Money Management

Want to make money by turning trash into treasure? Recycling electronics could be a great way to start a business or side hustle in 2024. [[{“value”:”

The old saying that “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure” is more true than ever before. That’s because the world is producing ever-larger piles of electronic trash that can be recycled for money. Recycling electronics could be your next great idea for a side hustle or small business.

Billions of people use mobile phones and other electronic devices, and as they upgrade to new versions, their old phones often get discarded and forgotten. This growing pile of old smartphones, computers, tablets, and game consoles is known as electronic waste, or “e-waste.” The total amount of e-waste in the world increased by 60% from 2010-2019, and only about 17% of all electronic waste is getting recycled.

There is a huge supply of old devices that need to be recycled, and there is money in all those old phones, laptops, tablets, and other used electronics. Many used electronics can be refurbished and re-sold for cash. Even the most broken, obsolete devices can still contain valuable materials like gold, silver, palladium, and platinum.

Here are a few ideas for how you can start a business or side hustle by recycling electronics.

1. Sell old computer parts for scrap

Do you enjoy tinkering with old electronics and looking at the parts inside? If you have a good eye for detail and a steady hand with a heat gun, you could make money by dismantling old computers and re-selling the parts on eBay or other online marketplaces.

People will often pay significant money to get particular components of old computers. This means that the electronic scrap parts inside an old desktop PC could be worth more than the computer itself.

How to get started: If you have any old computers lying around the house, or can obtain some for free from friends and family, start there. Do your research on eBay and other forums to see which parts are in-demand and how much people are willing to pay. Experiment with dismantling a few computers to see how much time it takes to collect and clean the components, and how much money you can realistically make per hour/per computer/per device.

2. Start a neighborhood electronics recycling drive

There is money to be made by recycling old electronics, but most people don’t know how to do it or where to get started. Not everyone has the time or energy to figure out how to sell their old phones online or drive their old devices to some special waste management facility. Providing electronics recycling services in your local area can help people declutter their homes and get immediate local help with a complex problem.

People in your neighborhood might have dozens or hundreds of old devices sitting around in their homes, and they might be willing to give you these old “junk” devices for free. Offer to take people’s old phones and electronics devices off their hands and save them time, and they might give you some valuable “junk.”

How to get started: Print fliers or advertise on social media in your local area, saying that you’re having an electronics recycling drive. Offer to take people’s e-waste on a certain date; you might want to offer to pick up devices from people’s homes.

3. Become an electronics recycling supplier for local businesses

If you are confident in your skills to dismantle old electronics and you understand how to make money from electronics recycling at a larger scale, you might want to take the leap into starting a small business in the electronics recycling industry.

You can form a limited liability company (LLC) or other business entity, become an EPA-certified electronics recycler, and make your business “official” in the eyes of your customers. Electronics recycling has huge opportunities for side hustles and small businesses, simply because there’s so much of the stuff. More e-waste is being generated all the time, but most of it isn’t getting recycled.

Part of the challenge is that it’s hard to find the right level of electronics recycling help. Individual people have to figure out how to sell or recycle their old devices, and big corporations often have large-scale recycling relationships with major national service providers that handle massive quantities of e-waste. This leaves room in the middle: your electronics recycling business could serve smaller companies and other organizations in your local community.

How to get started: Start marketing yourself to local businesses, hospitals, schools, or other organizations and ask them about how they handle their IT asset disposition or computer liquidation. Many companies might have old electronics devices that they’d be happy to get rid of. Not every company will give away its electronic waste for free; some will expect to be paid. Consider getting a small business loan or line of credit if you need to pay cash upfront to source your electronic waste material. And make sure you follow any laws for how to handle and safely dispose of electronic waste.

Bottom line

Electronics recycling is a fast-growing industry, as device-loving people upgrade and replace their old phones, laptops, tablets, and other tech items. The global market for electronics recycling is expected to achieve a compound annual growth rate of 13.6% from 2022-2030, according to ResearchandMarkets.com.

Starting an electronics recycling business is not easy. You need to comply with environmental rules and safety standards, and research your market to understand how much money you can realistically make. But if you’re willing to build relationships with local people and organizations that can supply you with a steady amount of old devices, recycling electronics could be a great side hustle or small business idea for 2024.

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We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Walmart. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Staples Easy Rewards members can score a free passport photo at Staples this Leap Day, Feb. 29. Find out how to get your passport renewal photo for $0. [[{“value”:”

Adult U.S. passports are valid for 10 years. When renewing your passport, you must submit an updated photo with your paperwork. If you’re due for passport renewal, this promotion could help you keep more money in your pocket. Staples will provide 29,000 people with free passport photos this Leap Day, Feb. 29. Here’s what you need to know about this deal.

Don’t miss this Staples Easy Rewards deal

Like many other retailers, Staples has a rewards program available to customers. Easy Rewards members can earn points when they shop and earn bonus rewards when making purchases in select bonus points categories.

Members can redeem their rewards for discounts on future purchases once they earn enough points. Since it’s free to join, this could be an easy way to earn discounts on future orders.

