"Recycle old mobile phones, replace old mobile phones with stainless steel basins, replace kitchen knives....."
In rural areas, we can often hear such voices.
However, many people can't help but wonder what is the value of these seemingly worthless old mobile phones worth recycling?
In fact, the value of those old mobile phones is far more than a basin.
Recycle your old phone
"There are a lot of unused mobile phones at home, go change the pots and scissors. ”
Since entering the 21st century, the upgrading of electronic products has also begun to enter a state of rapid development, among which smartphones are the most obvious.
You know, everyone used a button machine before, and they were reluctant to change one for several years.
But since the advent of smartphones, they've been a new model almost every year.
Gradually, people changed their mobile phones more quickly.
Every time a new model is introduced, many people throw away their old phones and buy the latest model.
In China, there are more than 800 million Internet users, and the mobile phone market is the world's leading.
According to statistics, about half of the people have a mobile phone life cycle of 18 months, which means that a large number of mobile phones are eliminated every year.
The rapid development of technology has led to a shorter and shorter replacement cycle for mobile phones, which has also led to a sharp increase in the number of discarded mobile phones.
And in the middle of this, there is also a problem.
What about old phones that you don't use? You can't keep them at home all the time.
At this time, the industry of "changing old mobile phones for scissors and stainless steel basins" appeared.
Most people are reluctant to throw away these idle mobile phones, and the emergence of recycling old mobile phone vendors, allowing people to exchange their old mobile phones for daily necessities, has also attracted many people.
Recycling vendors ride electric scooters and horns through the streets of the countryside, their shouts often echoing through the villages: "Recycle old mobile phones, change bowls and knives".
Whenever someone in the village yells at them to exchange their old mobile phones for kitchen knives, basically many people will take out two or three old mobile phones from their homes and happily exchange them for some daily necessities.
But in reality, this seemingly simple deal has huge business potential.
The daily necessities they give are often inexpensive, and one can't help but wonder how they profit from them.
The process for recycling old phones
In this era of rapid change, many people feel overwhelmed by the speed at which mobile phones are being updated.
Generally speaking, vendors usually buy these old mobile phones from the private sector.
These phones may be devices from rural or other remote areas that people no longer need.
For consumers, this is a simple and straightforward way to convert old phones directly into cash, which also reduces the stress of disposing of old phones.
Once the vendor receives the phone, they will evaluate it according to factors such as the make, model, appearance and functional condition of the phone, and give a certain purchase price.
There are three main categories of these categories: phones that are in good working condition, phones that look okay but have damaged internal hardware, and phones that are damaged inside and out and cannot be used.
After that, vendors will further segment the phones according to their model, brand, and newness.
This process is important because the vendor's expertise and good communication skills can motivate residents to sell their old phones.
The vendors will take the sorted phones to a collection point in town.
Here, vendors will decide the price of the phone based on its quality and weight, and the process is like "counting money by the pound", which is simple and straightforward.
After a period of accumulation, the mobile phones from the town's recycling point will be sent to the county's recycling point, and the county's recycling point will send these mobile phones to a professional recycling station for processing.
The recycle bin sorts phones and sorts out phones with good cases and functions, phones that look good but have problems with internal hardware, and phones that have been discarded and don't work properly.
For phones that look and function well, the recycle bin refurbishes them and sells them as used.
In this process, the profit of the vendors mainly comes from the difference between the recycling and resale of mobile phones.
They make a profit by recycling the phone at a low price, then repairing or disassembling it, and finally selling the repaired phone or parts again.
If you think that old phones are all there is to these values, then you are very wrong.
The value of an old phone
After the old phone arrives at the recycling bin, the relevant staff there will replace the worn parts, clean and polish the case, and conduct a comprehensive functional test to ensure the quality and user experience of the second-hand phone.
It is important to know that vendors are very sensitive to market demand, and they will observe which brands of models are more popular and which features are preferred by users, so as to make corresponding improvements and add value to refurbished phones.
For those phones that look good but have internal hardware issues, the recycle bin will perform professional repairs, and experienced technicians will find the source of the problem and fix it, so that these phones can be restored to normal use.
This kind of secondary repair can not only bring new life to the recycling of old mobile phones, but also meet the needs of some consumers for mobile phones with simpler functions.
For phones that are no longer functional, the recycle bin disassembles them and extracts the valuable parts from them.
For example, the internal components of certain mobile phones, such as chips, cameras, and motherboards, can be sold separately.
And the precious metals contained in mobile phones, such as gold, silver, copper, etc., will also be separated.
These metal materials can be recycled and reused through specific treatments.
Traders are well aware of the fluctuations in metal prices and market demand, and they will sell these metal elements to the relevant chemical companies in a timely manner to ensure the highest profits.
According to statistics, the mainland produces about 240 million used mobile phones every year, and each used mobile phone contains about 50 milligrams of gold.
According to the current gold price, the value of this part of gold is as high as 20 yuan.
Recyclers only need to recycle more than 2,000 mobile phones, and can earn an average net profit of 40,000 yuan, which is obviously higher than exchanging some kitchen utensils, such as pots and pans and kitchen knives.
So, when recyclers recycle mobile phones for much less than that value and exchange them for everyday items that cost only a few yuan, they are making money.
That is to say, everyone originally thought that the discarded mobile phone was worthless, and every discarded mobile phone contains a certain precious metal value.
However, recycling gold from old phones is not the most lucrative part of the industry, and the real profit comes from refurbishing old phones before selling them.
It can be said that in this industrial chain, every link contains huge business opportunities.
Some recycled phones can be reintroduced into the market as used or third-hand phones after a simple repair and replacement of the case.
This approach not only solves the problem of the fate of discarded mobile phones, but also brings considerable benefits to recyclers.
At mall counters and used phone stores, we often see old knockoffs with a new look, which are usually refurbished.
Although the exterior is in line with modern trends, the quality of the enclosure often has a plastic feel due to the use of the case.
However, these refurbished phones are sold at a more affordable price compared to the price of a brand new phone, as they cost less and the profit margins are relatively high.
Especially for the elderly market, the elderly mobile phone is still in demand in the market due to its simple function, loud sound, durable battery and other characteristics.
However, with the development of society, fewer and fewer manufacturers are willing to produce this type of mobile phone.
Because of this, the recycled old mobile phones have been refurbished and replaced, and they have been reintroduced to the market at a low price, meeting the needs of some consumers.
However, buyers should also pay attention to the comprehensive formatting of the phone before purchase to protect personal privacy from being leaked.
Of course, not all old phones will be disposed of this way.
Some mobile phones will be refurbished, purchased at a low price by charitable organizations or businesses, and then distributed free of charge to the elderly in poor areas.
It can be said that the process of recycling old mobile phones by vendors is a process involving multiple links and multiple disposal methods.
From collection, sorting, dismantling, extraction, and final disposal, every step requires careful operation.
However, it is important to note that recycling old mobile phones is a business with huge potential, and it also involves the protection of our personal privacy.
In order to avoid the leakage of personal information, it is important for everyone to thoroughly format their old phones before recycling them.
Compared with other industries, recycling used mobile phones is actually protecting our ecological environment in disguise.
In the context of global warming and increasingly serious environmental pollution, recycling old mobile phones can effectively prevent non-ferrous heavy metals from entering the soil and water sources, and avoid the pollution of the natural environment caused by thousands of tons of e-waste.