Second Rotation: Get Cash for Your Old Electronics
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA 
on 08. 3.07
E-waste is a huge problem facing our increasingly plugged-in world, and though Staples is trying to stem the tide, there are still tons of electronics that needlessly go in the landfill. A new company called Second Rotation is adding a new option for your old consumer electronics, and it can help you make a little cash. Last week, they launched their "online exchange dedicated to giving individual consumers an easy way to sell pre-owned lifestyle goods on the Web." Their initial focus is on the ubiquitous consumer electronics -- cell phones, iPods, digital cameras, PDAs, etc. -- and are attempting to streamline the service offered by other sites like eBay to make it easier for individuals to get rid of their stuff. Offering cash for them is a good incentive for folks to keep their used (but still working) electronics from going in the trash when the newest gotta-have-it hits stores. Their "dynamic pricing calculator" helps determine, almost in real time, the value of whatever you want to unload; 10 days or so after you send it to Second Rotation, you'll have cash money burning a hole in your pocket. When added to services like those available at Freecycle and Craigslist, there's really no reason you have to throw away anything with even a little life in it. ::Second Rotation via ::Core77
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but what do they do with the items?? I can't find anything about it on their site.
got this from their site:
"Second Rotation will find a life for your old gadgets on eBay"
while this is good that they might be used again, it does not do anything to prevent them from ending up in the waste stream eventually.
Looks like they sell it on eBay;
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9748508-7.html?part=rss
Great idea. The one potential issue I immediately thought of is how their shipping policy works. Shipping is expensive and I could see the costs outweighing the return on the used goods. Granted I haven't taken a look at their website yet, so I could be wrong.
I wonder how this would work in the UK ... if you don't know, all small appliances are supposed to be PAT (Portable Appliance Test) once a year and resellers are not allowed to sale used appliances without one (individuals can get around this requirement but companies can't, from my understanding of the system). They are not cheap (somewhere in the £10 per item range) and have to be performed by a trained tester.
I went and looked and they have a list of items you can sell, most of it still fairly new things, nothing old that I want to get rid of appears on their list. For example the HP C500 camera I have which takes great pictures but suffers from bad battery life compared to newer cameras. So its been sitting in a box for the last year or so as there is pretty much no value in it and people would rather buy a $99 camera from walmart.
I was looking for a way to sell my electronics and happened to come across secondrotation. The electronics that i have are in very good condition...hell great condition. They valued a 200+ digital camera for 17 bucks. I don't trust the site at all. Before using that site google everything on the net and compare prices....
Be sure to remove all the personal data from your cell phone before you sell or recycle it. ReCellular offers consumers a free online tool (Cell Phone Data Eraser): http://www.recellular.com/recycling/data_eraser/default.asp