Chances are you got one or two gifts that you don’t want or need this holiday season. I mean how many wool sweaters, wireless mice or NERF guns do you really need? or maybe you got a sweet new iPhone 4S and you no longer need your that iPhone 3GS. Well, instead of battling the crowds to return those items or simply tossing away those old electronics, two Boston startups are here to help you capitalize on those unwanted items. best of all, you don’t have to leave your couch. (Technically, you do when you mail them, but shopping can be done on the couch.) Check them out and let us know what you are doing with your unwanted gifts.
You remember the old days at cafeteria lunch – I’ll give you my apple for your snack pack – right? Trading goods is as old school as it comes. and with the introduction of the internet and mobile devices trading goods is now that much easier. Swap.com acts as a marketplace for users to turn what they no longer want into what they have always wanted.
The service is free and extremely easy to use. just log in through Facebook, select items that you want to swap and then start browsing for the stuff that you want. because Swap.com is an open marketplace you will have to work things out with your fellow swapper in order to finalize the deal. You can literally trade anything, even Groupons and Gift Cards!
Here is a video for more info on how to use Swap.com
Re-commerce giant Gazelle.com does the dirty work for you. and by dirty work we mean give you straight cash for your old electronics. It is as easy as it sounds. The web interface allows you to select the item that you want to get rid of, gives you a cash estimate and even pays for shipping and handling. They even have a mobile app so you can sell your old phone from your new phone.
The best part of using Gazelle is that they will even recycle all used electronics in an environmentally friendly way. and, just as a kicker, say your trying to get rid of an AT&T 16GB iPhone 4 right now, you can get $157.
I challenge you to use these local companies instead of eBay and Craigslist this year.
What are you doing with your unwanted gifts this year?