Water resistance and noise cancellation features are the reasons why AirPods Pro is considered one of the best AirPods that ever hit the market.
But with this recent launch, it only means one thing – owners of old AirPods will be upgrading soon.
Recycle Old AirPods
The sad news is that recycling AirPods is a bit complicated, so let Apple take care of this as they have a trade-in program. The high-quality build of these earpieces will make the decomposing process take years so let Apple do what they do best. If you notice, Apple even labels the AirPods boxes with a “do not landfill” icon. So yes, recycling AirPods is simply complicated.
Wired headphones can be shredded and melted down for copper, the lithium-ion batteries stay attached to the AirPods, posing a serious fire risk when sliced. And breakdown videos show that manual removal of the batteries is cost-prohibitive for the recyclers.
For this reason, the easiest option you’ve got here is to sell your old AirPods.
Sell Old AirPods
It is very likely for your AirPods to die after a few years since lithium-ion batteries are used to power them. These batteries are known to degrade each time they are charged. Retailers know this. For this reason, there are not a lot of places that will be willing to buy old AirPods yet there are some that will.
Different resellers will have different prices for used and old AirPods that depend on their condition and model.
Amazon
Amazon doesn’t pay much attention to the model of your AirPods. They pay the same price for recent generations with wireless or wired charging cases.
You can get around $36 if your AirPods are still in perfect condition, which means that they can power on with no visible cracks. If there are some cracks but still power on, you can get $9 or $4.50 if they don’t anymore and cracks are visible.
Buy Back Electronics
It might be a bit difficult to try to please Buy Back Electronics. They will never look twice at your AirPods if they already show signs of heavy usage even if they are functional with no cracks or chips.
If your AirPods are still completely functional with no major blemishes, they will pay you up to $27 for pairs with a wired charging case or as much as $37 for pairs with a wireless case.
If your AirPods are in their mint condition, pairs with the wired case can make you earn $37 while pairs with the wireless case can give you as much as $42.
However, if you have a sealed box of AirPods for whatever reason, Buy Back Electronics can pay you $50 for pairs with a wired case and up to $60 for a wireless one.
My Phones Unlimited
While it might be a bit pickier compared to Amazon, My Phones Unlimited will pay you a little bit more if you’ve got the newest model.
Whether you have a wireless or wired charging case, the recent generation AirPods in perfect condition will get you $40 if you give them your charging block and cord.
Conclusion
If you are wondering what to do with old AirPods, your best choice, for now, is to sell them and get back some of the money you spent on buying them.
Related: What to Do With Old iPads