If you have this stuff laying around and you don’t want to sell it on eBay or your website, Decluttr claims to have the solution… but do they really?

Decluttr is website that claims to buy almost all old tech devices, such as cell phones or tablets in addition to books, video games, DVDs, Legos and more. Clearly, the upside for you is that you don't have to do "any work" to "make money".  Another positive thing about Decluttr is that they pay for shipping from you to them, then Decluttr makes the payment for the merchandise to you and they even offer payments through Pay Pal. This seems like a great way to make some money off of those items you don’t feel like listing on eBay, right? Well, before you jump right in here’s a couple things to consider:

1. VERY, VERY LOW PAYMENTS

Here’s an example; Decluttr pays only $1 per pound, for three pounds of legos. However on eBay a pound of legos sells for $12.99 - $15.99 so three pounds would be $38 - $45+. Even if you sell it on eBay, 3 pounds for only $9.99 you have still made over 800% more than on Decluttr.

Pay for DVDs can be as little as $0.03 each.

Pay for books ranges from a couple cents to a-buck-fifty, depending on the title.

Video game pay can be less than a quarter.

2. THE CATCH

Even if you are 100% okay with getting a dime for a Blue-Ray you haven't watched in 5 years because your Blu-ray player broke and even if you are fine with also trading a video game you beat in 2018 for 18-cents, you have to sell Decluttr at least $5 worth of stuff or they won’t accept it.  So, unless you have fifty dime-worth items or 25 things that will get you 20-cents-each, you can't do anything at all. 

3. "BIG MONEY"

The “big money” (or, "bigger money") comes when you sell them your electronics; preferably newer electronics that are in perfect condition; let's face it; nobody wants your 2005 Nextel with the broken screen and water in the charging port.  Here's a couple quotes from Decluttr:

• A quote for a Samsung s7 Galaxy Edge is over $70
• Xbox One (1TB): $140.00. 
• Apple iPhone 6 (128gb): $157.32

We will discuss this more in a moment. Let’s first get back to the Legos, Books, etc….

4. THE TIME

The pay isn’t the main problem. The issue is that in order to get a quote on your merchandise you have to look up the UPC / product data then provide details about the condition. Obviously this information is important BUT:

You can spend all day looking up product data and not get a single offer (total waste of time)

You can spend hours looking up data to make $0.40 total (still a complete waste of time)

You can send your stuff in and they can reject it. (MEGA WASTE OF TIME)

You can send in your phone and it can be siezed....  let's discuss this more:

There are a lot of complaints that people shipped their items to Decluttr and if the seller has an outstanding (past due) balance with the phone provider, the seller will have to pay the debt (within 28 days) or the phone will be thrown away ("recycled"). So, you could send your iPhone to Decluttr then find out you have to pay AT&T $200 before Decluttr can pay you $140 for the phone.  

There are also a lot of complaints that people sent in fully functioning electronics that Decluttr declined and when they got them back they were faulty or scratched. Additionally, many sellers also note that after accepting the Decluttr offer online and after shipping off their electronics they were contacted by Decluttr with an even lower offer.

5. ANOTHER VERY ODD THING

Decluttr claims to pay “next day” which is very enticing for people who need money NOW however next day pay isn’t possible. Think about this:

I could go on Decluttr and claim to have 30 Xboxes in perfect condition. They would then offer me $4,200 and send me the shipping label. The next morning I could out a box full of dirt in transit, accept my “next day pay” and disappear.

Ok so now we know for sure pay isn’t actually the following day.

When you dig a little deeper their site says “Next Day After it Arrives”, so it appears that pay is 7 - 10 days or more from the day you agree to the offer.  

6.  SUPER MIXED REVIEWS

It appears the majority of the positive reviews are BUYERS (NOT SELLERS!) and the majority of the bad reviews are SELLERS.  I always find it odd when any company has bad reviews on most sites but great reviews on TrustPilot.  I have written about the TrustPilot 5-star review scam previously.  

7. BETTER OPTIONS

If you’re an online seller, you are SO MUCH BETTER OFF listing it on eBay for a couple bucks and getting an awesome, 5-star review out of it

Alternatively you can donate it for a tax writeoff!

Bring your phone to the local small business phone store.  Chances are they WILL buy it and actually give cash, same day.  

If you are selling your phone to get a new phone, you might be able to "trade it in".  I usually get my phones through Best Buy and they have a wonderful Trade-In Program.   

If your goal is just to get rid of the phone, you can recycle it 

If you truly need a couple quarters clean out your car seats or couch cushions. 

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