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iPad mini How to buy iPhone 5 and sell it to use money and plan for iPad Mini

G

Gaidin43

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 18, 2012
124
1
So I saw this idea on this site and trying to figure out how it will work.

Buy iPhone 5 for $199
Sell iPhone 5 for $600 ish
Buy iPad mini for $459
Total cost out if pocket $59

Now comes the plan and how to set it up.

Mobile sharing plan for X data. And iPhone is $40 a month yet tablets are $10 a month.

If you buy the iPhone 5 for the sub price and then sell it but keep its commitment how do you change the $40 a month to $10 without getting hit by a early termination fee?
 
Afaik, it is only $10 a month for a tablet as an add on to your current contract with a smartphone only. I doubt you can get around it unless an error is made on the provider's end.
 
Gaidin43 said:
So I saw this idea on this site and trying to figure out how it will work.

Buy iPhone 5 for $199
Sell iPhone 5 for $600 ish
Buy iPad mini for $459
Total cost out if pocket $59

Now comes the plan and how to set it up.

Mobile sharing plan for X data. And iPhone is $40 a month yet tablets are $10 a month.

If you buy the iPhone 5 for the sub price and then sell it but keep its commitment how do you change the $40 a month to $10 without getting hit by a early termination fee?
Click to expand...

What idiot posted that? The $199 price is only applicable when you enter into a 2-year contract. That means you need to purchase a voice/data plan for 24 months. Nobody is selling you a $650 device for $200 without expecting to make up the difference (and much more). Somebody has questionable math skills.
 
You keep the sim from the iPhone 5 put it in the mini and pay for two years of service while using mini
 
Many, if not all, providers will stop you from using an iPhone sim in an Ipad and contracts that involve a discounted phone are overpriced to subsidise the discount. They always get their money back in the end. Surely it's cheaper in the long term to just buy the iPad and a good value iPad data contract?
 
On Verizon you could downgrade the new line to a basic phone line, if you have a basic phone lying around. Then you're paying $10 a month. But that's still a payout of $240, so you're still losing money in the end.
 
Let me explain this a little bit better.

The iPhone plan is attached to a media share plan or family plan. If family plan you pay 10 a month for a new line and if media share it's 40 a month for two or more smart phone and 10 a month for tablets on shared data.

Example
6 gb shared data 90 a month
iPhone 5 $40 a month
iPhone 5 $40 a month

This plan would have unlimited text and unlimited anytime calling minutes. The data pool will be shared. If I bought a third iPhone for this plan and sold it it would be $40 a month but if I'm able to reduce the $40 a month on the same two year contract and pay $10 a month for the tablet is what I'm trying to do.

By doing this you basically get a
iPad mini for $59 plus 2 years of service for either $960 (at $40 a month) or $240 (at $10 a month)

I am not breaking the contract on that SIM card I just want to pay less for it!
 
Last edited:
Gaidin43 said:
Let me explain this a little bit better.

The iPhone plan is attached to a media share plan or family plan. If family plan you pay 10 a month for a new line and if media share it's 40 a month for two or more smart phone and 10 a month for tablets on shared data.

Example
6 gb shared data 90 a month
iPhone 5 $40 a month
iPhone 5 $40 a month

This plan would have unlimited text and unlimited anytime calling minutes. The data pool will be shared. If I bought a third iPhone for this plan and sold it it would be $40 a month but if I'm able to reduce the $40 a month on the same two year contract and pay $10 a month for the tablet is what I'm trying to do.

By doing this you basically get a
iPad mini for $59 plus 2 years of service for either $960 (at $40 a month) or $240 (at $10 a month)

I am not breaking the contract on that SIM card I just want to pay less for it!
Click to expand...

I don't think this will work. The problem is that when you are signing that contract under these terms, you wont be able to switch to a tablet data plan. Your signing up for that $40 a month. You could switch phones during that time, but not "downgrade" the Iphone plan to a tablet plan.

I may be wrong, and it is a loop hole that you can get away with, but I would be very surprised if they classify a plan like that and allow you to move the sim from the phone to the ipad. I would guess it is covered somewhere in the fine print.
 
