Buy Used Cell Phones

Like most households with teenage kids, almost everyone in the household has a cell phone.  And what's more significant is that there might even be more cell phones in the household than users or live lines.  I guess that after a while this would be the normal state of things.

I reason it out this way, the parents buy a cell phone.  And sooner or later, a need would arise for the kids to have their own cell phones.  There are only two alternatives, a hand-me-down cell phone or a newly bought one.  In this case, the newly bought phone may or may not be new at all.  It could just as well be a previously owned phone.  If the new owner is still practically a kid and not yet a teenager, it doesn't make much sense to get an expensive new phone with all the latest features.  Buying a used phone for a child makes sense since the main purpose of the phone is for communication.  Unlike newer models which were designed with a whole lot of other features that judging by the feature list, it doesn't look like a phone anymore.

In whatever state the new phones may be, there is also another factor to be considered in owning a mobile phone.  The normal wear and tear of these electronic gadgets is harder on the devices than other electronic devices.  Mobile phones have a higher rate of use than the home phone.  Besides, not all mobile phones were designed to be used in the snow or rain.  And with this level of use, equipment breakdown is also expected to increase in frequency.

Going by the earlier logic of alternatives, there are also only two such choices: replace the phone or have it repaired.  At some point the phone has to be replaced.  This leaves the old unit as a spare phone, just in case the need arises.

Of course, there are instances when you just want to have a new phone with more features.  That is also a valid reason to upgrade to a new phone.

In the above scenario, it's easy to see that there are a lot of perfectly usable phones out there, in storage somewhere.  And if the need arises, these phones might just come out of storage when the newer phones are out of service.  Or they could be sold online instead.  That's one way of recycling, and earning at the same time.