The last time I went to my hairdresser, she told me a story with a curious ending. Her cell phone was lost or stolen. She wasn’t sure which, so she did what she had to do to protect her private information then bought a more expensive model. After using it a while, she discovered she didn’t like the new phone as well as her old one. Naturally, she was overjoyed when a man who’d found the original returned it to the salon.
With her old phone safely in her purse, she put the expensive one up for auction on E-bay. The offers poured in. Delighted, my hairdresser started to imagine what she’d do with the money – go to the beach, buy a new dress or new apps for the old phone. For the next few days, as the bidding continued, she spent and re-spent that windfall money in her imagination. She was almost giddy by the time the final bid was posted — a generous offer that almost matched the original price of the phone.
Unfortunately, after a few email exchanges with the buyer, reality set in. The offer was bogus. My hairdresser was stunned, like a woman who’d discovered she’d gone up a dress size. Those visions of beach trips and new dresses disappeared like a flock of startled birds and she felt poorer without them.
What happened next, I must wait to learn until my next appointment. In the meantime, as fate would have it, I’ve run across an article in Money Magazine that offers advice on what to do with unwanted cell phones. (“First” by Neil Pamar, Money Magazine, December 2014, pg. 23) Gazelle.com is a good place to find an on-line buyer and according to the article, they pay by check, PayPal or with an Amazon gift card. SellCell.com is an alternative. They will search through recycling programs to find a buyer for you.
Retail outfits like Best Buys, Staples or Wal-Mart will swap your old phone for a gift card. But don’t swap on line. Author Neil Parmar says you’ll get a better price if you go into the store. (Ibid pg. 23)
My hope for my hair dresser is that she’s reading this blog.
Courtesy of vyagers.com
