Written by SmartMoney

Don’t toss that busted iPod. Don’t just take those old books and CDs to a thrift store. These online outlets might give you cool cash for your castoffs.

The Department of Energy recently launched a "cash for refrigerators" program to encourage consumers to replace their old appliances with new, energy-efficient ones. Babies R Us now offers a 20% discount on cribs, strollers and other pieces of baby gear to customers who bring in used ones.

Other retailers will pay for your unwanted books, compact discs, DVDs, and old and broken iPods — without requiring you to purchase new ones.

However, unlike the government-run programs or in-store promotions, most of these services operate exclusively online. Consumers are required to mail in their items and then wait to be paid by check or PayPal. The draw is the convenience. For example, rather than lug your books to a used-book store, you can take them to the nearest post office or FedEx drop-off location. And with most services, shipping charges are paid by the retailer.

Of course, any business transaction conducted through the mail and on good faith comes with risks. You might be quoted a certain price for your stuff, but if the business deems your description inaccurate, that quote could change. Or the business might reject your items altogether and discard them unless you cover the return-shipping costs. And because these are all for-profit ventures that resell your items and pay the shipping costs, they are likely to offer you a lower price than you might get if you dealt directly with a buyer on eBay or Craigslist.

Still, if you’re looking for an easy way to clean out your bookshelves or entertainment center, these services might be worth a try. Just be sure to vet a company before putting your stuff in the mail. Check its Better Business Bureau rating. Anything lower than an A or B should raise a flag, says Michael Galvin, a spokesman for the BBB of Southeast Florida and the Caribbean.

If you see a lower grade, call the local BBB to find out why. The branch can tell you whether there’s a pattern of complaints about the business and point out other concerns. If there are registered complaints, check whether they have been resolved.

And before you send in your stuff, get an idea of what it’s worth and how that value compares with the company’s quote. The easiest way to do that is to check the selling prices of similar items on eBay, says Doug Norwine of Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas.

Here are three businesses to consider:

 

1. Books

Run by McKenzie Books in Beaverton, Ore., Cash4Books.net will pay you between 57 cents and $120 per used book. How much you get depends on a book’s weight and retail value, how quickly it is expected to sell and how many copies are already in the company’s warehouse, says Crystalin Tadano, senior customer-service representative. The company specializes in college textbooks and technical books, which are more likely to pay top dollar than, say, paperback novels.

On average, sellers get about $20 per book, according to Tadano, though a recent check by SmartMoney yielded lower results. The personal finance and investing books we ran through the Cash4Books.net system would fetch about $5 at best (we were quoted $4.50 for "The Progressive Discipline Handbook: Smart Strategies for Coaching Employees," with CD-ROM, by Margie Mader-Clark and Lisa Guerin). Getting an online quote is easy. Just enter the book’s ISBN (international standard book number).

The perks: Shipping is paid by Cash4Books. You get free FedEx shipping if you sell five or more books. You can get paid by check or PayPal. If you choose the latter, you get a 3% bonus to offset the PayPal fees.

The fine print: Cash4Books will not accept books with tears to the cover or pages, major wear to the binding, missing or loose pages, water or other damage, or a strong odor. Writing, underlining or highlighting is OK as long as it appears to be on fewer than 20% of the book’s pages, but such blemishes might result in a reduction of the quoted price. If any books are not accepted, McKenzie will ship them back only at your expense.

Due diligence: The Better Business Bureau has registered nine consumer complaints about McKenzie over the past 36 months. All have been resolved. The company has an A rating.

 

2. CDs, DVDs and games

Do you have old CDs, DVDs and games gathering dust on your shelves? A Santa Barbara, Calif.-area company, Morninglory Music, which runs CashforCDs.com, will pay you between $1 and $3 per CD and DVD, and between $3 and $5 for each PlayStation, Xbox or Wii game, says Stan Bernstein, the company’s owner. How much you get depends on a disc’s title and condition.

The average customer gets between $4 and $20 for six CDs (the minimum number of discs you must ship to participate). Our experience was pretty much in line with that estimate. We were quoted $20 for two CDs, one DVD and three games (one each for PlayStation 2, Wii and Xbox), each in good or excellent condition. But we did strike out on the six other CDs we inquired about, which included INXS’ 1990 album "X" and Pearl Jam’s "Ten" from 1991.

CashforCDs.com isn’t currently buying them. Bernstein says there is an oversupply of certain CDs, with not much demand, a trend that isn’t likely to reverse.

The perks: You don’t need the cases. The company will send you a postage-paid mailer for the CDs and the front and back covers.

The fine print: For copyright purposes, the company requires the front and back covers of each CD, DVD or game.

Due diligence: Morninglory Music is rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau. It had one complaint within the past 36 months, and it has been resolved.

 

3. iPhones, Zunes and other small electronics

Don’t just toss your old or broken iPod, Zune or iPhone. Rapid Repair of Kalamazoo, Mich., will be happy to pay you for it. The company, which has been in business since 2004, specializes in repairing small electronics but also buys them from consumers to use for spare parts or to repair and resell as refurbished. How much you get for your unwanted gadget depends on its model and condition. You might get anywhere from $20 to $50 for an old iPod with a broken screen, if the device or its spare parts are in demand, says Ben Levy, the company’s owner. An iPhone 3G can fetch up to $200.

The perks: You can get cash for an item that you can’t otherwise sell or repair.

The fine print: Rapid Repair does not accept gadgets with liquid damage — a diagnosis few users can pronounce on their own — so you might end up sending in an iPod and getting nothing in return. Postage is paid by the seller, though given the size of the items, the cost is fairly low.

Due diligence: The company has an A rating with the BBB. All four companies filed against it in the past 36 months have been resolved.

This article was reported by Aleksandra Todorova for SmartMoney.