Apple Simplifies 'Trade Up With Installments' iPhone Program by Relying on Carrier Financing Plans

[ggibson913]

I was planning on upgrading through the Apple Upgrade program just because I wanted to have an unlocked phone. Hopefully this won't change. Though I have to agree with other posters that my iPhone 6 Plus could be a three year phone. So far it doesn't show any signs of being too old or slowing down. The longer I keep it, the more value I get out of it but still not sure what I want to do.

 

[sharpie000]

So I'm new to this whole lease program. I have Sprint and we have 4 iPhones (2 of them are 6s Plus and 2 of them are 6s). I pay $31 and some change for each of the Plus phones and $29 and some change for the 6S phones per month in addition to our plan. We've been on this plan for roughly 4 months now. Honestly, I'm not very impressed with Sprint, so I would like to change. But apparently, it's still too early for me to do that because the $650 buyout credit all these companies are talking about won't be enough. So I need to wait a few more months (or at least 12 months?) to make the move.

Is it better to just go through Apple to get the iPhones? I had to pay deposits on each of the Sprint phones because my Plus is 128GB, so they wanted $200 up front. the 64GB required $100. Had I opted for the 16GB, there wouldn't have been a down payment. And it seems every time I upgrade to a new phone, I'm going to be shelling out the same thing (at least with Sprint). Will this also be the case if I go through Apple directly?

It used to be so much easier when we just shelled out $399 for a phone and kept it for 2 years. Then we could sell it on eBay, Craigslist, etc. and recoup some of that money.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[0007776]

I was excited when I saw that they dropped the minimum financing requirement since that is what kept me from upgrading my 6+ to an SE a few weeks ago. But then I saw that they dropped the trade in value for the 6+ by $50 and the phones are now locked. Oh well I'll probably still trade mine in when I get the rest of the money to buy the SE outright.
[doublepost=1467207719][/doublepost]

It used to be so much easier when we just shelled out $399 for a phone and kept it for 2 years. Then we could sell it on eBay, Craigslist, etc. and recoup some of that money.

You were paying for it back then to now they just tell you how much of your bill is going to the phone and you get to stop paying that part of the bill when you pay the full price if you don't upgrade. Before you would keep paying for the subsidy even if you didn't use it.

 

[NewdestinyX]

Not to hijack the thread... But I wonder how the SE's are selling for Apple. I just can't imagine anyone ever going back to a 4" phone after owning one of the larger screens.

 

[aristobrat]

So I'm new to this whole lease program. I have Sprint

This is where it can get confusing.

Sprint and T-Mobile offer lease programs.

Apple, AT&T and Verizon offer 0% APR financing programs.

Difference is, with Apple, AT&T and Verizon, you own the phone (in the exact same way you owned the phone on a 2-year contract). You never are required to return it, although there is an option to return it if you want to do an early upgrade and don't want to sell it yourself.

Is it better to just go through Apple to get the iPhones?

The unique thing about Apple's program (IMO) is that they bundle in AppleCare+ into the cost of their program, which means at the end of your plan, you've paid for the price of the iPhone plus the price of AppleCare+.

That, and the phones are unlocked. So if you want to switch to a different carrier before you've paid off the phone, it's a lot easier.

I had to pay deposits on each of the Sprint phones because my Plus is 128GB, so they wanted $200 up front. the 64GB required $100. Had I opted for the 16GB, there wouldn't have been a down payment. And it seems every time I upgrade to a new phone, I'm going to be shelling out the same thing (at least with Sprint). Will this also be the case if I go through Apple directly?

Apple, AT&T and Verizon don't normally require a deposit or down-payment for their programs. Not totally sure if that's true for people who have credit concerns.

It used to be so much easier when we just shelled out $399 for a phone and kept it for 2 years. Then we could sell it on eBay, Craigslist, etc. and recoup some of that money.

You can do this with Apple, AT&T and Verizon's plans. They're not leases. You own the phone on day #1 and can sell it whenever you want.

There are some folks want to upgrade yearly, but don't want to give their phones back (because they can get more money selling the phone themselves). These folks will use these programs to make monthly payments on months 1-11. For month 12, they'll pay off the remaining balance (which makes them eligible to start a new program to buy the new iPhone), and then recoup that money by selling their old phone on Swappa, eBay, etc.
[doublepost=1467209368][/doublepost]

Not to hijack the thread... But I wonder how the SE's are selling for Apple. I just can't imagine anyone ever going back to a 4" phone after owning one of the larger screens.

