A slowly falling tide of used e-readers

[Jack Tingle]

Last year I got rid of all of my old, obsolete Pocket PC/Windows Mobile PDAs. Off to the town recycling fair with them, in an old shoebox.

Now, I have a pristine but used Ectaco jetBook, with original packaging, etc. that's going the way of the gaucho. This one will probably follow my old laptop to Best Buy's breaker's yard. I really should include my busted Kindle 3 as well.

There's something sad about getting rid of ebook readers. It's not like getting rid of books, where you can donate them to the library or sell them to a used book shop so someone else can read them. I still have the books. The old readers are just a husk, a mortal coil, shed and forgotten.

[silverraven]

Originally Posted by Jack Tingle

Last year I got rid of all of my old, obsolete Pocket PC/Windows Mobile PDAs. Off to the town recycling fair with them, in an old shoebox.

Now, I have a pristine but used Ectaco jetBook, with original packaging, etc. that's going the way of the gaucho. This one will probably follow my old laptop to Best Buy's breaker's yard. I really should include my busted Kindle 3 as well.

There's something sad about getting rid of ebook readers. It's not like getting rid of books, where you can donate them to the library or sell them to a used book shop so someone else can read them. I still have the books. The old readers are just a husk, a mortal coil, shed and forgotten.

Actually, check your library and see if they don't take ebook readers as donations. My library loans them out, so maybe they will take donations to increase their number? Worth a check, if the battery is still good.
S

[QuantumIguana]

You could donate them to a thrift store. Or you could sell them, used e-readers in working condition seem to retain some value.

[Jack Tingle]

My local libraries don't lend out jetBook readers. Most don't lend out any at all. I checked, there's no meaningful market for used jetBooks.

I hadn't thought of a thrift store, so that might be a possibility. I'm not sure if any of the customers there would want a jetBook, though, because of its obsolescence. Maybe I'll check on the way to Best Buy's recycling shelf. Thanks.

[sharphamster]

Consider your local Senior or Community center - Scalable fonts are very welcome. We have a ton of retirees where I live, and I've passed 3 readers on to older book lovers I know. It took a little coaching, and loading of a book I thought they would enjoy, but two of them are converts, and the other (who runs the resale shop for our local Habitat for Humanity and can't give up his used paperback foraging) uses his for library books.

And then they bring you boxes full of their paperbacks :]

Which got passed on to the third man I mentioned. The circle of 'Have You Read This One?' continues.

[pidgeon92]

I've got a couple I want to unload as well. I've just been too lazy to list them for sale.

[misling]

If there's any demand for them at all, you can trade them in to Amazon for store credit. Probably not much credit, if they're old, but it's better than nothing. And then they get re-sold, which is better than landfill.

[tomsem]

You can recycle your broken Kindle at no charge:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custom...deId=200197550

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by misling

If there's any demand for them at all, you can trade them in to Amazon for store credit. Probably not much credit, if they're old, but it's better than nothing. And then they get re-sold, which is better than landfill.

How does one do that?

[cromag]

Originally Posted by Jack Tingle

...
Now, I have a pristine but used Ectaco jetBook, with original packaging, etc. that's going the way of the gaucho.
...

Going the way of the Gaucho?

Mine was acting up a few months ago -- slowing down, losing it's place when shut down, etc. I was able to reset it from the main menu, and it's working fine, now.

Originally Posted by Jack Tingle

... I checked, there's no meaningful market for used jetBooks.

I hadn't thought of a thrift store, so that might be a possibility. I'm not sure if any of the customers there would want a jetBook, though, because of its obsolescence. Maybe I'll check on the way to Best Buy's recycling shelf. Thanks.

Well, aside from sending it to me ... ... I would also recommend a thrift store. In my state, at least, many will take electronic waste, so if they decide they can't sell it they can recycle it themselves. And the stores I visit aren't shy about refusing donations they don't want.

But, seriously, I have seen mini-disc players, consumer grade Polaroid instant cameras, a big gray gas mask* and all sorts of items at my local Goodwill, Salvation Army, and local charity thrift stores. There are lots of people who will buy all sorts of things as long as they're cheap -- and the store makes a couple of bucks they otherwise wouldn't have.



* I bought the gas mask for my daughter. She was in high school at the time, and going through a "steam punk" phase. For a week I was, like, the best dad ever.

[BookCat]

Giving them to charity is much better than throwing them away. Someone might be a tech collector or manage to get a broken one working. A friend of mine built a laptop from scrap.
I've always kept certain items, such as old typewriters, dating back to my uni days. I like the progression from manual to electric to electronic to laptop. I'm sentimental about stuff like that. For the same reason, I'd never get rid of an ereader. I'm not a hoarder, honest!

[teija]

I'm with the thrift store idea. Our local one has had old digital cameras and all sorts, and even more recently an old Kobo reader (non touch-screen) in a case for $20. As long as they don't ask too much, someone will always buy it.

[silverraven]

http://www.shopgoodwill.com/listings...1&ending=Items
Goodwill even has an online store to sell them.
S

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by HarryT

How does one do that?

I don't know if Amazon does this outside the US.

But if in the US you go to your Account in Amazon and to the right there's a link to "Your Trade-in Account". You sign into it, then it'll show your past trades if you have any.

To the right, again, is where you pick what you want to trade under "Trade-in Stores". Chose "Electronic" and you'll get another page where you can type in the model and see the offers.

If you accept one and you can print out the label with pre-paid postage. You also have to decide if you want the item back if they decide it wasn't quite the condition you said it was. Box it up and, IIRC, you have a week to get it in the mail. I've traded in several eReaders that way, since I liked the price and ease of shipping, and wanted payment by Amazon Credit anyway.

They also take in Books, Video Games, Movies & TV, and Music. I've sent in a few books while the trade-in prices were higher than I'd get for them anywhere else.

[Rizla]

My first dead 650 hurt. Now I don't care. Saying that, if my Nook ST dies, my lip may tremble. It's just so handy.