8 Things You Should Do Before Selling Used Electronics

Safety first: Send your essential data to the Cloud or a hard drive. That means your contacts, photos, music, apps and anything else you wouldn't want to lose. Backing up your phone will allow you to restore it on your new device, setting up just like the old one in no time.

Remember: Putting your sensitive data in the trash doesn't mean it's gone! You'll need to do a clean system reinstall (on a computer) or "restore factory settings" (on a smartphone or tablet) to make sure all your data has really been removed.

Your account with services like iTunes, Netflix, the Xbox store or the Wii store has personal information and is linked to your device. Before you sell it, make sure you deauthorize that device or unlink it from these services so the new owner can't rent movies or buy games on your tab.

Plain and simple: The better your tech looks, the more money you're likely to get for it. (Learn more about the right way to clean your tech here.)