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2. it is off contract which means you can switch to different wireless providers whenever you want, particularly useful if you travel a lot across continents.

Particularly useful if you want your carrier to work to keep your business.
 
They're already implementing this stupid structure. If they are going to eventually force us to use this instead of 2 year contracts, they should let me pay off my phone however I want. If I want to put $300 down and pay the rest off monthly, or if I want to put $0 down and pay it off, it shouldn't matter.

If you want to do a plan like that, I suggest a third party finance from companies like HFC and others. Get the loan from the third party under the terms you negotiate, pay for the phone in the loaned cash to the carrier and you have the terms you are looking for here.
 
Obviously luring in those who cannot afford these phones. Only to trap them with an agreement that binds them for a longer period of time. And just in time for the Holidays.

Actually if you do the math, and understand the way the plans are structured, you are paying more or equal if you stay on contract compared to the Next plan. For example, I bought the 64gb 6 plus, if I would have opted to use my upgrade and stay on contract, it actually would have cost me $150 more for the phone in the long run because my line would have been an additional $40 per month on contract instead of $15 per month out of contract.

$25 x 24 months = $600 + $400 for the 64gb phone = $1000
ATT next charged me $879 straight up for the phone over 24 months.
 
iPhone off contract cost - $749 (16GB)
iPhone on Next 12 - 37.50 X 20 months = $750.

Tell me, where am I paying more for the hardware?

Do you pay more in taxes over those 20 months versus buying it off contract? This is one aspect I've wondered about.
 
People have always been financing cell phones. It just wasn't called financing.

When you paid $200 for a $700 iPhone and signed a contract, you were financing it by paying an inflated monthly price for service - you didn't think the carrier just ate the $500 difference, did you? The difference is, with the old model, the cost of the phone and service wasn't broken out on your bill, and worse, when you fulfilled the contract, your bill didn't go down.

With the new mobile share plans, monthly service is generally cheaper if you pay for your phone outright, bring your own, or are off contract. Finance the phone through Next and your bill will be more similar to what it was in the age of contracts. Next is just more transparent.


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A week after purchasing my iPhone 6 with Next I was in Europe with it, and I have 2 more trips planned in the next few months. It's not that I couldn't afford to buy outright, I could if it was the only option. But it's an interest free loan, why not use it?

But by all means, go ahead with your generalizations that everyone who uses Next must be poor.

This is probably the most entertaining thread In a while.

You just said everything I wanted to, thank you for that! I have an iPhone 6 on a next plan, I could easily afford to pay cash for it. It's cheaper to use the next plan and keep more money in my hand. Heck just leaving it in my checking account earns interest.
 
They should rename it "AT&T Rent"

Except it's not renting, so.....

Do you pay more in taxes over those 20 months versus buying it off contract? This is one aspect I've wondered about.

No. You pay sales tax on the phone up front when you purchase it, and there are no more additional taxes for it on your bill. With Next you will end up paying the exact same amount as if you bought it outright.
 
The way I understand it is that you pay off the phone, similar to a lease, over a period of 30 months, and you must return the phone at the end of the 30 months. Am I incorrect?

Yes, you're incorrect.

At 24 months, you can trade your phone in for a new one. If you go all 30 months, the phone is yours forever.
 
You're probably right but if they gave us 10GB then throttle I'd be fine with that. I'm just waiting to see what happens. I don't like the idea of being limited to a set amount of gigs which is why I stay with the unlimited.

Technically you are being limited on your "unlimited" plan with 5GB. :/
 
This is probably the most entertaining thread In a while.

You just said everything I wanted to, thank you for that! I have an iPhone 6 on a next plan, I could easily afford to pay cash for it. It's cheaper to use the next plan and keep more money in my hand. Heck just leaving it in my checking account earns interest.

I have an iPhone 5s off contract with AT&T, purchased by my employer, so not mine to trade in. I just priced a 128GB 6 Plus on the Next 12 and 18 plans and compared the cost to a two-year commitment and to buying a contract-free phone.

At 24 months, the cost for the both Next plans is identical to buying an contract-free phone outright, the difference being that I pay for it over time with Next. Buying with a two-year commitment is about $500 more, mostly due to higher monthly charges on my Mobile Share plan. Purchasing outright does have the advantage of immediately getting me an unlocked phone that I can use traveling, but that's not worth it to me.

So it looks like Next would a good deal for my use case. I'm not saying it makes sense for everyone, but blanket statements that it's not a good choice for anyone aren't valid, unless I'm missing something.
 
This is probably the most entertaining thread In a while.

You just said everything I wanted to, thank you for that! I have an iPhone 6 on a next plan, I could easily afford to pay cash for it. It's cheaper to use the next plan and keep more money in my hand. Heck just leaving it in my checking account earns interest.

Bingo. Reading this thread gave me a headache. I can't see how anyone thinks that a 2-Year contract and a higher bill is better than paying for the phone over time. If you're talking about a 16GB iPhone, you pay $200 up front, but then end up paying $600 more over 24 months because you went with the subsidized phone, so basically a $650 iPhone costs you $800. Most people don't even know they are spending the extra money.

I think it is great that AT&T is doing this. It puts the money being spent in perspective for people. Our economy/culture has done a really good job a masking the true costs and values of these types of devices.
 
Bingo. Reading this thread gave me a headache. I can't see how anyone thinks that a 2-Year contract and a higher bill is better than paying for the phone over time. If you're talking about a 16GB iPhone, you pay $200 up front, but then end up paying $600 more over 24 months because you went with the subsidized phone, so basically a $650 iPhone costs you $800. Most people don't even know they are spending the extra money.

I think it is great that AT&T is doing this. It puts the money being spent in perspective for people. Our economy/culture has done a really good job a masking the true costs and values of these types of devices.

