Technologies
We Found the 7 Best Places to Sell Your Used and Unwanted Electronics in 2025
Your old tech devices don’t have to go in the trash after an upgrade. We’ve found the top marketplaces that will pay you for your used electronics.
Our Experts
- Author of Taking your Android Tablets to the Max
What to consider
Know the value
Before you decide to sell, you can check any trade-in service to get an idea of the value of your electronics.
Check multiple services
There’s no such thing as one price. Check around at multiple trade-in stores to see if the value changes.
Beware of scams
Only sell your electronics at places with buyer and seller protections so you can keep your cash.
Be honest
If you aren’t totally honest about the condition of your device, you won’t get the kind of money you thought you were going to get.
Technology is constantly evolving, and companies are always pushing new and more innovative gadgets. If you want to keep up with the latest wave of tech, you’ll need to upgrade often, from iPhones to wireless earbuds. And that’s definitely true right now following Apple’s recent iPhone 17 and AirPods Pro 3 releases. But what happens to our old devices when we upgrade to something new and shiny? Usually, they just end up cluttering our drawers. From previous-gen phones to old headphones and aging gaming consoles, we all have stuff we no longer use, taking up space we don’t have.
The good news is that retired devices aren’t entirely useless. Several online marketplaces exist where you can sell them for a few extra bucks. If you’ve recently upgraded to a new phone, replaced your laptop or want to save up for a new one, selling your unwanted devices can be a great way to declutter and make some money. And if a gadget still works, you can also consider trading it for a discount on a new one.
Selling your old gadgets is a smart move. Even if you don’t plan to buy something new right away, having a little extra money never hurts, and recycling responsibly is a bonus.
From Apple gear and smartwatches to gaming consoles and fitness trackers, I’ve rounded up the best places for you to sell used electronics. These services offer competitive rates and various ways to cash in, whether you’re looking for trade-ins or straight-up payments. Our team at CNET has personally used many of these platforms, giving us a solid foundation to help you choose the right one.
What is the best place to sell used electronics?
Regarding value, ease of use and knowing you’re protected against scams, Swappa is one of the best options out there. There are some great options available if all you want to do is put your phone or tablet in a box and get paid a few days later but if your goal is to make the most money and do so quickly, you’ll find this is the ideal option.
Swappa allows you to list your own tech at whatever price you think is fair, and the company helps you make that decision by giving you a look at what other versions of your products are selling for. When you sell on Swappa, you sell directly to another person. If someone is interested in making a purchase but would like additional photos or details, they can request them directly from you.
When it’s time to make a purchase, Swappa ensures you are paid quickly and the buyer is assured that you’ll ship the product promptly. Everyone wins and the Swappa staff are involved in the whole process to avoid scams.
Best places to sell used electronics for 2025
Pros
- Very few limits on hardware you can sell
- Extremely helpful staff
- Protections for buyers and sellers
- Quick payout
Cons
- Frequently requires negotiating with the buyer
- PayPal-only
Where many of the other services on this list have you send hardware to them for evaluation and payout, Swappa is a direct-to-consumer service. You list the hardware you want to sell with photos and whatever price you want to start at and, once the listing is approved by staff, you’ll be listed for any buyer looking to make a purchase. If you’re buying, Swappa is sure to enforce timelines on shipping and payment so everyone is treated fairly. While this method requires a little more work on behalf of the seller, the result is frequently a much higher payout and the Swappa team protects both sides of the transaction from any shady behavior.
Pros
- Quick payout
- Decent seller protections
Cons
- Amazon-only payout
- Limited hardware accepted
Amazon’s trade-in program works a lot like its retail store. You do an easy search for an electronic item, enter any necessary details (storage, screen size and so on) and then select the device’s condition. Amazon will then make an offer for your electronic gadget and, if you accept it, provide a free shipping label for the item. The number of items Amazon accepts spans a wide spectrum, including video doorbells, wireless routers and other home security devices.
Once you ship the item, Amazon will inspect it to ensure the item matches your original description. If it all checks out, your Amazon account will be credited with an Amazon eGift card for the offer amount. If the item is in better condition than you described, Amazon’s customer service promises to pay you more. If you’d rather trade in a device in person, Amazon has a list of locations where you can take Amazon devices and select phones. Amazon states that even nonworking devices can be accepted. The drawback? Your money is sent exclusively to your Amazon account.