There's quite a few threads floating around about how folks love them, and how hard they were to find locally because they were selling out fast. I couldn't go back to a smaller screen, but some folks seem to love it.

 

[Dave245]

Still no announcement of this in the UK.

 

[xdhd350]

This had better not be replacing the iPhone Upgrade Program, I was going to use that specifically to get out of financing through carriers. I may want to swap carriers, or not want to have to deal with my phone being locked, I may want the best carrier and roaming compatibility, and getting Apple Care Plus bundled in was a nice enticing feature... Plus being able to upgrade every year still. UGH Imma be pissed if this is gone now.

Same here. My wife and I bought unlocked 6s and 6s+ with the promise to trade in for next year's phone, continuing with the monthly installment through Citizens Bank. I don't want to be tied to carrier agreements any longer. I smell lawsuit if they yank this promise out from under us who went this route specifically to avoid being locked into carrier contracts.
[doublepost=1467211806][/doublepost]The other attraction to trading in the old phone directly on purchase of a new one is that in some states, like my state of Texas, you only pay sales tax on the difference rather than the entire retail cost. That can help lessen the loss incurred by not selling it outright.

 

[lordofthereef]

[doublepost=1467215399][/doublepost]

Canada.

On the first 3 pages of Kijiji: I'm seeing 128GB 6+ $900-$1050 in multiple listings. I found a 16GB for $550. 64GB ranging from $700-900

The cheapest I'm seeing a 16GB Phone 6s is $575 CAD - and it was locked. Cheapest 64GB was $850. Most are $900-1200. There were no 128GB models listed.

I also saw two unlocked 5S for $450 for 16GB, which to me is crazy.

I figured it was implied we were talking about the US market since the article sites US Apple programs. If it's that same price and trade in in Canada, that's terrible.

Edit: it's $375 CAD. Still, seems the Canadian resale market is stronger. Perhaps not yet as saturated.

 

[PlainviewX]

You were paying for it back then to now they just tell you how much of your bill is going to the phone and you get to stop paying that part of the bill when you pay the full price if you don't upgrade. Before you would keep paying for the subsidy even if you didn't use it.

No you weren't. That's a fallacy. I payed hundreds less, combining service and initial payment, than I would have if I financed the phone. Below are two posts I made a little while back. At no point was I paying for the full price of the phone with a two year contract.

Absolutely 100% incorrect. My phone cost me $399 and my plan is $60 a month, 2 gig, unlimited text/voice, minus taxes, through Verizon. There's no hidden offsetting subsidy fee in there anywhere. That's why most carriers have moved away from subsidy pricing. I saved $450+ compared to someone who's paying monthly. NOW, not before, some providers have found a way to recoup their subsidizing prices, if they even still offer it, make the access fee more than it is if you go monthly with the phone. I think it's Verizon that's $20/40. I haven't checked in a couple of months. They may not even offer it anymore.
______________________________________________________________________________​

Companies made up the difference with people who were getting the bigger plans. People like me made out with the smaller plans. A small part of the plan obviously offset some of their losses. Nothing close to $15. It's in the low single dollar amount. These providers came nowhere close to getting full-retail price for each phone. It's the reason you would have two different access fee amounts the past year or so, one for subsidized and one for retail. Because providers were losing money on people like me, they dropped two year contracts.

My total cost for two years = $399 + $60(x24) = $1839.
Total cost today for monthly phone = $60 plan (deducted $5 from 3gig plan) + $35.41 (phone) x 24 = $2409.84

Difference = $570.84.​

 

[0007776]

No you weren't. That's a fallacy. I payed hundreds less, combining service and initial payment, than I would have if I financed the phone. Below are two posts I made a little while back. At no point was I paying for the full price of the phone with a two year contract.

The switch was 100% marketing. No one wanted to be the first carrier to increase prices so as their costs ate into the amount that they got towards the phone from each customer they had to figure out a way to make that up. They did it by keeping the plan price the same but charging you separately for the phone the price increase would have had to be about the same regardless, but by going to spereate payments for the device it was hidden. It was marketing designed to hide a price increase and you're falling for it.

 

[PlainviewX]

The switch was 100% marketing. No one wanted to be the first carrier to increase prices so as their costs ate into the amount that they got towards the phone from each customer they had to figure out a way to make that up. They did it by keeping the plan price the same but charging you separately for the phone the price increase would have had to be about the same regardless, but by going to spereate payments for the device it was hidden. It was marketing designed to hide a price increase and you're falling for it.

