AT&T Begins Selling $99 (Refurbished) iPhone

[MacRumors]

Several readers have noted that AT&T has started selling refurbished iPhone 3Gs as low as $99.

While AT&T has intermittently offered refurbished iPhones in the past, the $99 price point is noteworthy given the recent rumors that Apple was to introduce a $99 model. Apple's current iPhone starts at $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB. The refurbished models have been discounted $100 to $99 and $199, respectively.

Analysts believed that dropping the starting price of the iPhone to $99 could double or triple projected sales.

Article Link: AT&T Begins Selling $99 (Refurbished) iPhone

[Sirobin]

Wow, that's amazingly cheap.

[Desamell]

Can you buy thoses like the Full price 199 dollar one when ur still in contract with ATT??
2nd!

[Chundles]

A $100 price drop on the upfront cost is a drop in the bucket compared to the overall cost.

If AT&T wants to sell more iPhones they could stand to drop the contract rates a fraction.

[gguerini]

Originally Posted by Desamell

Can you buy thoses like the Full price 199 dollar one when ur still in contract with ATT??
2nd!

Good question. Do I still need a contract?

[O. Frabjous-Dey]

If you like having a 90-day warranty instead of a 1-year warranty on a device that commonly has problems after a few months of usage (I'm on my third), go for it.

[Bentov]

I believe this is for new activations only....

[Diode]

Originally Posted by Chundles

A $100 price drop on the upfront cost is a drop in the bucket compared to the overall cost.

If AT&T wants to sell more iPhones they could stand to drop the contract rates a fraction.

Their rates are cheaper then verizon .....

Don't try to compare AT&T with either Sprint or t-mobile in the US please. Coverage is not close to the same as t-mobile and I can't stand when people point to the sprint employee referral.

Yes Sprint is cheaper with the "referral" but first you've got to know about it ... which your average customer does not. Second a savy AT&T person can build a compatible plan using rate codes found across the internet.

I'm happily paying around 68/month (After taxes and discounts) for 650 anytime (only 450 roll over), 5000 N&W, 1500 text messages and unlimited data. Not sprint or t-mobile prices but pretty damn good in my books.

[MacFan782040]

Does anybody know:

Can I sign up for the a calling plan, say the 450 minutes one, and then if I realize by checking up online I am coming close to going over my minutes, can I upgrade to the next 900 minute plan? WIll this extend my contract or anything?

[Diode]

Originally Posted by MacFan782040

Does anybody know:

Can I sign up for the a calling plan, say the 450 minutes one, and then if I realize by checking up online I am coming close to going over my minutes, can I upgrade to the next 900 minute plan? WIll this extend my contract or anything?

No that will not extend your contract. I know if you downgrade you lose rollover minutes but I'm not sure if there are any penalties for upgrading.

[Luke1robb]

Originally Posted by MacFan782040

Does anybody know:

Can I sign up for the a calling plan, say the 450 minutes one, and then if I realize by checking up online I am coming close to going over my minutes, can I upgrade to the next 900 minute plan? WIll this extend my contract or anything?

With AT&T you can change monthly minutes at any point, its simply prorated for that month.

Also, to the question above, no, you cannot order one of these if you already have an iPhone, you must upgrade to this phone or make it your first with a 2 year contract.

[mozadek]

$99 refurbished iPhone and wal-mart is going to sell the iPhone...looks like there will be a lot more iPhone users. Elitist fan boys wont be pleased.

[UTclassof89]

Originally Posted by MacFan782040

Does anybody know:

Can I sign up for the a calling plan, say the 450 minutes one, and then if I realize by checking up online I am coming close to going over my minutes, can I upgrade to the next 900 minute plan? WIll this extend my contract or anything?

Upgrading a plan with AT&T does not extend the contract.

[CocoaPuffs]

I was expecting this move back on Black Friday.

FYI, it is $199 and $299 for those that aren't eligible for subsidized pricing.

[charlituna]

Originally Posted by Desamell

Can you buy thoses like the Full price 199 dollar one when ur still in contract with ATT??
2nd!

you would most certainly have to activate with contract to get one.

[Matthew Yohe]

Originally Posted by Desamell

Can you buy thoses like the Full price 199 dollar one when ur still in contract with ATT??
2nd!

Depends when you first got into your 2 year contract if you qualify. If you do, then it will just extend your contract out another 2 years.

