Walmart Offering Launch Discounts on New iPhones: $79 iPhone 5c, $189 iPhone 5s

Perfect Score said:

Not buying the phone = no sunk or fixed cost. You won't be locked into an expensive contract if you just use the old one.

Percentages matter because people think "OMG I'm saving $10! What a steal! I have to get the cool phone" instead of "F%ck I ain't spending $2000 on a phone that's marginally improved."

It's called long term financial planning.

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Not buying the phone is not the option we were discussing. We were talking about people who want an iPhone 5S and whether the $10 discount at Walmart matters. If the default position is—just like any microeconomics problem—"I will begin this venture," then the contract and some baseline cost for the device are fixed or sunk costs.

Percentages don't matter because at the end of the day, the only thing that matters for a person who has decided to purchase an iPhone 5S is the marginal cost. The notion that they shouldn't care about $10 just because the contract and phone itself are pricey is absolute and unadulterated idiocy. That's as stupid as saying that you shouldn't care whether you use a $10 shopping coupon because your mortgage is expensive. Again, for about the third time, $10 is $10. If a person has some moral objection to shopping at Walmart, or doing so is somehow more inconvenient, or Walmart doesn't have sufficient stock, then sure, there's an argument for not doing it. But ceteris paribus, I see no reason why an economically rational buyer wouldn't choose to save themselves $10. It's just as significant there as is a shopping, dining, or other type of coupon.

Also, your example is irrationally constructed (as is the rest of your gibberish, so I'm not sure why I'm surprised) because it presents a false dichotomy. If they're using the same carrier, then it's not a $2000 marginal expense. The person using their "old one," to quote you, still incurs the contract cost. Thus, the only marginal expense is the cost of the phone. And again, the case I was discussing was the person who has already decided that they want to get an iPhone 5S—although it really doesn't matter, because the person on the fence has three choices:
1) Not upgrade and pay the contract fees monthly
2) Upgrade at $199+tax+upgrade fee at a usual suspect retailer
3) Upgrade at $189+tax+upgrade fee at WalMart

It's called understanding basic microeconomics. I'm not sure why this is so difficult for you to comprehend, but I sure wouldn't want you managing my finances with your cavalier attitude. That approach is what got so many people in trouble, justifying each incremental expense with the non-sensical logic, "Oh, it's just a little bit more; I'll add it to my revolving credit card bill."

You'd be well served to obtain and read a book on microeconomic decision making.

Must be a national thing with us, cuz I totally agree with you. $20 off and people are excited? WTF? Who cares when the monthly bill is 4x that? I was gonna bring up the percentage thing myself until I saw that you did.

If people have decided to buy anyway, sure, extra $20 back in the pocket, but sales usually exist to boost sales, and if $20 less convinces someone to go sign up for a 2-year contract, well... yeah.

Perfect Score said:

Not buying the phone = no sunk or fixed cost. You won't be locked into an expensive contract if you just use the old one.

Percentages matter because people think "OMG I'm saving $10! What a steal! I have to get the cool phone" instead of "F%ck I ain't spending $2000 on a phone that's marginally improved."

It's called long term financial planning.

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osofast240sx said:

If you have an enterprise account you should be shopping at Walmart anyway ha ha lol

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Isn't it amazing that the most commonly missed word in typing on the internet is the word that would completely reverse the meaning of your comment?

'should not be'

loybond said:

Must be a national thing with us, cuz I totally agree with you. $20 off and people are excited? WTF? Who cares when the monthly bill is 4x that? I was gonna bring up the percentage thing myself until I saw that you did.

If people have decided to buy anyway, sure, extra $20 back in the pocket, but sales usually exist to boost sales, and if $20 less convinces someone to go sign up for a 2-year contract, well... yeah.

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Yup we're framing the choices in totally different ways.

He's thinking from "I'm gonna get the phone anyway so $20 off is $20 off."

I'm saying "If you don't buy the phone, you're saving $2000."

That's why marketing and sales gimmicks works

Perfect Score said:

Yup we're framing the choices in totally different ways.

He's thinking from "I'm gonna get the phone anyway so $20 off is $20 off."

I'm saying "If you don't buy the phone, you're saving $2000."

That's why marketing and sales gimmicks works

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Get off your high horse. I have an MBA from one of the top two business schools in the USA, and a background in marketing research. As I stated previously—and, I'll note, you were unable to articulate any sort of reply—you're creating a false dichotomy. Your argument presumes that some consumer is on the fence about whether or not to cancel their freaking cell phone contract versus buy an iPhone 5S. Are you unable to see how ludicrous that is? How that is NOT the choice pretty much ANY consumer is really making?

This is borderline exasperating, but I'll explain this one more time. The cell phone contract is a given. The $2000 is a sunk cost. The only questions are when to upgrade the phone and what phone to get. A user who has decided on an iPhone 5S right now can either choose to pay full retail ($199+upgrade+tax), or they can choose to save $10 by buying it at Walmart.

