“Don’t sell your computer unless you remove the hard drive and run over it with your car several times,” says Goodwill’s French, who won’t take them, anyway. Although Goodwill is environmentally sensitive, keeping 640 tons a year out of Sarasota area landfills, they steer clear of computers because of potential security breaches. “People find ways to get your sensitive information off the hard drive, even if you’ve used software to clean it,” French warns.

“Prices for new systems are so low that the hassle of selling may not be worth the small amount of money you might recoup,” says eBay seller Jim Reid of Sellit4u. Still, you might want to check eBay for the going prices for your system. “Antiques” (vintage Hewlett-Packards, Apples, and Commodores circa 1975 to 1989) can be sold to www.oldcomputers.net.

And major initiatives are underway to keep consumer electronics out of the nation’s landfills. Manufacturers now list disposal opportunities on their Web sites. If you can’t find a local organization or charity to take your computer off your hands, try www.sharethetechnology.com.

Cell phones, computers, and other electronics are accepted at Sarasota County’s Chemical Collection Centers. To find out more, enter a local zip code at www.earth911.org and follow links to the county’s Plug-In to eCycling program (affiliated with the EPA).

BOOKS: antiques to paperback

If you’re willing to part with your bestsellers, options abound. Local libraries, favorite charities or one of 10 local book resellers will take them off your hands. Paperbacks are generally accepted for store credit only. For rare antiquarian and scholarly tomes, however, A. Parker’s Books on Main Street appraises and markets to an international audience. The company sells via the Internet and owns sister stores in New Orleans and the Boston area.

“Value isn’t necessarily determined by the age of the book,” says Parker’s Art Grimwood. “What’s ‘in’ at a particular point in time, the condition of the book, the author, and whether it’s a first printing are all taken into consideration. Sometimes a book can be valuable just for its leather binding. We’ll look at anything.” If the seller is elderly or the collection worthwhile, an expert will make a house call.

Grimwood advises caution when selling or buying books at estate sales. “Prices are either too low or way over the top,” he says. A word of caution if you intend to sell the books you’ll never read again: “We see valuable books in boxes on the lanai all the time. People have no idea how Florida’s climate destroys books. They have to be in an air-controlled, pest-free environment,” Grimwood says.