Consumer Reports: Best way to sell your old electronics

FRESNO, Calif. -- There's always a lot of chatter about what new gadgets people are getting for the holidays. But what about the stuff they already have? It may be in perfectly good shape in November or December but feel like old news in January. Consumer Reports says start digging them out now; there may be a way to make some quick cash after the holidays!

There are plenty of online classified services, but if you want simple, eco-ATM's are popping up across the country, where you can sell MP3 players, tablets, and cell phones.

Just plug in your device at the kiosk and it will examine it to determine the storage, the condition, and the value on the market. You'll get an offer, and if you agree to sell, voila! Cash on the spot!

Online buyback services such as Decluttr and Gazelle work in much the same way. Answering a few quick questions gets you a price, and if you're happy with it you can just print a free shipping label, box up your device, and send it off.

Maybe you'll even make enough to pay off some of those holiday bills.

Before you sell electronics that once housed any personal data at all, Consumer Reports says it's important to protect yourself by logging out of any accounts, including cloud-based storage -- and disabling any apps that track your device, like find my iPhone. Then, be sure the device has been completely erased. On a phone, you should perform a factory reset, which scrubs it clean. You don't want any bank account information, family pictures, or even your browsing history ending up in the hands of someone you don't know.