There is no denying that some of the gadgets on the market today have changed not only the way we live our lives, but the world. The amazing technologies that exist have enabled us to do multiple tasks that would have taken a great deal of time on a number of different devices as little as a decade ago, yet today we can do them all in an instant using one handheld product.
As good as these gadgets and devices are, they do tend to come at a price – and a hefty one at that. There is no way of getting the latest smartphones, tablets, televisions or household appliances without paying out a lot of your monthly wages or hammering your credit card (which wouldn’t be advisable) meaning that we have to look for alternative ways of finding the latest and greatest tech.
While the term ‘second hand’ does tend to put some people off making purchases for fear of the product breaking or being so far out of date that it is deemed to be uncool, to others it’s an opportunity to get their hands on top of the range technology at a fraction of the price. The likes of the latest iPad or the Samsung Galaxy S4 are fine examples here, both in high demand and both coming with large price tags but according to iGadgetsRecycled.co.uk they are also among the best second-hand sellers of 2014.
According to the rankings listed on the site, the 16GB iPhone 4S is the fifth best-selling gadget this year and the third best-selling phone. While it’s by no means the most recent of Apple’s smartphones, the 4S is still among the most popular with many still clinging onto the device despite the release of the iPhone 5 and now the iPhone 6 because of the limited upgrades that have been made since its release with many of them merely cosmetic rather than functional.
In at number four on the list is the 16GB iPad Mini. The smaller tablet from the American giants has proven to be more popular than many thought originally, with a significant number of customers upgrading (or downgrading you could say physically) to the easier-to-carry model, they seem to have preferred the lightweight, smaller model to the larger screen. The hardware and software are essentially the same, with the screen being the main difference and if people are happy to work with a smaller screen for the benefits of weight and size, then even that can’t be a big issue clearly.
Number three on the list, quite predictably, is the 16GB iPhone 5. Let’s be honest, as soon as the iPhone 6 went on sale there were always going to be people looking to offload their ‘old’ models even if there wasn’t a great deal wrong with it. Some people just HAVE to have the latest model and would even pay the full price to get it, while customers happy to ‘put up with’ the previous model are able to cash in at some good prices.
The best tablet is at number two with the 16GB iPad. The full-size model has proven to be the tablet of choice since its original release with very few able to hold a torch to it and sales of brand new models still proving to be pretty high. Second-hand and refurbished iPads are also on great demand as people look to capitalise on a model that has been out for some years now, either to replace their old version or to finally get the tablet they’ve been saving up for for years!
At number one, the best selling gadget of 2014 in the second-hand market is… the Samsung Galaxy S4. With its great styling, amazing camera, clear screen and significantly better battery life in comparison to the iPhones, Samsung’s offering to the smartphone market has done well off the shelf and off the web with many customers liking the new features being offered instead of simply adjusting the styling (cough, Apple).
