A lot of Americans these days aren’t happy with old technology, and are ready to run out and buy whatever new or shiny model is released, even if their smartphone or tablet still works perfectly fine. And it turns out, a lot of those people don’t realize they could probably make a lot of money from their old devices.
A new survey reveals:
- The average person has $199 in unused tech items in their homes.
- Overall, that means there’s close to $43 billion in unused tech in American homes.
- Of course the longer they hold on to that tech, the more it depreciates in value.
- In fact, data shows that items like cell phones, computers and tablets deprecate an average of 26% over a year.
- Overall, 80% of Americans have a mobile phone at home that they aren’t using, while 38% have an obsolete piece of tech.
- One third of Americans don’t realize they could trade in their old phones for cash.
- The average person holds on to an old phone for over a year after they stop using it.
- With phones depreciating in value by 36% over a year, that’s a loss of $87.
Of course how much your tech is worth depends on what it is.
- For example, iPhones depreciate by about $108 over a year, while Samsungs only lose about $66.
- MacBooks depreciate by 41% over a year, meaning they lose $140 in value.
- Tablets depreciate by $85 each year, while wearable watches lose about $90.
And it certainly seems that Americans are ready to rid their homes of old devices.
- 51% of Americans say devices are cluttering up their drawers
- 39% say they are cluttering up their closets
- 23% say the same about their bedrooms.