Pros
- Multiple payment options
- Great hardware library
Cons
- 2-day shipping costs more
Unlike the previous services for selling electronics online, ItsWorthMore will pay you through your choice of PayPal, Zelle, gift card or an old-fashioned paper check. The process for selling electronic goods entails answering some questions about the old cell phone, tablet, Apple Watch (or other Apple device) or computer you’re selling. ItsWorthMore will then give you an offer and, if you accept it, provide you with a prepaid shipping label. During the checkout process, you can select how you want to receive your payment.
You also have the option to pay $15 for two-day shipping as well as a 24-hour processing time. Otherwise, standard shipping and a turnaround target time of 72 hours. Processing can take up to five business days. When your device is received, ItsWorthMore will verify if the indicated working condition is accurate, which means checking whether it’s in good condition, fair, broken and so on. If there’s a discrepancy, you’ll have a chance to ask for the device back or accept the revised offer.
Pros
- In-store experience is super convenient
- Recycling options are available if the value is low
- Many kinds of hardware accepted
Cons
- Best Buy gift card only
Getting a quote from Best Buy is as simple as picking a product category, manufacturer, model and condition. Once you’ve filled out the questionnaire, the tool will estimate the unwanted device and give you an instant quote. The offer amount, if you choose to accept it, will only be awarded as store credit in the form of a Best Buy gift card. The company lists a handful of stores that don’t participate in the trade-in program.
Best Buy’s payment turnaround time is slower than other services, but the company accepts a wider variety of gadgets, matching nearly every type of electronic device it sells. This includes various laptop options, smartphone options, wearables, digital camera options and video game consoles. You can trade in your gaming system, video games and an iPhone or iPad at the same time, for example.
Pros
- Fast turnaround after a quote is made
- Custom quotes for unlisted hardware
- Multiple payout options
Cons
- Offer adjustment process after delivery can take a while
BuyBackWorld will buy a range of products, including phones, tablets, iPods, cameras, game consoles, computers, headphones, drones and more. You can even get a custom quote for products that aren’t listed on the site. After getting a quote and selecting how you want to be paid, send your items to BuyBackWorld. Once they receive your shipment, they’ll inspect your items and you’ll get paid. If the quote is adjusted after inspection, you can accept the new offer or have your device returned to you.
Pros
- In-store experience is convenient
- In-store recycling is helpful
Cons
- Apple gift card only
- Limited non-Apple trade in opportunities
Apple’s trade-in program will take devices from a range of companies, not just its own. Currently, Apple will accept your laptop, smartphones, tablets, watches and «other» devices and old equipment. If the company doesn’t have a trade-in offer for your device, like iPods or AirPods, Apple will recycle it free of charge. Apple states it will take two to three weeks to complete the online trade-in process.
If you want to place your order for a new device right now, the company will credit your payment method with the trade-in value once it’s processed. Alternatively, if Apple Stores are open in your area, you can visit the store and get an instant store credit for your trade-in. It’s especially helpful with the launch of the iPhone 16. Using Apple’s trade-in service makes sense if you’re already planning on buying a new iPhone or Mac. It’s not a worthwhile option for someone who wants to buy the latest Samsung Galaxy, for instance.
Pros
- Many hardware types accepted
- Direct Deposit payments
Cons
- Turnaround time is a little long
BackMarket makes it very easy to trade in your old gear for cash in your account, quickly. The company accepts phones, tablets, game consoles, and even headphones with payouts of up to $700 depending on the product and its condition. Getting started is quick and easy, all you have to do is answer a few questions and then you’ll see the offer. If you accept, you ship your device out (which is free), and then once it’s inspected they send you the money.
Factors to consider when selling your used electronics
Know the value: Nearly every service will tell you the value of your tech before you actually list it, by asking a series of questions about the current state of your tech. Using any of those services will let you know what you can expect to make before you make any decisions.
Check multiple services: Every service offers a different price for just about everything, and while most of the time those differences are only a couple of dollars in either direction, you will occasionally find significantly better offers depending on the time of year. For example, if you’re selling a phone, its value is typically at its highest just before a new phone is released.
