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Reselling the Verizon iPhone 4.

S

stu00a

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 13, 2011
57
5
Hello
I am newbie here and I just wondering if I can resell the verizon's iPhone 4.
I am tied with my family plan, and I bought my Droid X back in July 2010 with one year contract, so I can get the iphone 4 with discounted price on May 2011.
But, since my family plan includes my grandparents line (two lines) which they don't actually use that much and they don't need latest features, so I saw that I can move their upgrade eligibility to mine for discounted price.
So, what I am thinking is.

1. Transfer Upgrade Eligibility to mine from grandma's
2. Pre-Order Iphone 4 on Feb. 3rd 2011 for $199
3. Sell the Iphone 4 right after I receive.
4. Transfer Upgrade Eligibility to mine from grandpa's
5. Buy Another Iphone 4 for $199
6. Sell the Iphone 4 AGAIN after I receive.
7. By the time when MY upgrade is eligible, buy the iphone 4 AGAIN.
8. Sell my Droid X.

So this is my plan.

What do you guys think?

And the big question is that should I activate and unactivate? because when I bought my Droid X, I think I saw that "If you don't activate this phone in 30days, you will have to pay the remainder of Fully Retail Price".

Please comment.
 
kdarling

kdarling

macrumors P6
Jun 9, 2007
17,373
5,924
First university coding class = 47 years ago
I just transferred my wife's upgrade eligibility to my line so I can get the iPhone 4, so I see your plan.

Hmm. Since I don't think a data plan is required unless you use the phones, your plan might work. But I'm not sure.

I'd go ask this question either in the Verizon section of HoFo, or on the forums at Verizon's website to get some expert opinions.

Note: Googling around, it seems that when you transfer eligibility and then upgrade, the line that you transferred _from_ gets its contract extended two years. Just so you're aware that you'd be extending both grandparents.

PS. Whenever I've done this within my family, then yes I activated then deactivated, without removing any plastic shield etc. But again, not sure you really have to. Others will have far better advice, I'm sure. I just wanted to get the ball rolling.
 
saving107

saving107

macrumors 603
Oct 14, 2007
6,384
33
San Jose, Ca
stu00a said:
Hello
I am newbie here and I just wondering if I can resell the verizon's iPhone 4.
I am tied with my family plan, and I bought my Droid X back in July 2010 with one year contract, so I can get the iphone 4 with discounted price on May 2011.
But, since my family plan includes my grandparents line (two lines) which they don't actually use that much and they don't need latest features, so I saw that I can move their upgrade eligibility to mine for discounted price.
So, what I am thinking is.

1. Transfer Upgrade Eligibility to mine from grandma's
2. Pre-Order Iphone 4 on Feb. 3rd 2011 for $199
3. Sell the Iphone 4 right after I receive.
4. Transfer Upgrade Eligibility to mine from grandpa's
5. Buy Another Iphone 4 for $199
6. Sell the Iphone 4 AGAIN after I receive.
7. By the time when MY upgrade is eligible, buy the iphone 4 AGAIN.
8. Sell my Droid X.

So this is my plan.

What do you guys think?

And the big question is that should I activate and unactivate? because when I bought my Droid X, I think I saw that "If you don't activate this phone in 30days, you will have to pay the remainder of Fully Retail Price".

Please comment.
Click to expand...

People these days always trying to make a quick buck.

lame.gif
 
possumwater

possumwater

macrumors regular
Dec 15, 2010
117
1
stu00a said:
Hello
I am newbie here and I just wondering if I can resell the verizon's iPhone 4.
I am tied with my family plan, and I bought my Droid X back in July 2010 with one year contract, so I can get the iphone 4 with discounted price on May 2011.
But, since my family plan includes my grandparents line (two lines) which they don't actually use that much and they don't need latest features, so I saw that I can move their upgrade eligibility to mine for discounted price.
So, what I am thinking is.

1. Transfer Upgrade Eligibility to mine from grandma's
2. Pre-Order Iphone 4 on Feb. 3rd 2011 for $199
3. Sell the Iphone 4 right after I receive.
4. Transfer Upgrade Eligibility to mine from grandpa's
5. Buy Another Iphone 4 for $199
6. Sell the Iphone 4 AGAIN after I receive.
7. By the time when MY upgrade is eligible, buy the iphone 4 AGAIN.
8. Sell my Droid X.

So this is my plan.

What do you guys think?

And the big question is that should I activate and unactivate? because when I bought my Droid X, I think I saw that "If you don't activate this phone in 30days, you will have to pay the remainder of Fully Retail Price".

Please comment.
Click to expand...

Now that's some slick stuff haha.
 
M

Merzie

macrumors member
Jun 2, 2009
52
0
Does AT&T do the same thing, tnisatard, cause I was thinking of doing the same thing.
 
S

SchuettS

macrumors 6502
Dec 4, 2008
329
0
tnisatard said:
Verizon requires you to pay for a smartphone's data plan for a minimum 6 months
Click to expand...

Really?! Must be something new they are doing. I got a droid from Verizon and had it for only two months then switched to a palm 650 w blocked data.
 
PNutts

PNutts

macrumors 601
Jul 24, 2008
4,874
357
Pacific Northwest, US
I'm not the search police but take a look in the forums for other people that sold phones. There's a lot of folks looking to take advantage of someone like you and the forum has a few examples.

But I guess the question is what will Verizon "do" when you sell a phone that came discounted with a data plan. The part you left out is that your grandparents will have two Verizon contracts and no phones. :)
 
Carlanga

Carlanga

macrumors 604
Nov 5, 2009
7,132
1,409
right now the only people you can sell the phone would be w/ Verizon so I don't think you would make your money back to make it worth your wait.
 
L

lanulos

macrumors regular
Jun 19, 2010
110
0
One thing I have read is, if you are going to sell the phone, you have to take it out of the box and activate and then deactivate it before you sell it; the phone comes already registered to your number, and if someone else tries to activate it first, Verizon will think they stole the phone. At least this is what various sellers have said on eBay, warning people not to buy shrink-wrapped Verizon iPhones; the must be de-registered first.
 
R

Rodvette

macrumors regular
Jan 15, 2011
151
0
lanulos said:
One thing I have read is, if you are going to sell the phone, you have to take it out of the box and activate and then deactivate it before you sell it; the phone comes already registered to your number, and if someone else tries to activate it first, Verizon will think they stole the phone. At least this is what various sellers have said on eBay, warning people not to buy shrink-wrapped Verizon iPhones; the must be de-registered first.
Click to expand...

QFT I had to follow these steps when I transferred the iphone from my friends account to mine.
 
M

Merzie

macrumors member
Jun 2, 2009
52
0
I picked up an att iphone today. They said that they, too, have the minimum of 6 months. however, I think you can pay it off an unregister it with them. That would be something like $90 (6x15") plus a traditional SIM for whatever phone you use after you get rid of it. Even hanging on the phone for 6 months is no big deal, considering no matter what you can get at least $400 for it on ebay. I'll likely upgrade to iphone 5 or nano "early" by selling this phone and transferring upgrade from family member.
 
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