CG’s Devin writes:
I doubt you guys have quite the amount of gadget clutter as those of use who accrue them for a living, but if you’ve even got half our volume of old cameras, phones, and devices in general laying around you may find Gazelle’s service helpful. Not everyone has a used computer recycler like RePC in the Northwest. And while GameStop might buy your DS and there’s always Craigslist, it might be nice to have a central location with competitive (and market-generated) pricing for your old gear. It’ll recycle stuff for you as well if it has no market value.They wouldn’t buy my Trace, and they offered me $74 for my Ocean, which is probably market value although I bet I could get $100 if I tried real hard elsewhere. Selling an old MacBook looked pretty easy, though selling a Thinkpad was kind of a mess of model numbers which would be trouble for a clueless user who found it in their basement. Give it a shot and see if it’s something you’d use.
There are tons of other established companies that do the same thing, like http://www.SecondRotation.com for example.
actually I think Gazelle is secondrotation.com they have a link on there that says “What happened to second rotation?”
http://blabtech.blogspot.com
Oops. Just read the CNET article and I guess this actually is a relaunch/rebrand of Second Rotation… guess I am now pointing that out to the folks on TC.
I used them recently to get rid of my old Nokia e61 and it worked great. When I didn’t send in my device promptly to them, they even sent me a box in the mail with postage and everything so it was ready to go. I’ll use them again.
Craigslist came out before eBay? Wow. This site seems useful, but others like it really don’t give you much for your stuff…
http://blabtech.blogspot.com
$130 for a wii in excellent condition? uhhhh…
Neat idea but really small election of products. If these guys want to grow they should consider white labeling the platform to niche markets, e.g. http://www.audiogon.com
FreeiPhoneswap.com does this for the iPhone, NY Times wrote an article about them – http://tinyurl.com/682b4b and they have since raised the offer price for the iPhones by $50 http://tinyurl.com/639jzj
This means you can get the new 3G iphone free, and still have $50 extra.
Obviously this is a service geared towards those that do not want to bother with multiple contacts fees etc on ebay and craigslist.
They’re offering me a whopping $20 for my Eee PC! This site is going to be SO compelling…..
For some reason click the working optical drive. Mine comes up at $145.
Worst rebrand ever…Gazelle? What rocket scientist came up with this name….uh, Gazelles are fast so I guess lets name it Gazelle.
Really, i don’t think its that bad.
Hm… they’re offering me $60 for my old Blackberry, when it’s selling on Ebay/Craigslist for at least double that. As much as I hate the hassle of both those, it’s worth it for an extra $60.
Aah simple services how I love thee. Service works well as a buyer, but as a seller I would personally steer clear. That doesn’t mean that people aren’t lazy enough to just take the smaller price, or stupid enough rather.
Service is a bit of a rip off from the seller point of view… they’re low balling by quite a bit.
It is good for someone who is selling some thing. They might get better price but for the buyer it means he/she might be paying more than he/she might pay at other places. It’s buyer choice really these days, but Gazelle does have an appeal.
Ah, this article caught my attention because of my Google alerts for our site, Bonanzle, that also cuts out a lot of the steps from the eBay/Craigslist way of doing things. We’re still a traditional model to the extent that a real person is buying or selling your stuff, but we too are trying to leverage simplicity to an extent comparable to what Gazelle seems to be doing here.
I think there will definitely be a market for Gazelle… it’s the same people who sell their stuff at garage sales or donate it to charity. Executive-types who just need to move on. Looks like a great service.
Bill
I’ve tried Gazelle last week and I’m so amazed of its services. It’s truly better than eBay. However, since it has less traffic, I find it hard to sell my products there. So, I’m. thinking of sticking back to eBay.
Gosh, I was really excited about this concept. Unfortunately, after trying them, all I can say is:
BEWARE OF GAZELLE!
I shipped them my camcorder, in mint condition, and after a few weeks of processing, they claimed it had “a broken door hinge” and will recycle it for me for $0, reneging on their original offer of $300. It was working perfectly when it left my door, and they broke it (either through shipping or handling). I’m glad I took pictures of the unit before to prove this.
So either they don’t have their act together, or they’re a tried and true scam. Beware!
I’m using Gazelle for a Kids foundraise and I’m happy so far, no complaints. I think they are doing a great job.
Thanks,
http://oprecio.com
F*ck Gazelle, they are shit! I sold a very valuable silver heirloom to them for $400 (1/10th of it’s appraised value) because I needed the money NOW. Now they trying to tell me that I sent them a cracker jack plastic Inspector Gadget badge! That is bullsh*t! They sent me a photo of a piece of plastic! Luckily, my wife filmed me sealing and mailing it. Thank God, we hadn’t sold the camcorder yet. They are ripoffs and scammers and thieves! Worst part is that money would have been for groceries and to make up part of next month’s rent. They’ve gone too far! Now they’re stealing food right out of my kid’s mouths. I will sue!!!!!!!!
Benjamin: THey don’t buy or sell silver so what are you talking about?