You can do this. People have done in the past I'm just trying to figure out the exact mechanic. It seems that if you order in iPhone five from the AT&T website they send it to you you old in a box. You sell iPhone five and use the profits to buy an iPad mini pulling out two $59 out-of-pocket.

When you call AT&T you give them the iPad mini serial number to activate. This in their system automatically replaces the $40 with the $10 a month. I am just making sure that I am doing it with you that process and the correct process
 
Why jump through all the hoops for something that probably wont work. And if it does work... for what a few pennies?


Also, don't forget about tax unless your in a non tax state. Some states like California taxes full msrp on phones. So that is an extra $18 to $60 in tax. Tax on the ipad too for approx $40-45.

Activation fees for AT&T too. $36 for the phone and $36 for the mini.
 
Last edited:
Gaidin43 said:
You can do this. People have done in the past I'm just trying to figure out the exact mechanic. It seems that if you order in iPhone five from the AT&T website they send it to you you old in a box. You sell iPhone five and use the profits to buy an iPad mini pulling out two $59 out-of-pocket.

When you call AT&T you give them the iPad mini serial number to activate. This in their system automatically replaces the $40 with the $10 a month. I am just making sure that I am doing it with you that process and the correct process
Click to expand...

Because AT&T has no idea what they're doing and will simply deactivate a phone plan with media in favor of a $10 charge? Just because some people claim to have gotten away with it guarantees nothing. You will still enter into a 2-year contract and if the planets don't fall into alignment, it will not work out in your favor.
 
I am on a VERIZON share plan and yes this will work as I have done it.
Get the iPhone 5,then sell it,then get the VERIZON mini and activate it on that line,it is that simple
 
MarkG21 said:
Why jump through all the hoops for something that probably wont work. And if it does work... for what a few pennies?


Also, don't forget about tax unless your in a non tax state. Some states like California taxes full msrp on phones. So that is an extra $18 to $60 in tax. Tax on the ipad too for approx $40-45.

Activation fees for AT&T too. $36 for the phone and $36 for the mini.
Click to expand...

Yeah I was thinking about this too, by the time everything is paid that they nickel nad dime you on, you may end up 100 bucks ahead.......is it really even worth the hassle? Another thing to consider OP is with the iPhone 5 it will have to be opened and the sim in the iPhone taken out (if it is shipped in phone, I think mine was) because that is the line that your account is tied to, so don't forget to do that.
 
In order to avoid being left with an iPhone contract you don't want, you need to setup the iPad mini and make sure it works with the iPhone 5 SIM before you even sell the iPhone 5. Then if it doesn't work, you can put the SIM back in the iPhone 5, return the iPhone 5, and then return the iPad mini.

Or you could stop being a cheapskate. None of these products are cheap to buy or connect to the Internet with. Pay up so the rest of us don't have to cover the costs you are trying to avoid.
 
Try to find some reseller that gives you a iPad Mini for free when you're entering a 2-year contract. I've never looked for that in the US, but in Europe they have those deals from third-party resellers and you can even take the SIM only and a $500 payment on $50/mo plans. Kinda rip off, but that's what you're going for anyways.
 
Last edited:
Gaidin43 said:
When you call AT&T you give them the iPad mini serial number to activate. This in their system automatically replaces the $40 with the $10 a month. I am just making sure that I am doing it with you that process and the correct process
Click to expand...

Hmmmm.:rolleyes:
 
IVe found out you don't need the sim from the original iphone that is shipped to you.

And no I'm not trying to scam anything. It is all legal if a bit convoluted and I'm taking the risk, but that is the at of things I might make out I might not but yea for the couple hundred I would save it would be worth it.

Plus I never pay activation fees. It is a money maker for att. You can tell them to take it off and they will. 4 iPhone 5s and they took it all off for all of them.
 
Gaidin43 said:
You keep the sim from the iPhone 5 put it in the mini and pay for two years of service while using mini
Click to expand...

Instead of paying for just data you would be forced to pay for calls/text which you don't need for the iPad. Trust me, the companies work all this out before bringing products to market.
 
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