Old iPhones: Americans Have $13.4 Billion Hiding in Their Drawers

And, by drawers, I mean desk drawers and not underwear, though some probably keep their old iPhones there. Don’t wanna think about that? According to a fresh consumer survey making the rounds, half of Americans have an old, unused phone and just the old iPhones alone are said to be worth more than $13.4 billion.

Get your $13 billion back, America! Actually, the number is a lot higher that and here’s the dope.

According to the just released Mobile Mountain Study, 50 percent of Americans have an unused phone in a drawer, cupboard or box somewhere. And, all of those devices are said to be worth an astounding $47 billion, a nearly one-third increase over 2012.

Further, of that mind boggling figure, a whopping $13.4 billion is denominated in old iPhones alone.

Smartphone Resale: Old iPhones Dominate…

Sell Your Old iPhone [NOW]

While lots of folks gift old iPhones and other smartphones to family and friends, according to the survey, 17 percent of Americans say they’re “too lazy” to either sell or give away their unused devices. That is pretty darned pathetic.

But, it gets worse. A stunning 36 percent of Americans haven’t given away or sold their old iPhones because they just “don’t know what else to do with them.” Really? That makes lazy sound good by comparison.

A slightly larger 40 percent say they are keeping an old iPhone, etc around as a spare in case their main driver breaks or gets lost. While that sounds lot better than “lazy” or “don’t know,” the bottom line is that by the time they no longer need that unused smartphone, it will have zero resale value — better to keep an old “dumb” (i.e. Moto RAZR, Nokia 910, etc) as a spare and sell the actually valuable old iPhone — see Glyde, Craigslist, uSell, eBay and/or Gazelle.

So, dear Tapscape readers, what’s in your drawers (careful) and why haven’t you sold it yet (don’t go there)…

Source MarketWatch