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If you squirrel away old mobile phones and laptops that "might come in useful one day", you're not alone. Apparently, 60% of Brits admit they have old handsets lying around at home, according to research by Carphone Warehouse, and a quarter of us hang on to laptops we no longer use. In fact, the average UK home harbours unused tech worth around £127.

In many cases, it's easier to store your old tech in a cupboard or push it under a bed than it is to sell or recycle it: it's a job that can wait for another day. But the sooner you sell it, the better price you'll get – and, if you're feeling altruistic, donating it to a good cause earlier means they'll feel the benefit for longer.

If that's inspired you to declutter your old gadgets, there are a range of options open to you. Here's everything you need to know.

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How to trade-in old tech

Many retailers let you trade in old tech for money or gift cards. How much you get will depend on the age of the device and its condition, although you should still get something even if it's broken.

At the time of writing, Carphone Warehouse offered us £85 cash for a working 64GB iPhone 8, while Apple (which used to only offer trade-ins on its own devices, but has since opened this up to competing products) offered a £75 gift card. Meanwhile, we could have got £155 from Carphone Warehouse for a working Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus.

Sony offers a trade-in scheme but it's only open to those purchasing a Sony Xperia handset. You can trade-in old devices like an old Apple iPhone or Samsung handset for cash that is transferred to your bank account (we were offered £90 for an unlocked 64GB iPhone 8), or you can double the value of the old phone by opting for vouchers that can be used to purchase Sony accessories such as headphones (in our case, £180).

Amazon will let you trade-in old Kindle e-readers and tablets, Echo smart speakers, Fire TV streaming devices, and even home security devices like Ring doorbells in exchange for an Amazon gift card. If you use the Amazon Trade-in programme, you'll also get a voucher for 20% off when purchasing a new device in the same category as the one you've traded in. We tried this out and were offered £25 for a second-generation Echo smart speaker, which cost £79.99 when purchased at launch in 2017.

Amazon doesn't only offer trade-ins on its own devices, though: you can also trade in smartphones and consoles. Once again, we checked what it would offer us for a 64GB iPhone 8 in good condition, and it came up with £72.11 (as a gift card). Of the various methods we tested, Carphone Warehouse was the most generous for that particular model – unless you were planning to buy a Sony Xperia handset with the proceeds.

GHI Tip: According to Sellmymobile.com you'll get 10% more when trading in a phone if it's unlocked - in other words, if it's not restricted for use on a specific network. If you are a Pay As You Go customer or your contract has ended, contact your mobile provider to see if you can get your phone unlocked free of charge.

You can trade in old laptops and tablets, too. We were offered a £250 credit from Apple for a 2015 MacBook with 8GB of memory and a 1.2GHz processor, and the same from Currys.

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How to recycle old tech

Recycling sites also offer cash for old phones or laptops. These sites recondition gadgets wherever possible and either sell them on or send them to developing countries where a new smartphone is unaffordable for many people. Mazuma Mobile aims to reuse 95% of the phones it receives, while Envirofone claims to recycle 98% of the handsets it collects in some way.

EcoATM is a kiosk service that will pay you to recycle your old phone. You just place it in the machine and it will examine your device to work out how much it's worth. If you decide to sell it you'll receive the money instantly. You can find them in some supermarkets and shopping centres.

Other sites like MusicMagpie and CeX will buy most of your old tech, including laptops, eReaders, MP3s and GoPros, and sell it on.

How to sell your old tech

You're likely to make more money by selling your old gadgets privately. If you're wondering how much, eBay will help you estimate what devices similar to yours are selling for right now. When we checked the 64GB iPhone 8 we used in our calculations above, the "trending price" was £106, which is significantly more than any of the trade-in offers we received.

How to donate your tech

If you don't need cash to put towards a new device, you might want to donate your old tech to help someone else. Initiatives such as Three's Reconnected Scheme let you donate your phone by post and will pass it on to charities to give to those in need. Three even gives recipients of the donated phones 90 days of free calls, texts and data.

Want to donate a laptop or other electrical? WeeeCharity collects working electrical goods free of charge to reduce waste. They're then recycled, refurbished and re-sold.

Not many high street charity shops accept old electronic devices as they'd need to test and certify them before they can be resold, which takes a certain level of expertise. However, BHF (British Heart Foundation) is an exception. Check its list of items that can't be sold in its stores and, if your device doesn't appear, take it to your closest store or get in touch to arrange a collection.

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How to wipe your smartphone or tablet

Before you sell, donate, or send your device to a recycling site, there are a few steps you need to take to ensure your personal information stored on the device is completely removed.

First remove the SIM card and microSD card, if there is one. If you've got an iPhone or iPad you're probably using iCloud to store your contacts, photos, documents, emails and apps. Make sure you sign out of the storage service before you pass on the device so that the person that ends up with it can't access your information.
To do this, open Settings menu, tap your name at the top of the screen, then scroll to the bottom and tap Sign Out. Enter your Apple ID password and tap Turn Off to disable the Find My iPhone service. Make sure the options to keep a copy of your Contacts, Stocks and Safari data are switched off (the switches will be slid to the left), then press Sign Out again. Finally, press Sign Out for a third time (this time on the dialog that's popped up).
Now use the Factory Reset tool to remove photos, music, documents and contacts that are stored on the device, and erase Facebook, Google, Twitter and other accounts that you have signed in to.
To do this on an iPhone or iPad, open Settings, then select General and scroll down and tap Reset. From here select Erase All Content and Settings. If you're using a passcode on the phone, you'll be required to re-enter it to complete the reset.
On a Google Android smartphone or tablet, open the Settings menu and tap System followed by Advanced. Now tap 'Reset options' followed by 'Delete all data (factory reset)'.

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How to wipe your laptop

Getting your laptop ready to sell isn't just a case of deleting your files and photos and logging out of your online accounts. Even deleting your cookies won't be enough, as all this information can be recovered relatively easily and could leave you – and your data – at risk. To ensure your laptop is completely safe to pass on, you'll need to remove every trace of your data from the device. Here's how:

On a Windows 10 laptop, use the Reset function. Plug the laptop in, then select the Start menu in the bottom left-hand corner. Type 'reset' and select 'Reset this PC' from the menu. Now press Get Started, then select Remove Everything. On the next screen, click either 'Cloud download' if you want to download the latest version of Windows from the web, or 'Local reinstall' if you want to reinstall the version that's stored on your computer already. Confirm the reset in the final screen on this pop-up.
If you are using an older version of Windows, there's no reset function. Instead, download Eraser 6 which will overwrite your files several times with carefully selected patterns and ensure all data is removed from the hard drive.
For Mac users, you'll need to format the Startup Disc. Hold down the Command and R keys at the same time. From the MacOS Recovery Window that appears, select Disk Utility. Choose your device from the sidebar and then click the Erase Tab, enter the required information and click Erase.
If you are using a Chromebook, you'll need to use Powerwash. Press ctrl-alt-shift-r and select Restart. When a box appears, click Powerwash followed by Continue, and follow the on-screen prompts.

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