I'm not sure what you're talking about. Subsidized phones, in my case $570, was cheaper than financing a phone. 2-year contracts are gone because providers no longer want to lose any money subsidizing the phones and they know they can't raise rates anymore.

 

[0007776]

they know they can't raise rates anymore.

Changing from subsidized to payments being a seperate part of the bill is how they raised rates while not marketing it as a rate increase. Some people were grandfathered in at the old rates just like they us been with previous rate increases but that doesn't change the fact that the old subsidized plans had the full cost of the phone built in on top of what the carrier needed to operate their network and make a profit when the plans were introduced.

 

[NewdestinyX]

I'm not sure what you're talking about. Subsidized phones, in my case $570, was cheaper than financing a phone. 2-year contracts are gone because providers no longer want to lose any money subsidizing the phones and they know they can't raise rates anymore.

This is exactly correct. It's only people who didn't understand the hosing they were getting (by moving to monthly installments for phone) who are the ones trying to sell us the fuzzy math of subsidy costing the same. It's one of the biggest urban myths propagated on these forums. Carriers stopped subsidizing because they were losing money. Period.

 

[PlainviewX]

Changing from subsidized to payments being a seperate part of the bill is how they raised rates while not marketing it as a rate increase. Some people were grandfathered in at the old rates just like they us been with previous rate increases but that doesn't change the fact that the old subsidized plans had the full cost of the phone built in on top of what the carrier needed to operate their network and make a profit when the plans were introduced.

They made money with bigger plans. People like me who are on the lowest plan were never paying full price at the end of the two year cycle. Providers made the money back of subsidizing with the more robust plans.

 

[0007776]

They made money with bigger plans. People like me who are on the lowest plan were never paying full price at the end of the two year cycle. Providers made the money back of subsidizing with the more robust plans.

Most likely that was true by the time they got rid of two year contracts, but when those plans were first introduced I can almost gurantee that they were covering their costs for providing the service, the full cost of the phone, and some profit even on the cheapest plans.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

We should instead be discussing all the awesome announced and just released apple products......looks at buying guide....

there is a reason there is a bit of doom and gloom on MR....nothing a few "new" products cannot fix .....and not ******** watch bands!!!

New products never fix it. People still cry that the new products don't include every feature under the sun and will never be satisfied.

Mac Rumors was still full of complaints when the first iPhone and iPad were announced. No matter how much Apple exceeds expectations the people here will simply raise their expectations even more and find something else to be unhappy with.

New iPhone just doubled the battery life? Why couldn't they triple it?! Free iCloud storage? Why don't we get unlimited free?! New colors offered? Why isn't every color I love an option?! Double the speed? Just double?!

 

[aristobrat]

It's only people who didn't understand the hosing they were getting (by moving to monthly installments for phone) who are the ones trying to sell us the fuzzy math of subsidy costing the same. It's one of the biggest urban myths propagated on these forums.

I can see why you get irked at people who make the blanket statement that financing is ALWAYS cheaper than the 2-year contract. It obviously wasn't the case for you, or UnionVGF.

But why would you turn around and do the same thing?

There are a lot of people on here who are paying less with the new mobile share plans + device financing. So it's not always an urban myth. It's the "subsidy is cheaper" math that goes fuzzy when you plug in the high plan price they were paying on some of the 2-year contracts rates from the last few years...

It'd go as far as to say those folks are the majority, which is why some of them are under the impression that mobile share plans + device financing is cheaper for everyone, because you guys with these old and stupidly cheap plans are kind of rare to find.

 

[dampfnudel]

I miss those 2 year contracts....

We all had to grow up eventually.
[doublepost=1467268160][/doublepost]

Am I the only one who's completely lost about how to get a new phone? I could get behind the days of just trading in your old phone with a new two year contract. With these new schemes to get a phone, I get the feeling that it's just another way for the phone companies to scam us out of our money. They're also much more confusing. I'm certain this is one of the reasons for fewer phone sales. They've put roadblocks in place that didn't appear to be there in the old way of doing business.

The best approach now is to buy an iPhone for full price and hold on to it for at least three years if possible.

 

[chrisrosemusic1]

UK eBay must suck a lot less for selling than US eBay does!

I got £500 for my 6+ 3 months ago, and I only paid £700 a year before. Almost paid for my 6S 64GB bar £120. Result.

 

[617aircav]

I miss those 2 year contracts....

They are still around. Scored my 6s 64gb in April from bestbuy by signing a 2yrs contract with Verizon and canceling it in 30 days. After paying etf and Verizon's expensive monthly plan, total cost just under $600.