We have a 36" CRT in our basement that is crazy heavy and old technology - I don’t think anyone wants our incredibly heavy old monster, and I don’t think they’ll want yours, either - they’re just so freaking heavy compared to a newer flatscreen! You could try putting it out on the street or in the back alley, but I wouldn’t count on someone taking it. We just took an old CRT tv to a local Staples store (they have an electronics recycling depot in their stores) - I think that will end up being your best bet.
It may come as a surprise to you, but some of us don’t regularly move our TV sets around–in fact my 32" CRT has been sitting in the exact same place for close to 10 years.
unlike computer games, inventory don’t just disappear into your bag. you’ll have to actually carry it home first. once there, you’ll find that people don’t generally move their tv around, CRT or flatscreen.
When I replaced my 37" and 40" CRT’s with flat screens, I simply spoke with a few neighbor’s letting them know they were free for the taking and all the interested person needed to do was pick them up. Either they knew someone interested or their college age kids wanted them and both TV’s were gone in two days.
I didn’t consider selling them because I don’t believe the market’s really there.
We had a 36" beast that neither friend nor foe would take off our hands.
Goodwill accepted it, even came and picked it up.
mmm
Goodwil, at least in my area, recycles electronics of all types. Call them.
I just went through this with a 27 inch TV. Goodwill and Salvation Army didn’t want it. Put it up on Craigslist for free, without a single response. Finally put it out at the curb with a ‘free’ sign on it. Then of course it rained over night, so now it may not even work.
Heh.
Slight hijack, but this is something that cracks me up about the AT&T U-verse wireless receiver ads. People have their TVs out on the porch, on a table in the yard, etc. Nobody moves their TVs around like that!
As for the OP: once or twice a year our city has a collection day for old electronics. If your city has something like that, find a friend with a pickup truck and haul it to the drop off site.
Seriously? You think there are tons of ax-murderers out there going
“Gee, living in the city, it’s just so hard to find a house that has a person in it. I mean, walking down the street and ringing doorbells until somebody answers is just too difficult. I know! I’ll answer a Craigslist ad for some crappy appliance, take the time to go back and forth with e-mail, then, once I’ve established an electronic trail showing that I’m going to the victim’s house at the time of the crime, I’ll show up and start whacking!”
Hmm. Maybe you’re right. Or maybe the one known case of a “Craigslist Killer” didn’t involve selling something as innocuous and legal as an old TV set.
If it has S-Video or component, a retro gaming enthusiast would probably love to have that on the cheap. (Especially when light-gun games don’t work on plasmas and LCD tv’s)
Go fly tipping.
Try Freecycle, Craigslist, etc, with a good photo of the TV. Odds are no-one will want it, but you never know. Same with goodwill - phone them. Take the TV outside so your recipients never come inside your home.
Some people are wary about inviting strangers into their home. It’s not an unwarranted fear - when it comes to burglars, anyway. I’ve never heard of a freecycle-related burglary, but it’s not a huge conspiraloon-type thing to think that maybe people could scout out your home that way, especially when it seems likely that you’ve upgraded to something more valuable.
In this area, there’s a group called Crisis Assistance Ministry. They’ll take things Goodwill won’t, because they aren’t trying to re-sell it, they’re actually getting it into the hands of people who, for example, had their house burned down and now have nothing. If Goodwill turned you down, call them back and ask them to refer you to a similar organization that might take things they don’t.
All - thanks for the good advice. I’m sure one of the solutions that you’ve presented will work for me.
Exactly. I live in the country and I’m pretty isolated. Although I am not at all really afraid of this scenario, I am just a bit nervous about it.
Again, thanks to everyone. I love the SDMB.
Here in Australia (well parts of it anyway) we have what’s called Hard Rubbish Collection weeks, where entire suburbs are allowed to chuck their junk onto the nature-strip (that grassy bit between the footpath and the road) and the local council will cart it away for free.
It’s my suburb’s turn at the moment, and every second house has a huge tv sitting on the n/strip. Nobody wants them, the Salvos and other goodwill stores won’t pick them up anymore (not even poor ppl want an old fashioned telly), and they’re not even on the Hard Rubbish Scavanger’s list of ‘shit to take’ now either.
Bite the bullet and take it to your local tip or dump. Or rip the guts out of it and turn it into an aquarium or something.
My newest and biggest TV is a 25" non-flat screen that doesn’t even have the things to hookup a DVD player. So you are welcome to just sit it in my basement.