Beware of scams: If you’re using a service that lets you talk directly to a person who might be buying, it’s important to keep that conversation on the service you’re using. Don’t start separate conversations, especially if that person is promising to pay you more or help you avoid seller’s fees.
Be honest: If your tech has some scratches or damage, be sure to claim this damage. Failure to do so will end in not getting the amount you were promised, and in some cases, can result in your getting banned from selling other tech in the future.
Used electronics FAQs
Are used electronics worth anything?
Broadly speaking, if you have something less than five years old and it’s in good condition, there’s a good chance you could sell it. With smartphones and tablets, anything made by Apple tends to sell for more, even when it’s slightly older.
What do I do if I can’t sell my used electronics?
If you’ve looked up the value of your tech and it’s not much, but you still want to get it out of the house, you can still recycle that tech responsibly instead of throwing it away. We recommend using the Best Buy recycling service, which can be used in the store or online.
What if my used electronics have swollen or damaged batteries?
If you’re trying to get rid of something with a swollen or puffy battery, please do not throw it away or attempt to ship it to a sales facility. Swollen batteries represent a significant fire risk and should be disposed of quickly and correctly. The best way to do this is to look up e-waste facilities in your area and safely deliver either just the battery or the whole device to that facility.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, Sept. 24
Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Sept. 24.
Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.
Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Hint: There are a lot of S words in it today. I couldn’t figure out what the editors wanted for 5-Across and 8-Across, so I solved the other clues and those answers filled in. Need some answers? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.
If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.
Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword
Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.
Mini across clues and answers
1A clue: Pond gunk
Answer: SCUM
5A clue: With 8-Across, like an unlimited buffet
Answer: ALLYOU
8A clue: See 5-Across
Answer: CANEAT
9A clue: Opponent of Athens in the Peloponnesian War
Answer: SPARTA
10A clue: «Keep it down!»
Answer: SHH
Mini down clues and answers
1D clue: Outs that advance the runner, in baseball lingo
Answer: SACS
2D clue: Put your hands together
Answer: CLAP
3D clue: Bone on the same side of the arm as the pinky
Answer: ULNA
4D clue: Mike who voiced Shrek
Answer: MYERS
6D clue: Hippocratic ___ (doctor’s pledge)
Answer: OATH
7D clue: State with license plates that read «Greatest Snow on Earth»
Answer: UTAH
Technologies
NASA Is Sending Astronauts to Circle the Moon in February 2026: What to Know
The astronauts won’t be landing or picking up moon rocks during their 10-day mission.
It’s been more than 50 years since astronauts last went to the moon, and yet few NASA missions stir the kind of excitement that the Apollo program once did. But now, NASA has new moon plans. The upcoming Artemis II mission, scheduled for February, will be the closest humanity has come to the moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. And it’ll be setting the stage for another moon landing.
Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.
On Tuesday, NASA announced details of the upcoming mission, which will send four astronauts around the moon and back again.
Artemis II: The Plan
The Artemis II launch window opens Feb. 5, 2026, and lasts up to eight days. That means the mission will launch on Feb. 5 at the earliest and Feb. 13 at the latest.
Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen will crew Artemis II. Wiseman, Glover and Koch are all Americans, and Hansen will be the first Canadian ever to travel to the moon.
NASA will use the same systems it did during the uncrewed Artemis I flight test in 2022. The launch will use NASA’s Space Launch System rocket, which was developed by Aerojet Rocketdyne, Boeing, Northrop Grumman and the United Launch Alliance.
After launch, the Orion spacecraft will perform a series of maneuvers to raise its orbit around Earth. NASA says that Orion will be 46,000 miles away from Earth during this time. For reference, the International Space Station orbits at around 250 miles above our planet.
Orion will orbit Earth twice before separating from the upper stage of the Space Launch System rocket. From there, manual controls will be engaged and the crew will be on its way to the moon. After a few days, the crew will overshoot the moon by about 4,700 miles, giving the crew a rare glimpse of the Earth and the moon at the same time, with the moon in the foreground.