[charlituna]

Originally Posted by Chundles

A $100 price drop on the upfront cost is a drop in the bucket compared to the overall cost.

If AT&T wants to sell more iPhones they could stand to drop the contract rates a fraction.

no joke. even just adding back in the free 200 text messages would be a step in the right direction.

[igazza]

This is good news more iphones means more money for developers.

[Chundles]

Originally Posted by Diode

Their rates are cheaper then verizon .....

Don't try to compare AT&T with either Sprint or t-mobile in the US please. Coverage is not close to the same as t-mobile and I can't stand when people point to the sprint employee referral.

Yes Sprint is cheaper with the "referral" but first you've got to know about it ... which your average customer does not. Second a savy AT&T person can build a compatible plan using rate codes found across the internet.

I'm happily paying around 68/month (After taxes and discounts) for 650 anytime (only 450 roll over), 5000 N&W, 1500 text messages and unlimited data. Not sprint or t-mobile prices but pretty damn good in my books.

Firstly, where in my two line post did I make mention of any other US telecommunications company?

I did not compare the current plans to any other rival plan on other networks, I did not mention any employee referral system.

I did not say the plans were overpriced, I did not say the plans were poor value.

I did not mention coverage differences.

I said, that if AT&T wants to sell more iPhones they would be better served by lowering the plan prices a fraction than by knocking a relatively low price off the upfront cost.

Did you read my post at all before going off on that rant?

[Matthew Yohe]

Originally Posted by Chundles

A $100 price drop on the upfront cost is a drop in the bucket compared to the overall cost.

If AT&T wants to sell more iPhones they could stand to drop the contract rates a fraction.

Really? I just looked up a Blackberry Storm on verizon and you can get 450 minutes, unlimited data, and no messaging for 10 bucks cheaper through AT&T. (69.99 vs Verizon's 79.99)

[arn]

Originally Posted by Chundles

I said, that if AT&T wants to sell more iPhones they would be better served by lowering the plan prices a fraction than by knocking a relatively low price off the upfront cost.

Regardless, I think that your premise is wrong.

What will sell more iPhones for AT&T

- $99 starting price (vs $199)
- discounting $4.16 on a monthly phone bill over 2 years?

Despite the realities of the math, many people see upfront savings much more desirable than total cost of ownership savings.

arn

[chadder007]

Originally Posted by Chundles

A $100 price drop on the upfront cost is a drop in the bucket compared to the overall cost.

If AT&T wants to sell more iPhones they could stand to drop the contract rates a fraction.

Agreed. Thats what is holding me off on any of these smart phone types. The extra data plan isn't worth that much of a premium to me.

[Matthew Yohe]

Originally Posted by Chundles

Firstly, where in my two line post did I make mention of any other US telecommunications company?

I did not compare the current plans to any other rival plan on other networks, I did not mention any employee referral system.

I did not say the plans were overpriced, I did not say the plans were poor value.

I did not mention coverage differences.

I said, that if AT&T wants to sell more iPhones they would be better served by lowering the plan prices a fraction than by knocking a relatively low price off the upfront cost.

So basically your original post had no more insight than just "If they make the plans cheaper, they will sell more."

Great, thanks for that.

[Chundles]

Originally Posted by Matthew Yohe

Really? I just looked up a Blackberry Storm on verizon and you can get 450 minutes, unlimited data, and no messaging for 10 bucks cheaper through AT&T. (69.99 vs Verizon's 79.99)

Again, I am not making comparisons.

Originally Posted by arn

Regardless, I think that your premise is wrong.

What will sell more iPhones for AT&T

- $99 starting price (vs $199)
- discounting $4.16 on a monthly phone bill over 2 years?

Despite the realities of the math, many people see upfront savings much more desirable than total cost of ownership savings.

arn

I agree, most people will see an upfront $100 saving as more compelling. However I think that if they want a long-term sales increase rather than just a spike they could stand to drop the plans by $5 to $10 - it's not like they're hard up for cash...

And in current economic conditions, especially in the US where I gather things are much worse than they are here, people will need to be a little more financially savvy.

Originally Posted by Matthew Yohe

So basically your original post had no more insight than just "If they make the plans cheaper, they will sell more."

Great, thanks for that.

Yup, no more insight than that.

[alana22]

I'm guessing this means new iPhones are coming (obviously) ?