As before, $10 is $10. If you go around lighting Alexander Hamiltons on fire with glee, then I suppose it doesn't matter. If Walmart is for some reason inconvenient for you, or you have moral objections to buying products there, or they won't have the capacity or color you want, or you use something like a ShopDiscover discount on Apple.com, then there is also a reason to purchase your phone elsewhere. But otherwise, ceteris paribus (which is the phrase I used in my previous post—look it up, since you apparently don't know what it means), a rational consumer will go ahead and buy their phone at Walmart.

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loybond said:

If people have decided to buy anyway, sure, extra $20 back in the pocket, but sales usually exist to boost sales, and if $20 less convinces someone to go sign up for a 2-year contract, well... yeah.

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Per the above, virtually no one is being convinced to sign up for a 2-year contract who otherwise wouldn't by virtue of a sale. That isn't the contention whatsoever.

My respect for Canada has taken a real turn for the worse.

On a more serious note, anybody get BestBuy to price match walmart?

john123 said:

Get off your high horse. I have an MBA from one of the top two business schools in the USA, and a background in marketing research. As I stated previously—and, I'll note, you were unable to articulate any sort of reply—you're creating a false dichotomy. Your argument presumes that some consumer is on the fence about whether or not to cancel their freaking cell phone contract versus buy an iPhone 5S. Are you unable to see how ludicrous that is? How that is NOT the choice pretty much ANY consumer is really making?

This is borderline exasperating, but I'll explain this one more time. The cell phone contract is a given. The $2000 is a sunk cost. The only questions are when to upgrade the phone and what phone to get. A user who has decided on an iPhone 5S right now can either choose to pay full retail ($199+upgrade+tax), or they can choose to save $10 by buying it at Walmart.

As before, $10 is $10. If you go around lighting Alexander Hamiltons on fire with glee, then I suppose it doesn't matter. If Walmart is for some reason inconvenient for you, or you have moral objections to buying products there, or they won't have the capacity or color you want, or you use something like a ShopDiscover discount on Apple.com, then there is also a reason to purchase your phone elsewhere. But otherwise, ceteris paribus (which is the phrase I used in my previous post—look it up, since you apparently don't know what it means), a rational consumer will go ahead and buy their phone at Walmart.

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Per the above, virtually no one is being convinced to sign up for a 2-year contract who otherwise wouldn't by virtue of a sale. That isn't the contention whatsoever.

My respect for Canada has taken a real turn for the worse.

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You cant fix stupid!!! If you had no interest in discussing wether or not buying an iphone from walmart instead of the traditional tech stores then why are you here. There arent 2 sides to this discussion...you are all by yourself. It is a given the people on this thread were considering purchasing the 5s...the only person not discussing that is you, So pleaase move along so the grown ups can talk...

Bigdawg4 said:

You cant fix stupid!!! If you had no interest in discussing wether or not buying an iphone from walmart instead of the traditional tech stores then why are you here. There arent 2 sides to this discussion...you are all by yourself. It is a given the people on this thread were considering purchasing the 5s...the only person not discussing that is you, So pleaase move along so the grown ups can talk...

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Did you even read a word I wrote? Clearly not. Perhaps what I wrote was written at a level too sophisticated for you? Judging from your syntax, that seems to be the most likely hypothesis.

I wholeheartedly agree, however. You really can't fix stupid.

john123 said:

Did you even read a word I wrote? Clearly not. Perhaps what I wrote was written at a level too sophisticated for you? Judging from your syntax, that seems to be the most likely hypothesis.

I wholeheartedly agree, however. You really can't fix stupid.

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John123...My response that you replied to was directed not at you but at the person you were arguing with. I was supporting you in this thread. Im sorry my response to him was too sophisticted for you.

Bigdawg4 said:

John123...My response that you replied to was directed not at you but at the person you were arguing with. I was supporting you in this thread. Im sorry my response to him was too sophisticted for you.

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Well don't I feel like the **** now.

LOL, you crack me up. "My internet opinion matters more than yours because I say have a fancy degree, so agree with me OR ELSE!" BTW, I have a fancy MBA from a top school as well. Completely meaningless crap.

john123 said:

Get off your high horse. I have an MBA from one of the top two business schools in the USA, and a background in marketing research.

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It says a lot about you that you let one or two people influence your point of view of an entire country. Gee, I wonder what would happen if people thought of Americans and the US that way?

john123 said:

My respect for Canada has taken a real turn for the worse.

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loybond said:

LOL, you crack me up.

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You're welcome.

loybond said:

"My internet opinion matters more than yours because I say have a fancy degree, so agree with me OR ELSE!" BTW, I have a fancy MBA from a top school as well. Completely meaningless crap.

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Cute rant. Your blather aside, we aren't talking about "opinions." We're talking about core economic concepts that are taught in every university, combined with (gasp) common sense and logic.

loybond said:

It says a lot about you that you let one or two people influence your point of view of an entire country. Gee, I wonder what would happen if people thought of Americans and the US that way?

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Guess they didn't teach you snark in that allegedly "top" school you attended. But now that I recall the "Canada" part of your profile, I suppose I understand your indignation. If I lived in Canada, I'd be indignant too.