VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Thousands of people will be getting rid of their old smartphones to make room for their new iPhone 5 which could arrive as early as Friday. But what will happen to all of those used phones?

Tech journalist Akash Soblok says you have a lot of options.

He suggests recycling them or trying to make a bit of money. “You could sell them on a website, you could sell them to friends.”

Soblok adds if you’re re-selling, buyers like to see if “you are the legitimate owner of the phone and that you’ve maintained it well, (so you should) keep the accessories, keep the box, and the receipt.”

He says a lot of people are keeping those iPhone 3Gs and iPhone 4s as backup phones or as iPods.

“It’s very easy to sync it with iTunes and easy to keep your contacts up to date, in case you lose or damage your phone. Right away you have an older phone to use, and it’s very similar and it has all the same features,” he explains.