How to raise money as a small business by trading in your old tech

From photocopiers to printers, smartphones, laptops and more, the technology in your office can be worth a surprising amount.

That’s why, if you’re a small business owner, you should seriously think about trading in your old tech when it becomes time to upgrade, instead of letting it sit unused in your office.

Trading in your old tech can produce a significant amount of cash — cash that can help ensure your small business is a success, instead of one of the 25% of small businesses that fail as a result of poor cash flow.

It also has numerous other benefits, both for your business and as a whole. Below, we’ve put together a list of the benefits of trading in your old office tech, as well as a quick guide to help you start the process of converting your old workplace technology into working capital.

Why trade in your old tech?

More than any other product type, consumer electronics like smartphones, tablets and laptop computers can rapidly go from being the hottest items on the market to outdated products that costs your business more in lost productivity than they save.

As such, it’s important to update and upgrade your office tech every few years to stay on top of the latest in new features, security improvements and productivity opportunities.

When you update your office, what do you do with your old equipment? If your business is like most, you probably either let it sit in storage, going unused and collecting dust.

Worse yet, you could throw it away with other office rubbish, potentially creating significant data security risks for your business.

Finally, there’s the environmental cost of throwing away your old office equipment. The majority of tablets, smartphones and laptops are full of hazardous chemicals and substances that, when discarded, can produce environmental damage that’s known as e-waste.

Trading in your old tech lets you reduce damage to the environment, free up space in your office and eliminate serious security holes, all while generating cash that you can use to lower the cost of upgrading your office or fuel your business’s growth.

What happens when you trade in old office tech?

Even technology that looks and feels worthless to you can have real value, either as a source of parts for damaged or malfunctioning equipment or as an affordable used item.

When you trade in an old laptop or tablet, its old data is wiped in accordance with the Guidelines for Media Sanitization published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. In short, all of your private data is completely eliminated, ensuring there’s no risk of security issues.

In fact, trading in your old office tech is actually more secure than discarding it independently, as the data wiping process ensures your laptop can’t be looked into by criminals or identity thieves.

Then, if the laptop is in good condition, it can be repurposed. If it’s damaged, many of the parts can be recovered for use in other devices. At Sell Your Laptop, we buy broken laptops, laptops with minor or cosmetic damage and even bulk lots of used laptops.

The process starts by checking your laptop’s value online using our Sell My Laptop page. After that, you can drop your laptop off at any post office using our free shipping label to post it to our team.

Once your laptop arrives, you’ll get paid within 48 hours, giving your small business a cash flow surge that can offset the cost of new equipment, help you upgrade your office space or just give your business bank account an improvement.

Is it time to trade in your old office tech?

Staying on top of new technology lets your business adapt faster to challenges and stay more productive, especially if you operate online. It also reduces your risk of facing security issues as a result of outdated hardware and software.

Is it time for your business to upgrade its office tech? If so, make sure you calculate the value of your old laptops, tablets and other equipment. Time your office upgrade correctly and you could generate hundreds or thousands of pounds in new capital from your old technology.