"The latest trend is stores and online retailers like Amazon.com offering cash or trade-ins for your old electronics," Lisa Lee Freeman of Consumer Reports said.
Best Buy, for instance, will take back "gently used" laptops, iPods, and mobile phones right at the store with a Best Buy receipt.
At Best Buy online, you'll be able to trade in a wider variety of products, even older items bought at other stores. As with many other retailers, you'll get a gift card in exchange.
Radio Shack also buys old electronics in stores or online.
And Target runs an electronics trade-in program with the company NextWorth.
Prices vary.
For instance, a 16-gig iPhone can get $125 on the site Cell it Used, $132 on Gazelle, and nearly $250 on Glyde.
"To get the most for your electronics, try to hang on to accessories like manuals, cases, and chargers. The original boxes help, too," Freeman said.
And even if the retailer won't give you anything for your old stuff, usually you can still send it in and the company will recycle it responsibly.
