Sixty-eight percent of U.S. residents suffer from “compulsive gadget hoarding” according to a survey by uSell.com.
To calculate the percentage of gadget hoarders in the U.S. business community, uSell.com asked 1,000 Americans—including many business executives, salespeople, and entrepreneurs—how long they keep devices they no longer use:
- Sixty-eight percent have kept an old gadget for two or more years (gadget hoarding) without using the device.
- Seventy percent currently have multiple old gadgets that they haven’t used within the past three months.
- Only 25% of Americans admit to having a “gadget hoarding” problem.
Hoarding is alive and well in law firms. I know it’s weird, but I’ve asked lawyers to let me look in their drawers, cabinets, and storage areas. Oddly, they always agree to let me look (they don’t even ask whether I have a warrant). These hiding places are usually stuffed with junk, and old gadgets, printers, and scanners compose a big part of what’s in those junky spaces.
“What’s the deal with this stuff?” I ask since I know that a junk-filled closet is the “devil’s playground.” (Okay, I made up the devil’s playground part, but I like the way it sounds.)
Invariably, I get a response like “Yeah, I know, we’re going to put it on Craigslist.”
No you’re not, dreamer. You’re going to let it keep piling up until you move out or the place burns down.
The Four-Step Program
Here’s what you need to do:
- Clean it. If it has data on it, then wipe it or destroy it. You don’t want someone figuring out that your client was having sex with the local newscaster from data stored on your old scanner.
- List it. Offer it on Craigslist if you feel compelled to do so. It’s probably not going to sell, but what do you have to lose? Just take a picture with your phone and pop up a free listing. Leave it up for a few weeks and see what happens.
- Send it. Check a site like Gazelle.com and see if it wants it. Amazon buys stuff now too. Realistically, most of what you’ve got has no value, but check to be sure. Companies like Gazelle promise to wipe the data for you (check the terms of service).
- Dump it. Welcome to reality, where you drop it by the electronics recycling center at your local dump. Most local governments now have a plan for collecting and disposing of old electronics. Check your local government website and figure out when and where you can drop off the old gadgets. You’ll get nothing for it, but that’s because it’s worthless crap.
The summer is slow in lots of practices. It’s a perfect time to clean out that junk, pack it up, and sell it or dump it. Remember, junky closets and drawers are the devil’s playground. It’s time to shut that playground down.