Ditto.

Most of the "money tips" in this thread are pretty hilarious.
Most don't seem to get what works for them doesn't work for everyone.

Your pricing explanation is spot on though!
 
Can't use amex extended warranty coverage under next. My iPhone 5 died at 14 months and amex refunded me my purchase price. Subsidized 299$. At least that allowed me to purchase a refurb at the Apple Store for $288. Had I been on next. I would still have 10 months of 37.50 payments to make =375. Then file a claim with amex. Who will most likely instead of refunding me 850$ will pay for the repair cost, aka new refurb at the store. $288 at the store.

Let me know if I'm missing something .
 
Can't use amex extended warranty coverage under next. My iPhone 5 died at 14 months and amex refunded me my purchase price. Subsidized 299$. At least that allowed me to purchase a refurb at the Apple Store for $288. Had I been on next. I would still have 10 months of 37.50 payments to make =375. Then file a claim with amex. Who will most likely instead of refunding me 850$ will pay for the repair cost, aka new refurb at the store. $288 at the store.

Let me know if I'm missing something .

Good point about AmEx extended warranty with Next.

Since it's a subsidized phone you are paying an additional $25 a month on the family share plan which equals $600 out of pocket over two years.

I always buy everything with AmEx for the warranty which means I would buy the phone outright rather than through Next.

Not sure, but if you bought Applecare+ for $100 with your AmEx on a phone that was purchased through Next, you would be covered for two years, plus accidental damage (+ the replacement fee) and possibly AmEx would pick up the additional third year. For $33 a year, not too bad. Would have to confirm with AmEx if this is the case.
 
Who really cares how someone else spends their own money?

I'm sorry. I was about to leave this thread when I saw this comment and I can't possibly let this go. Our economy has been through the ringer due to our debt addiction. There must be a fundamental change in our way of thinking and functioning as a society if we ever hope to pull out of this mess. Nobody deserves a phone. Financing a phone is probably not a good idea. Financing education? Sure. It's an investment. Financing a house? Sure it's a long-term investment, especially if you can get a 15 year mortgage. Although it's not as good as an investment as it used to be because so many people were buying houses that had no business buying them and tanked the market. Financing anything else should be avoided whenever possible. The reckless abandon others have with their finances impacts those of us who are responsible, and quite frankly I'm sick and tired of this attitude of "I do whatever I want because it feels good, consequences be damned!"
 
Good point about AmEx extended warranty with Next.

Since it's a subsidized phone you are paying an additional $25 a month on the family share plan which equals $600 out of pocket over two years.

I always buy everything with AmEx for the warranty which means I would buy the phone outright rather than through Next.

Not sure, but if you bought Applecare+ for $100 with your AmEx on a phone that was purchased through Next, you would be covered for two years, plus accidental damage (+ the replacement fee) and possibly AmEx would pick up the additional third year. For $33 a year, not too bad. Would have to confirm with AmEx if this is the case.

I agree that the point about Amex or other credit card extended warranty coverage is valid - I buy everything I can using my Amex card. But, as you say, the additional monthly fee that you have to pay on a subsidized phone with Mobile Share makes a huge difference that likely outweighs the advantage.

On the other hand, if having an unlocked phone that I could use abroad were important to me, I'd buy one full price and get the doubled warranty with Amex.

The point I was making in my earlier post was that for people on certain plans, buying a subsidized iPhone will end up costing considerably more than Next, unless I'm missing something in my calculations.
 
I'm sorry. I was about to leave this thread when I saw this comment and I can't possibly let this go. Our economy has been through the ringer due to our debt addiction. There must be a fundamental change in our way of thinking and functioning as a society if we ever hope to pull out of this mess. Nobody deserves a phone. Financing a phone is probably not a good idea. Financing education? Sure. It's an investment. Financing a house? Sure it's a long-term investment, especially if you can get a 15 year mortgage. Although it's not as good as an investment as it used to be because so many people were buying houses that had no business buying them and tanked the market. Financing anything else should be avoided whenever possible. The reckless abandon others have with their finances impacts those of us who are responsible, and quite frankly I'm sick and tired of this attitude of "I do whatever I want because it feels good, consequences be damned!"

If that's the case, then people should really only purchase the phone that they can afford at the time, with no extra fees per month.
But, we don't. People buy things that they like to use. If you don't like it, I'm sorry. There's a much bigger underlying problem than people "financing a phone".
 
Sounds pretty cool actually. Lowers the monthly payment on a 0% interest financing loan. Want to upgrade early? Pay off the balance early. Easy peasy.

And that $150 bill credit per line will be nice.

It's 0% interest, but they charge you way more for the phone. You pay $25 extra dollars a month for an on-contract phone over 24 months. That adds up to paying 25% more for your phone over a 24 month contract. So much cheaper to just buy the phone outright and put it on a plan.
 
It's 0% interest, but they charge you way more for the phone. You pay $25 extra dollars a month for an on-contract phone over 24 months. That adds up to paying 25% more for your phone over a 24 month contract. So much cheaper to just buy the phone outright and put it on a plan.

Yes. If people have $650-$1000 just burning a hole in their pocket to purchase an iPhone off contract.
 
Fair enough. More ways to keep us on their service.

That's not really accurate either because if you sign up for the Next payment option as long as you pay off the price of the phone (which would unlock it) and you could cancel your AT&T service and take your phone any where you wanted.
 
Yes. If people have $650-$1000 just burning a hole in their pocket to purchase an iPhone off contract.

What's the difference? You're going to spend it anyways. And you'll end up spending more if you get it subsidized.

The smart people will buy the phone as a subsidized "upgrade" and then buy out their contract for $325. You end up saving $100 on the phone.
 
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