Average UK household could raise £200 by selling unwanted gadgets: study finds 

Laptops and games consoles left abandoned in household drawers and garages could earn the average household £200.

People in the UK are hoarding an estimated 39 million tech items, research has found.

That includes almost 21 million desktop computers, laptops, tablets, games consoles and printers which are working but no longer used by the household.

Digging out an old laptop or tablet to sell online could make householders up to £420, for the most popular brands which are less than four years old.

Desktop computers, including the monitor, could be resold for around £250.

The average UK household has one unused working electronic item, according to a survey of around 3,000 people commissioned by REPIC – a group of electronics companies tackling e-waste.

A third of households surveyed had at least two working laptops at home which they no longer used, and 30 per cent had at least two working tablets.

Based on the types of tech items most commonly hoarded, and their typical resale value, the organisation worked out the average household could make £200.

Louise Grantham, chief executive of REPIC, said : ‘We’re keen to make consumers aware that the real value is keeping small electricals in circulation for longer – either through passing them on, selling them and/or recycling them at the end of their useful life.’

The survey found there are an estimated 18.6 million broken tech items hidden away in UK homes.

The average household has 20 unused electrical items, including hairdryers, toasters, old phones and cables, a survey by pro-recycling industry organisation Material Focus found last year.

On the new research, Scott Butler, executive director of Material Focus, which is leading a campaign called Recycle Your Electricals, said: ‘Electricals and tech are valuable, and this value will be lost forever if they are thrown away.

‘Anything with a plug, battery or cable should always be recycled as a minimum.’

Electrical waste contains rare and precious metals, like gold and neodymium, but around 155,000 tonnes of waste electricals are thrown away in the UK each year.

The average household has 20 unused electrical items, including hairdryers, toasters, old phones and cables, a survey by pro-recycling industry organisation Material Focus found last year (stock image)

Electrical waste contains rare and precious metals, like gold and neodymium, but around 155,000 tonnes of waste electricals are thrown away in the UK each year (stock image)

Unwanted games consoles may seem redundant, but the analysis of resale values for the most popular items on the website eBay found an Xbox One could sell for £110 and a Nintendo Switch for £200.

People are advised to remove batteries, bulbs and memory cards, and delete data from tech devices before selling and recycling them.

Experts expect roughly 5.3 billion mobile phones will fall out of use this year.

Stacked flat on top of each other, these phones could reach an eighth of the way to the moon.

A separate survey by the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Forum found 46 per cent of people hoard electrical items because they think they may use them again in the future, 13 per cent because the items have sentimental value, and seven per cent because they don’t know how to dispose of them.

Magdalena Charytanowicz, from the WEEE Forum, said: ‘In 2022 alone, small electrical and electronic equipment items such as cellphones, electric toothbrushes, toasters and cameras produced worldwide will weigh an estimated total of 24.5 million tonnes – four times the weight of the Great Pyramid of Giza.’