iReTron, run by teen, will buy used gadgets
15-year-old Jason Li, winner of the "Next Teen Tycoon" video contest, won $4,000 and a trip to the 2012 TEDxTeen conference in New York. Read more about him below.
SFGate
The gadgets gathering dust in an old drawer could be worth something: Up to $47 for a classic iPod, $88 for a Blackberry Torch or $97 for a Kindle.
That's the pitch from iReTron, a new website created by a 15-year-old high school sophomore to help people get rid of their old electronics.
Los Gatos teenager Jason Li started iReTron in July after learning about the hazards of electronic waste in his freshman world geography class.
People inevitably want to upgrade to the shiny new gadget, said Li. Through iReTron, they can do so without too much hassle.
"Nobody loses anything," he said. "It is fitting for the society we live in. A lot of people out there have smart phones. People upgrade all the time. Everyone is gaining. That's the best part of it."
IReTron joins a growing number of websites such as Gazelle and NextWorth that purchase used electronics, fix them up and resell them on eBay and elsewhere. Consumers receive a quote from the website for their device, ship it and are paid once their item has been inspected.
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