The retailer is running a free passport photo promotion to celebrate Leap Day. A whopping 29,000 people can get a free passport photo for free on Feb. 29. To take advantage of this deal, you must be a Staples Easy Rewards member. You can join for free if you’re not a member.

Members who want to score a free passport photo can take the following steps on Feb. 29:

Download the Staples mobile app.Sign up to become an Easy Rewards member or log in to your account.Activate the free passport photo offer in the mobile app.Visit a Staples location and present the activated offer at checkout.

You’ll need to wait until Feb. 29 to activate and use the deal. But you may want to sign up for the Easy Rewards program before then to prepare before Leap Day.

Is this deal worth it?

Is this deal worth your time? Passport photos taken within six months are required when you submit your passport renewal application. You could benefit from this deal if you plan to renew your passport within the next few months.

According to pricing listed on the Staples website, customers are charged $17.99 for two physical passport photos. This offer could help you keep a few extra dollars in your bank account. Not having to pay for photos in addition to the passport renewal application fee could help you stretch your vacation budget further for your upcoming travels.

Don’t ignore rewards programs provided by retailers

This news is a good reminder to use retail rewards programs. Many businesses offer programs like this, and they cost nothing to join. If you’re already spending money with a favorite retailer, earning discounts or freebies when you spend money can be beneficial.

You can review the details of each program to understand how you earn rewards and what you can do with the rewards you earn. Even if it takes some time to accumulate enough rewards for redemption, you may want to join if it only takes a few moments to sign up.

If you’ll be sending in your passport renewal paperwork soon, don’t ignore this free passport photo deal. For additional ways to save money, check out our personal finance resources.

Our picks for 2024’s best credit cards

Our experts carefully review the most popular offers and select those that are worthy of a spot in your wallet. These standout cards come with fantastic benefits like sign-up bonuses worth $200 or more, 0% intro APR for up to 21 months, and cash back rates up to 5%.

Click here to see our top credit cards

We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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My brokerage account makes it easy to diversify my investments. Here’s why yours should too. [[{“value”:”

I’m a fan of investing money because, over time, you could turn a relatively small sum into a much larger one. One of the rules I like to stick to when investing is to always maintain a diversified portfolio.

There’s a reason for that. A diversified portfolio doesn’t guarantee you success, nor does it completely spare you from losses in the event of a stock market meltdown.

But the way I see it (and many financial experts agree), by maintaining a diverse investment mix, you’re lowering your chances of taking major losses every time there’s a market event. If tech stocks take a beating one week but they only comprise 15% of your portfolio, your losses are going to be minimized.

Similarly, by branching out in your portfolio, you can potentially increase your chances of seeing your investments gain value over time. Again, there’s no guarantee. But it’s a system that works for a lot of people, so it’s one I insist on.

For this reason, I made sure to open a brokerage account that offered the option to buy fractional shares. And you may want to do the same.

How fractional shares work

In many parts of the country, you can walk into a pizza store and buy a single slice of pizza if you’re not hungry enough to need a whole pie. Fractional shares work kind of similarly.

With fractional shares, you don’t need to purchase shares of stock in their entirety to add them to your portfolio. Rather, you can purchase shares in fractions — for example, half of a share, one-fourth of a share, or possibly one-fifteenth of a share — however it works out.

The nice thing about brokerage accounts offering fractional shares is that they allow you to build a diversified portfolio when you’re on a budget. That’s because if a given stock costs more than you can afford, or more than you want to spend, you can own it on a fractional basis.

Take Chipotle, for example. You may decide to invest in it so you can add a restaurant stock to your portfolio. But at a current price of about $2,609 per share, that’s a lot of money to part with.

So let’s say you only want to invest $500 in Chipotle. If your brokerage account lets you buy fractional shares, you can use that money to purchase roughly one-fifth of a share.

Now, it happens to be that Chipotle is not a stock that pays a dividend. But if that were the case, you’d simply get one-fifth of the dividend it pays per share. Pretty simple, right?

A feature you don’t want to give up

Just as it doesn’t pay to invest in a brokerage account that charges ridiculous fees (such as those for inactivity — you should be able to take a break from buying or selling stocks as you so choose), so too do you probably want to avoid a brokerage account that doesn’t offer fractional shares. By giving that up, you may find that it’s far more difficult to build a diversified portfolio. And that could impede your success as an investor.

Thankfully, many popular brokerage accounts these days do let you buy shares on a fractional basis. But be advised that even if you’re only putting portions of shares into your portfolio, it’s still important to do your research — the same research you’d do when buying full shares of stock. After all, it’s still your money on the line. And a fraction of a share of a bum stock isn’t going to do your finances much good.

Our picks for 2024’s best credit cards

Our experts carefully review the most popular offers and select those that are worthy of a spot in your wallet. These standout cards come with fantastic benefits like sign-up bonuses worth $200 or more, 0% intro APR for up to 21 months, and cash back rates up to 5%.

Click here to see our top credit cards

We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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