The Blind Center of Nevada is home to a braille library, a ceramics studio, an events center — and a state-of-the-art electronics recycling and refurbishing facility.

For 20 years, employees at the Center, many of whom are blind or visually impaired, have specialized in refurbishing used electronics. Their work ranges from computers and cell phones to scanners and servers, ultimately selling the restored products on eBay.

Roughly 80% of the Blind Center of Nevada’s annual revenue, which supports programming and services for the blind community, comes from its eBay storefront. The Center has sold more than 103,000 items, earning $300,000 this past October alone.

“All the things we do for our blind individuals are supported by what we do on eBay,” Ryan Wilson, the Center’s director of operations, said. “Our 70th year anniversary is coming up, and out of the last 20 years, eBay has been a huge part of that. If we didn’t have eBay, we probably wouldn’t even be announcing it’s our 70th year.”

Building Careers and Confidence Through eBay

Today, the Center’s eBay operation is a well-oiled machine. Donors provide electronics, staff pick them up and blind technicians evaluate, refurbish, clean and prepare items for listing. Items that can’t be repaired are dismantled for recycling — part of a sustainability effort that diverts nearly three million pounds of e-waste from landfills annually. The Center is also the only R2-certified nonprofit recycler in Nevada, meeting the highest standards for responsible recycling.

People who are blind work across the operation: creating listings, managing sales, erasing data, dismantling devices and supporting IT needs. They earn competitive hourly wages plus commissions for each item sold.

“These roles give blind individuals marketing skills, sales skills, IT skills — skills they can use at home to sell independently,” Ryan said.

Ryan emphasizes that eBay’s accessibility features are crucial to the program’s success. Tools such as narration, magnification and dark mode allow employees who are blind to do their jobs and navigate the platform efficiently. According to Ryan, these features reflect years of eBay listening to and acting on the needs of its users. 

“eBay gets it and cares. It’s not another platform where you’re just an account number,” Ryan said. “There are real people who understand that people are selling on their platform to make change, whether it's for you individually to sustain your life and income, or to support other individuals, like homeless or blind individuals – they get it.” 

Creating Opportunity & a Supportive Community

Beyond its eBay operation, the Center provides workforce development programs, a culinary department, recreational activities – and soon a 100-unit apartment complex that will offer safe housing, social connections and work opportunities. 

“90% of our members who are visually impaired live well below the poverty line. Many people don’t realize that being blind isn’t just ‘I can’t see’ — it can come with depression, reclusion and fear,” Ryan explained. “But when they come here, they see they’re not alone. They find opportunities, a supportive community, staff who help them attend events and a quality of life that shows them people care.”

During this holiday season, the Center prepared for one of its favorite traditions: giving out turkeys to its community members for Thanksgiving. While about half are donated, the other half were purchased through funds raised on eBay. The Center actively serves around 400 blind members, with 140–160 participating daily. 

Looking Toward the Future

As the Blind Center of Nevada moves into its 70th year, it is focused on the future: expanding housing, growing its programs and becoming a national model for what inclusive, opportunity-driven support can look like.

“Our goal is to become the model for the nation of what services you can provide for blind individuals — and how we’ve used eBay and electronics recycling to do that and give people opportunity.”