? what to do-old electronics?

[braumeister]

Sometimes putting a "FREE" sign on a piece of junk and leaving it by the curb works, but sometimes it doesn't. I once had a neighbor who solved the problem neatly by putting a price on it to indicate that it probably really was worth something.

My favorite was an old worn out washing machine that had obviously done its last load. He put a big cardboard "$50" on it and put it by the curb. Next morning it was gone.

[Popeye]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack Our local small town public/muni recycling facility takes old electronics. That’s where all our old PC’s, monitors, and other electronics have gone. And for what it’s worth, some “vintage” electronics may still have value. I sold a 30+ year old Pioneer receiver just like the one below for $150 on eBay. I hadn’t used it in years, but it was in like new condition and still working fine. The buyer was thrilled to have it, and I was thrilled to have the money.

+1 on the electronics. I tossed a couple of items to recycle before I realized it. When I was trying to decide how to dispose of a couple of large speakers, my brother checked eBay and saw a few for $400/pair. I’m going to list them and see what happens. Ive also saved a Pioneer receiver and a cd changer. I should check them too. All of it is from the early 90’s.

[ExitLeft]

For things that are mostly made of metal, look for a metal recycler. They will buy by the pound. Prices vary based on the type of metal. Copper wires, power supplies, copper plumbing pipes, etc can make some decent money. I once rented a uhaul trailer and took 2 dead lawn tractors, an old water heater I'd recently replaced, an old basketball hoop and a bunch of other stuff and made a couple hundred dollars for the effort, minus the $20 trailer rental.
Regarding electronics, if it's going in the trash, they often have heavy copper power supplies inside. Might be worth some effort to see if a recycler will take the whole unit or try taking it apart and removing the power supply. Just be careful, since power supplies can be dangerous, even if not plugged in.

[RockyMtn]

I used to drop them off at local "Best Buy" store. I believe they have discontinued or limited that program. Now I wait for local community "electronics dump day" and take them there.

[Walt34]

Locally the Goodwill store here will take old electronic stuff for recycling and the County has an electronics recycling spot to take stuff to. We go to Goodwill simply because it's close and the county's spot is at the other end of the county.

[braumeister]

I almost forgot:
You can take most old electronics into any Staples store for recycling. No cost, just drop them off.
FREE ELECTRONICS RECYCLING

[greydog17]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Popeye +1 on the electronics. I tossed a couple of items to recycle before I realized it. When I was trying to decide how to dispose of a couple of large speakers, my brother checked eBay and saw a few for $400/pair. I’m going to list them and see what happens. Ive also saved a Pioneer receiver and a cd changer. I should check them too. All of it is from the early 90’s.

+1 here too, sold approx. 50 old vinyl records to local used record store, and got about $80 which was more than I expected. Also sold a 1980 vintage JVC receiver for $25, again I was about to toss it. If you have an old stereo receiver and speakers try adding a low cost Bluetooth receiver (under $30 on Amazon). Plug into the CD or tape monitor RCA plugs and then stream music from your phone or cloud. I did this on another old high quality stereo system I had and it sounds great.

[ExFlyBoy5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack Our local small town public/muni recycling facility takes old electronics. That’s where all our old PC’s, monitors, and other electronics have gone. And for what it’s worth, some “vintage” electronics may still have value. I sold a 30+ year old Pioneer receiver just like the one below for $150 on eBay. I hadn’t used it in years, but it was in like new condition and still working fine. The buyer was thrilled to have it, and I was thrilled to have the money.

I used to love the "warm glow" displays of these older receivers. I had a Technics receiver that gave off just the right glow...very psychedelic. I also had one of these equalizers that I could watch for hours...so cool man...

[GalaxyBoy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RockyMtn I used to drop them off at local "Best Buy" store. I believe they have discontinued or limited that program. Now I wait for local community "electronics dump day" and take them there.

Best Buy still recycles.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/service...at149900050025

[John Galt III]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack If it makes you feel any better I sold about 130 vinyl albums, many truly classics, most only played once (I used to tape albums and set them aside), in one big lot at a garage sale. I intended to sell them individually for $1-2 each, but I assumed I’d sell some and be left with a bunch. When one old guy offered me $30 for the whole box it sounded easy and I accepted. Works out to less than $0.25 each. Wish I had that decision back again...

I'm deliberately hanging on to my 'hoard stuff' now. I thought about donating my old vinyl, but I have too much good stuff. Just rediscovered my album Talking Heads, Fear of Music.

[mountainsoft]

Quote:

Originally Posted by imoldernu You know what I mean! Computers, TV's, all that stuff that you bought, still works, but for practical purposes, junque.

I keep a couple old VCR's and Cassette players in our storage attic for those rare times I need to transfer an old tape to digital. Every time I think there's no longer a need to hang on to them, I have a family member ask if I can convert an old tape for them. I would keep any similar devices that I may need to transfer media in the future, such as an 8-track player, floppy disk drive, ZIP drive, etc.

Otherwise, for things that aren't worth trying to sell, we just take them to Goodwill. They try to sell the things that work, and recycle anything that doesn't work or doesn't sell.

Honestly though, we don't buy many electronic devices anymore unless the old ones stop working.

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister Sometimes putting a "FREE" sign on a piece of junk and leaving it by the curb works, but sometimes it doesn't. I once had a neighbor who solved the problem neatly by putting a price on it to indicate that it probably really was worth something. My favorite was an old worn out washing machine that had obviously done its last load. He put a big cardboard "$50" on it and put it by the curb. Next morning it was gone.

Around us, I just put the old stove, metal lining to above ground pool out at the curb the day before garbage collection, and within hours, some guy stops and loads it into his truck.
I see them drive around every week looking for metal to pick up.
Much better than paying our city $25 to pick it up

[Retch The Grate]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick12 I should have saved my Atari video game system and all its games instead of throwing it in the trash. Could have made some $$.

I built out my classic console collection in the mid-90s going to flea markets and buying them up. I've got multiple 2600s, a 5200, a 7800, an Intellivision, a Colecovision, an Emerson Arcadia 2001, an Odyssey 2, etc. Now I really need to get an adaptor to hook them up to my TV without having to daisy chain through my 26 year old VCR that I've hung onto.