We've accumulated several cell phones (me, DH & DS) that I want to get rid of. What do you do with your old cell phones? I've heard that you can donate them. Does anyone know who takes old cell phones? And, can you write it off on your taxes? TIA

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~~~MsMiser

Usually you can take them to one of your cell carrier's stores. I know Cingular (ATT) used to donate them to womens shelters.

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Try the Post Office. Mine has a recycling program for old cell phones, PDAs, MP3 players, digital cameras, inkjet cartridges, and small electronics. The Post Office provides a postage-paid plastic bag for those items. Look for a small plastic bag that says "Mail it back It's Free".

This is a pretty awesome way to donate:

Welcome to Cell Phones for Soldiers!

Cell Phones for Soldiers hopes to turn old cell phones into more than 12 million minutes of prepaid calling cards for U.S. troops stationed overseas in 2008. To do so, Cell Phones for Soldiers expects to collect 15,000 cell phones each month through a network of more than 3,000 collection sites across the country.

The phones are sent to ReCellular, which pays Cell Phones for Soldiers for each donated phone – enough to provide an hour of talk time to soldiers abroad.

“Americans will replace an estimated 130 million cell phones this year,” says Mike Newman, vice president of ReCellular, “with the majority of phones either discarded or stuffed in a drawer. Most people don’t realize that the small sacrifice of donating their unwanted phones can have a tremendous benefit for a worthy cause like Cell Phones for Soldiers.”

Cell Phones for Soldiers was founded by teenagers Robbie and Brittany Bergquist from Norwell, Mass., with $21 of their own money. Since then, the registered 501c3 non-profit organization has raised almost $1 million in donations and distributed more than 400,000 prepaid calling cards to soldiers serving overseas.

“Cell Phones for Soldiers started as a small way to show our family’s appreciation for the men and women who have sacrificed the day-to-day contact with their own families to serve in the U.S. armed forces,” says the teens’ father, Bob Bergquist. “Over the past few years, we have been overwhelmed by the generosity of others. But, we have also seen the need to support our troops continue to grow as more troops are sent overseas for longer assignments.”

Through increased fundraising efforts, the Bergquist family hopes to raise more than $9 million in the next five years to fund new programs, such as providing video phones with prepaid service to allow soldiers abroad to see their families on a regular basis.

You can check for locations near you on the site.

Started by a couple of kids...truly amazing.

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Contact any organization or group that provides services for victims of domestic violence. They will generally take those phones.

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

Our elementary school recycles them, too. I think they sent them to the women's domestic shelters. We donated several there over the years, but my baby just "graduated" 5th grade, so I'll have to see if the middle school or high school takes them. It's very convenient and I know they go to a great cause.

I think any of these places would be great. I hate having things sit around that are useless to me, but could be used by someone else. Hmmm....DH?? JK!! No, I guess I'll keep him!!! Just coundn't resist!

Lisa

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LOL Lisa

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions, you all are great!

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No outfit is complete without cat hairs!

~~~MsMiser

There was a post somewhere, here maybe??? That told you how to wipe everything off of your old cell phone before you donate it. Just hitting "delete" does not do it, I guess. I'll see if I can dig up the info. for you.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

I usually give them to my kids to play with -- we usually only get a new phone when the old one no longer works, so we can't donate them.

Our elementary school recycles them -- not sure who they go to -- and there is a recycle box at my Credit Union that sends used phones to soliders.

I was going to post this.........I love that this organization was started by kids!

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Nicole

Thanks for the giggle!

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Nicole

I read that website a couple years ago - it was a bit different then. It's really grown! (So have the kids!)


I was in (happy!) tears by the time I read everything. I was just so blown away.

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I can tell you what "not" to do with them. Let your 6 yr old play with it.

I had an old cell phone, and he kept bugging me for it. I explained to him that it wasn't activated and wouldn't call anyone, but I decided to let him charge it to play games on. A little while later he comes running into the room all excited. "Mommy, it works! I dialed numbers and someone answered."
What?
"Someone answered and they asked me lots of questions"
Knock, Knock
Apparently he called 911
He answered his name and address then decided to hang up.
The police were nice about it, I apologized, and ds only plays games on his game boy now.

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Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.

I donate mine to a women's abuse shelter, but our school also collects them. I think the Cell Phones for Soldiers is a great idea!

We sell ours back to a couple of companies online. I think the last one we used was CELL FOR CASH - Get Cash for Your Old Cell Phones or SellYourCell.com . You look thru their list of cell phones they're accepting, mark the ones you have to sell and they'll either send you a postage-paid box or you can download a postage-paid label from their website. A few years ago we had a lot of accumulated cell phones and made some pretty good money from it. We received our check in less than a month.

Would have thought twice about tossin mine if It had even crossed my mind to donate them But at least now I know of some great places to donate them to for next time...Thanks!

yeah they can call 911 activated or not which is why abuse shelters can make use of them 911 centers have a time with them from news stories I've read from people giving kids their phones like you did not knowing.

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I don't even want to hear that! DH had some "private" pics of me on his old cell phone. He sold that phone to a stranger (after we got our new ones) because the guy broke his and didn't want to buy a new one to finish his contract. DH said he "deleted" everything off the phone first, but he's less tech savvy than I am. Wait til I tell DH! Grrrr..... men!

Hope I don't run into any creepy strangers eyeballing me. Guess I need to make a mental note to not tell anybody, "Take a picture, it'll last longer.". I'd be afraid they'd relpy, "I've already got one!".

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No outfit is complete without cat hairs!

~~~MsMiser

I sell them on eBay.

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Mary

You can pick up a postage paid envelope at petsmart to mail in your phone. They recycle them for Petsmart Charities. They also except empty printer cartridges, too!

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Shelley
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~Mom to Andy-11/3/05 and Ryan-7/31/08~