There comes a point in every cell phone’s life when it’s just time for retirement. Whether you’re all set for that 2-year upgrade or you’re just dying for the latest and great, sometimes you’re just ready to power down the old one for good. Rather than letting it sit in your sock drawer in its sad, purposeless state, why not make some cash and help the earth a bit? That’s the idea of Flipswap, a mobile phone trade-in and electronics recycling company which is announcing a $14 million round of Series B funding by NGEN Partners and RRE Ventures.
Similar to other cash-in services such as Gazelle and VenJuvo, Flipswap estimates an item’s worth based off of the item’s condition and the current market demand. Unlike most of these other services, however, Flipswap focuses almost entirely on cell phone handsets, allowing them to offer payouts on a wider array of makes and models. Of course, they can’t offer up cash for every old cell phone, so don’t expect to turn that cache of ancient Motorola Startacs into gold. Even if they can’t pay you for a device, they’ll recycle it for free (pre-paid envelope included) and plant a tree in your name.
So with 14 million bucks behind them, whats next for Flipswap? Amongst other things, they’re working on establishing partnerships with device manufacturers and retailers to make things a bit more worthwhile and convenient. At partnered retail locations, you can walk in, flipswap your device, and score a bit of in-store credit on the spot. Through manufacturer partnerships, they’re able to tack on some bonus cash be it that you trade your device toward select handsets. Take their new found relationship with RIM for example; if you flipswap your device for a BlackBerry, they’ll toss in up to $50 bucks more to sweeten the deal.
Since 2005, the company has already turned over more than 730,000 handsets. If you’ve got an old handset or two laying around and making a quick buck or planting a couple of trees sounds good to you, Flipswap is worth a look.
This is a win win for the manufacturers and the environment. This is the type of stuff our planet needs right now
Of course, with the recent expose on 60 Minutes, these devices could well end up in poor Chinese town with serfs melting them down and breathing the leaden gasses, and poisoning their land. Maybe.
Great idea, with a lot of potential. One man’s garbage another man’s gold
Actually, Alan is right. More like one man’s garbage is another man’s cancer. The piece on 60 Minutes this past week was eye opening to say the least.
Great idea! If you can’t make money off your old cellphone, atleast you are helping the environment by recycling it. I think their future growth largely depends on their reach, the partnerships with retailers is the way to go.
Sounds like a great idea. I just hope the recycling doesn’t actually end up in China as it is illegal. Most recycling companies do it anyway as it is way cheaper. See the story from last Sunday’s 60 Minutes.
You can also do this…
http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/
I like my phone but the problem is the battery is dying. I would like to donate it but I don’t think anyone wants a phone with a bad battery. It is essetially worthless as a cell phone if it can’t stay charged for over a day. Some people like the homeless don’t have access to electrical outlets. With the computer monitors, if someone accidentally put it in a dumpster, do they sort it out at the garbage plant? I feel like computer recycling is relatively new and people used to just throw out there old stuff. I once threw out an old hard drive.
I used Flipswap to get rid of 2 old HP Ipaq phones over the summer, and honestly probably wouldn’t use them again. They received the phones within a week of me sending them (according to my account status), and took 3 months to look at them (even after many emails back and forth with them telling me I’d get the check in a week), then tried to ding me with a “didn’t send within 45 days of the invoice” thing. After many more emails back and forth, they finally gave me the first amount I had been quoted, but it really was a pain in the ass to deal with.
The choices we make today can affect our land and communities for generations to come. Along with recycling, choosing pre-owned products is a great way to reduce the amount of waste that is overflowing from our landfills and to reduce the amount of energy and resources used to manufacture new items.
Since 2004, we here at Zendoo.com have been working to help reduce the impact of e-waste.
Through our exclusive dealings with electronics recyclers and cell phone refurbishes, we have become the leading on-line retailer of used cell phones.
Buy used.
Stay in contact – reduce your impact.
http://www.Zendoo.com
I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not. They have a F rating from the better business bureau! Yikes! I’ve used Full Circle many times and they are rated AA…
Another brilliant Ideas.
Yeah, Full Circle Wireless is a pretty good business to sell your phones to. Thankfully, they have a pricelist that’s updated monthly.
http://www.fullcirclewireless.com