Make Money Now Selling Broken Electronics & More!

by Melissa on May 24, 2009

I sell on eBay but I have to admit, a little time has passed since I listed an item for sale. Today, since it’s Sunday which is a good day to list on eBay, I thought I would put a few things up for sale. I decided to list a pair of coupons for Sunglass Hut offering $50 off of a purchase of $200, a lot of Star Wars books my son says he will never get around to reading, and a broken Nintendo DS Lite. That’s right–a BROKEN Nintendo DS Lite.

I don’t know what made me do a search to see what-if at all-a broken DS Lite

could fetch on eBay, but when I looked, I was surprised at how many broken Nintendo DS Lite systems

were listed, and had been sold on eBay. Then I had that “Ah Ha” moment. Of course broken electronics sell well on eBay; people buy them for parts.

I then started checking eBay for other broken electronics and sure enough, you can buy practically ANYTHING broken which means, you can SELL anything that’s broken and can be used for its’ parts. That includes, cell phones and PDA’s, game systems, DVD players, MP3′s, computers, digital cameras and more. In fact, when I did a search for the word “broken,” it returned over 10,000 items for sale!

That just got me thinking about how many broken things people throw away, offer up in the “free” section of Craig’s List, or donate to Goodwill or a local thrift shop. These items offer a great opportunity to make some money on eBay by listing them as useful items for parts. In fact, I bet some people throw items away just because they can’t figure out how to use them, or because simple operator error caused the item to stop working.

There are also some very creative people out there that actually look for broken things to turn into beautiful works of art. For instance, broken china is in much demand on eBay by the crafters who make mosaics out of the china tiles. Decorative painters look for old windows to paint–with or without the glass. Those who make costume jewelry may look for typewriter keys that come from old typewriters so they can make charms for necklaces, earrings and bracelets. The list goes on and on!

Next time you come across something in your house that’s broken, think twice about throwing it away. Check ebay to see if you can sell it for its’ parts. Or, if you are somewhat enterprising, you can turn finding and selling broken items into a cool part or full-time eBay business.