Certified Pre Owned iPhone 5s via Verizon for 49. dollars cents.

Hi there!

Really there's nothing wrong with CPO/refurbished phones. But I'm assuming those prices you posted are for 2 year contracts, I guess just keep in mind that you'll be with the phone for 2 years ( the 5s is almost 2 years old as it is ). Granted, that shouldn't be a problem since you still have a iPhone 4

You could spring for the 5s now, but honestly I would just hold out a few more months. The 6s will be out around September and well see a nice price drop for the 6 line, then you'll probably be able to pick one up ( CPO/refurbished ) for roughly the same price as you're currently suggesting.

 

I wouldn't get certified pre-owned. Battery life's already going bad on my iPhone 5s (mine was bought brand new on release) and you only get a 90-day warranty. You're already paying a $450 subsidy built-in to the plan costs every 2 years. Heck, going through the junk mail for the past month, I got a flyer from Verizon offering a $200 discount on the iPhone 6 with 2-year contract.

Also, the iPhone 5s 16GB is $99 brand new with 2-year contract. The $50 you save by buying pre-owned just isn't worth it.

 

A couple weeks ago, Best Buy was offering the 16GB 5S new for 99¢ plus a $100 gift card. My sister-in-law took advantage of the deal. So, Verizon's deal isn't really that great.

 

If it was an Apple-certified refurb, then I'd consider it. But carrier or third-party certified iPhones I would stay away from. Carriers are generally not Apple Certified to repair or recondition phones, and so if you have an issue, you will have to deal with the carrier and whatever warranty they offer. Apple, if they determine that non-Apple parts were used to repair such a phone (and it happens often with third-party refurbs), will not help you if it develops a problem later.

 

I would strongly advise against Verizon CPO. I will make a very long story as short as possible. I purchased 5 iPhone 5 units last year. I had to ultimately get 10 to find 5 that were (marginally) acceptable. I was not being overly picky by any means:

a) 2 arrived with "stuck" home buttons. They would not depress at all. It was almost as if they were glued in place. They were unusable.

b) 1 had an obviously aftermarket screen and upon touching the screen you would see a major rainbow in about a 1" diameter around your finger (regardless of where you pressed on the screen).

c) 1 had a bad mic, and could not be used handsfree. If you used bluetooth or a headset it would work, but not the mic alone.

d) 1 had a "plugged up" lightning port which caused problems with charging.

e) 4 had well-used batteries. I used an application to check battery life and they were fairly low, I don't recall the percentages now.

f) 1 had a screen that was not seated properly (you could see a ridge on 1 end, the other end was flush).

As mentioned, I had to get 10 phones to keep 5. Ultimately I accepted those with the fewest problems (I kept those with weak batteries, and the one with the plugged lightning port that I was able to partially clean out). Anyhow, not a single unit was really to the level I would deem "certified".

To top it off, I took my nieces with 2 of those that I kept with poor batteries to the Apple Store about 3 weeks ago. They tested 1 of them, and found that it was covered under the battery replacement recall, even though I had entered that serial number on the Apple web site and it said it was not eligible. No complaint, they fixed it for free, and my 1 niece had a new battery, and uncle saved $80.

But my 2nd niece's phone was not eligible for the free replacement, so I said fine, I will pay the $80 fee for her phone (I had expected to spend $160 that night, so I wasn't upset). We were told both phones would be ready in an hour, so we went to get a bite to eat. Upon return to the store, we were told that the 2nd phone would not be repaired because it was obviously repaired in the past with non-Apple parts. They put the 2 phones side by side, and you could definitely see the differences. So I had to contact Verizon (wasted about an hour), but they then sent a replacement.

Verizon insisted on 2 occasions that there CPO phones come from Apple. I absolutely cannot believe that statement.

Told you this was a long story...and I just told the short version!

 

If you really want to save serious money over time, check with Verizon about bringing your own phone instead. I am not sure if they are still doing this, but when I bought those 5 phones for my family members, I bought them outright at ~$275/ea. The discounts were as follows at the time for those on a family share plan:

1) Under 10gb of shared data = $15/line/mo discount

2) 10gb+ of shared data = $25/line/mo discount

We are above 10gb, so for those 5 lines we pay a net of $15/line/mo + taxes. The regular cost is $40/line/mo, but we get the $25 discount. Basically, the owned phones become paid for in 10-11 months this way.

Again, not sure if they are still offering that option, but worth a call. You really might be better off looking for a more modern phone (even if you can wait a few months for the new iPhones to come out and the market to get flooded with 1 year old or younger iPhone 6/6+ models).

 

Let us know what you do

 

Faster CPU+GPU, longer battery life, yes. Of course, it's also bigger at 4.7" so that may be a pro or con depending on your preferences. Again, you can find deals on even the iPhone 6. Last junk mail I received from Verizon, the 16GB model was basically $0 with 2-year contract (you get a $200 discount with both 2-year and EDGE). You might want to wait for a similar deal.

 

Not email (I opt out of junk email). I got it via junk snail mail.

 

I believe that was a BB promo for Father's Day...may still be active.

 

Nah, mine wasn't from Best Buy. It was directly from Verizon and I received it before Father's day, around May I think.

 

My wife's birthday is next week and she was eligible for a phone upgrade earlier this month. She was looking at the iPhone 5 for $99. I talked her out of it because I said the 5 was already dated and to remember that she was going to have this phone for two years. I agreed to buy her the 6 and now she's glad I did. She previously had the 4S and after an IOS upgrade last year the battery life subsequently diminished significantly. I just think it's worth it to spend the extra money and get the newer technology.

 

You're four years overdue for an upgrade! Wait for the next release and buy that one on contract. The price difference will be negligible in the long run.