After the overshoot, the crew will begin its return home. NASA refers to this as a free ride, as the crew essentially just has to wait for gravity to pull Orion back to Earth. The trip will take 10 days in total.
We’ll have to wait until 2027 for a moon landing
By the time the Artemis II crew circles the moon, it will have been 54 years since NASA’s final Apollo mission sent astronauts to the moon in December 1972.
During that 12-day mission, the Apollo 17 crew landed on the moon, collected space rocks and investigated potential volcanic activity. The mission was famous for being the first to include a civilian scientist, geologist Harrison Schmitt.
The Artemis II crew will come closer to the moon than any human has since the Apollo 17 mission, but they won’t land on the moon’s surface. Instead, they will fly around it.
The Artemis II mission serves as a test flight to see how well the Space Launch System rocket and Orion perform. The mission will also test and observe the spacecraft to ensure it works as expected. Think of Artemis II as a dress rehearsal for a follow-up mission, Artemis III, which will include a crewed moon landing.
Artemis III is planned for 2027. If it stays on schedule, it will be the mission that puts humans back on the moon for the first time in 55 years. The crew plans to touch down in one of 13 planned landing sites, including the previously untouched south pole of the moon.
Technologies
Keep an Eye Out for a Newly Discovered Comet in October
You might not even need binoculars to see this comet, named SWAN25B.
No tricks, but skywatchers may be in for an October treat when a newly discovered comet passes through our skies. Comet C/2025 R2 (SWAN) — or SWAN25B for short — looks to be heading our way.
The comet — named after the science instrument aboard the SOHO space observatory, which observes the sun — was first spotted on Sept. 11 by Ukrainian amateur astronomer Vladimir Bezugly, while studying images captured by SWAN.
«This is a milestone, the 20th official SWAN comet so far,» Bezugly told Universe Today.
Read more: 7 Stargazing Apps for Spotting Constellations and More
Bezugly made the discovery one day before the comet reached its closest point to the sun, which is known as perihelion.
«It was an easy comet for detection due to sufficient brightness in the (ultraviolet) band and location in the SWAN images, exactly in its center,» Bezugly told Universe Today. «But it was difficult due to the very close location to the sun and angular motion, which is very close to the sun’s motion in SWAN images.»
On Sept. 17, an observatory in Chile snapped a photograph using a telescope, showing SWAN25B with a bright coma and striking emerald ion tail. A coma is an atmosphere that forms around a comet as it nears the sun. The sun’s heat causes the frozen gases and icy chunks in the comet’s nucleus to change and create an atmosphere.
«With its orbit still poorly constrained due to a very short observational arc, this comet has quickly become a fascinating target to follow in the coming weeks,» the team in Chile said.
What exactly is a comet?
NASA calls comets «cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rock, and dust that orbit the sun,» noting that «when frozen, they are the size of a small town.»
Their most famous comet feature is probably the tail. When comets come near the sun, they heat up and spew dust and gases, forming the tail, which streams away from the sun. NASA says there are likely billions of comets orbiting our sun.
The most famous comet is Halley’s comet, which appears every 76 years. It was last seen in Earth’s skies in 1986 and will return in 2061.
When should I look for the new comet?
According to LiveScience, the comet should pass closest to Earth around Oct. 19-20, and some astronomers think it could be bright enough to observe without a telescope or binoculars. Look for a faint, fuzzy patch of light. A smartphone app can help you find it.
You can track the position of SWAN25B using TheSkyLive.com, which gives the comet’s distance from the Earth in real time and offers a neat interactive star map. That map lets you enter your location so you can see what the sky looks like from where you live.
It’s much easier to see the comet, or any cosmic features in the night sky, if you head away from city lights and go to a dark area in the country. Try to find a clear night, when the clouds won’t impact visibility. SWAN25B might be bright enough to observe by looking up in the sky.
More skygazing highlights
October is already a busy month for skywatchers.
A supermoon will hang in the night sky bigger and brighter than usual during its perigee, and a great time to head outside to see it is Oct. 6, when there’s a full moon. The October supermoon will be the first of four consecutive supermoons, which we can expect every month through January of next year.
If you’re looking for help to guide your skywatching this October, head to our list of Best Stargazing Apps.
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