Huh? Not so much ....
First of all, it doesn't take THAT much effort to sell used, over the net.
Yeah, it's not as convenient as just handing your old phone to some Best Buy rep. and getting an instant credit -- but you pay dearly for that convenience.
I have no problem with these kinds of things being offered ... but no way I'd do it!
The price you see the used phones going for on eBay really IS a pretty accurate indicator of what they're selling for. The trick is to look at the average selling prices of the COMPLETED auctions though -- not just the ASKING prices of auctions in progress (which often have no bidders yet).
People keep forgetting that there's a healthy market for unlocked phones not bound by any contracts, because only these can easily be used with the cheaper, second-tier carriers like Straightalk, Virgin Mobile or Cricket Wireless -- where monthly fees are as low as $45 or so for unlimited text and talk, plus some sort of data package.
I agree that it doesn't normally seem to make any sense to buy a new unlocked smartphone at full price. But that really is the price the phone sells for, new. When you do a 2 year contract and get the phone for a lot less money up-front, you're going to wind up paying for it eventually anyway.
You're the exact type of person who just reads what is the price on the internet and assumes everyone can get that same price OR MORE.
When you see it priced that high, it does not mean any joe blow or jane doe can sell theirs for that price as well. That's the misconception of these sales on the internet; used prices that are just ridiculously high and yet forum members post messages saying "hey, look, it goes for this price online so you are a fool to sell it for any less!" -
You do realize it takes a lot of effort to sell used. Sure amazon or any other buy back online will take it for more but this is not always the case and having bestbuy do this promotion makes it a safe and easy way for EVERYONE to get a new iPhone.
There's really no point in the USA to buy an unlocked phone either. You still pay monthly premiums AND most of the time you are on a contract. If you go out and buy an unlocked phone WITHOUT a contract you are just dumb or have too much money to throw around. Take the 2 year contract and get the phone discounted up front. Otherwise you just pay even more with the non-contract phone.
but if not then this is just wrong.
