. HP has a Planet Partners Programme where you can conveniently recycle HP ink cartridges at over 80 retail stores in Singapore. Likewise for Canon, for its ink and toner cartridges.

GIVE IT AWAY

What better way to do a good deed than by donating unwanted gizmos to charity? Most of the local charities we contacted said they would either refurbish computers and phones so the less fortunate can use them, or sell the machines to raise funds.

The Singapore Red Cross Society has a thrift shop (www.redcross.org.sg/shopredcross-4.phtml) where you can drop off your items. And according to the Salvation Army, if you need help transporting big items, you can usually call up charities to arrange for a free pick-up.

But before you do so, there are a few things to take note of, such as making sure your gadgets are in working condition.

There’s no need to pack your items in a box, but it’ll certainly be a considerate thing to do for items like computers that come in multiple parts.

SELL OR AUCTION IT ONLINE

There are plenty of ways to get moolah for your used or unwanted gadgets online.

You can post a free ad in Mocca’s Classifieds section(classifieds.mocca.com), along with useful videos of your gadget in action.

If you’re interested in getting top dollar, you can let users bid for them on auction sites like eBay(www.ebay.com.sg) and Yahoo Singapore’s Gmarket website.

Posting bids on both services are free and they offer flexible payment services. Ebay accepts payment through Paypal, money order, wire transfer or cheque. Apart from Paypal, Gmarket allows for payment via credit card and bank transfer as well.

http://www.todayonline.com/articles/298345.asp