Britons could be sitting on thousands of pounds worth of unused tech to sell without realising it.
New research from the Recycle Your Electricals campaign found households could earn between £1,304 and £6,331 by selling such items through platforms like eBay, Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree.
Around 880million unused working electrical items are currently gathering dust in the UK, which works out to approximately 31 per household.
Financial expert Emmanuel Asuquo, who teamed up with Recycle Your Electricals, commented: “There’s no denying that this time of year can be a financial struggle for many, and it’s common to feel overwhelmed by the huge amount of advice out there.
“Normally I’m helping people tighten their belts, but here you’ve got an incredible untapped opportunity to earn extra cash equivalent to over half a month’s average UK salary, for around a day of your time spent decluttering.”
He added: “I’m surprised how much money can be made.
“I’ve estimated I have around £2,000 worth of my own unused electrical items in my house alone – the cash is literally waiting for you in your drawers.
“It’s a really simple yet hugely effective way to declutter your home from items you no longer use and reap the benefits.”
Buying and selling used electricals is part of a growing trend – a quarter (26 percent) of adults said they were open to selling these electricals and over a third (35 percent) were open to buying.
Depending on the age and brand of the item, those with unwanted mobile phones could expect to make between £75 and £554, according to the campaign’s research.
Unwanted tablets could earn between £50 and £649 on re-selling sites.
Even unwanted electricals such as kettles and electric toothbrushes could top up wallets this winter, with kettles typically selling for between £15 and £116 and electric toothbrushes, £18 and £105.
The top items UK households hold on to include:
- Charging cables
- Phones
- Tablets
- Speakers
- Laptops
- Hairdryers
- Toothbrushes
- Kettles
- Games consoles
- Smart Watches
- Blenders
- Irons
- Shavers
- Straighteners.
While further research shows one in five people are uncomfortable re-selling their tech due to concerns about deleting and transferring data properly, there are ways to do this safely.
We Fight Fraud’s expert Tony Sales, who also teamed up with the campaigners, has shared an updated step-by-step guide for data deletion so UK households can erase data properly.
Recycle Your Electricals has also curated a best practice guide to selling electricals, which can be found here.
Scott Butler, executive director at Material Focus, which runs the Recycle Your Electricals campaign, said: “We’ve all got that drawer of doom or cluttered cupboard with unused electricals at home.
“Your cupboard of electricals can be cashed in. If your electricals are working, they can make you money.
“Just make sure that you follow our guidance to destroy any data on your devices and our tips to get the best sale price. And if they are broken, don’t forget – anything with a plug, cable or battery should never be binned and should always be reused or recycled.”
