How To Get A New iPhone Every Year!?!

[LoganT]

lol yeah. iPhones are $500-$600 off contract. No where near $399.

There used to be something called "Early Upgrade Pricing". It might still exist. It's how I got my 3G for 399.

 

[Mr. Incredible]

This is what I did with my 8 month old 3GS when the 4 came out.

Specifically, i went online to gazelle and got an offer of $300 for my 32GB 3GS as soon as the 4 was announced. (FYI - that was for a phone in excellent condition w/ all cables, etc. I kept my phone in a case from day one w/ a screen cover on it, so they did honor that price when they received the phone.) The nice thing about gazelle is they give you 30 days to send it in. So i got the 4 on day 1 and paid the full price of $500 for the 32GB (and of course, extended my contract 2 yrs). I then tried my hand at selling it on craigslist knowing I had a $300 offer "in hand", but found no good takers (but did find someone that wanted to trade me a refrigerator for it - go figure???). So I packed up the old one in the prepaid gazelle packaging and sent it off before the 30 day offer expiration. By selling my 3GS for $300 and buying the 4 for $500, I essentially "upgraded" for $200.

PS - like others have said, make sure your iphone is the primary phone on your family account. Mine was not and based on this recommendation, I switched it over to the primary phone about a month ago. I checked my upgrade status back then and it said feb 2012 for my iphone 4 purchased on June 24th. Just checked again before writing this and it now says Nov 2011!! Yeah! BTW - my monthly bill is approx. $150 for 2 lines.

I'm thinking of doing this, but not with Gazelle, instead with Ebay Instant Sale.

Gazelle is offering me $235 for the Verizon iPhone 4
Ebay Instant Sale is offering me $280 for it.

It's in great condition, it has stickers all around it and a screen protector. I did drop it once and it has a super small tiny crack on the front that is barely noticeable (I'm not even sure if it's the phone or the screen cover, haven't checked).

I'm currently the only person in my family that is with Verizon. I'm planning on getting my dad the iPhone 4 next month when the price drops to $100. Me and him will be on a family plan, and I'll change my phone to the Primary Line.

Since I upgraded my phone on March ('11), I'd have to wait til March '12 to upgrade my line?

What I don't get, is that millions of Verizon customers upgraded their phone 6 months ago, most of them (me especially) thinking that the next iPhone isn't going to have a design change (ala, 3G -> 3GS).

But since it is, do you guys think that Verizon will give some of us a slack or not?

 

[vitzr]

For the people that have been able to get a new iPhone every year, how do you do it?

I have been a long time AT&T and Verizon customer with multiple lines for family and myself.

Therefore the upgrade eligibility is automatically waived for me. That enables me to not only qualify for upgrade pricing on iPhones, but Androids as well.

Having at least two phones with me, when traveling also has it's advantages. If for whatever reason, one goes down I have the other to rely on.

Regarding the phones I replace, I give those to family members, friends, or charity organizations.

 

[ScoutDad]

I'm thinking of doing this, but not with Gazelle, instead with Ebay Instant Sale.

Gazelle is offering me $235 for the Verizon iPhone 4
Ebay Instant Sale is offering me $280 for it.

Good to know! I'll check out Ebay Instant Sale, 'cause Gazelle is only offering me that amount too! Thanks!

 

[LoganT]

Ebay Instant sale offers me more as well. But remember Gazelle has a 30 day offer protected where Ebay Instant Sale is only 10 days.

 

[Lamarak]

I like craiglist and meeting inside an ATT store. You get way more than a trade in value. If they dont want to meet inside the store, I pass on selling it to them regardless of what they say. Any honest person will have no problem meeting inside.

I got 475 for mine a few days ago and the money earmarked for my new iphone 5. Finding out miss my iphone already heh. Using and Inspire that won in a raffle. Android is ok i guess.

 

[gta50419]

There used to be something called "Early Upgrade Pricing". It might still exist. It's how I got my 3G for 399.

Yeah i think there still is. But the early upgrade prices for iPhones are $450 & $550. way too high

 

[sk24iam]

Do you lose a lot from fees when selling on ebay?

 

[ScKcBc]

I shelled out $600 for the first iphone back in 07. Been selling them and getting either the cheapest or 2nd cheapest upgrade price since. I pretty much always break even now.

 

[maryannee]

I called to get this done some time ago (husband was primary) and me with the iPhone. He is eligible for an upgrade now but my upgrade is in Feb. I just remember that there was a downside to switching but can't remember exactly what that was but in any event I did not do it. Our bill is 115.00 monthly. Hmmm wonder if it was losing my unlimited......

 

[Mr. Incredible]

With the new iPhone being unveiled in less than a week, and will be released in less than a month. I gotta figure out a way to get rid of this phone.

Will I be able to sell it to Ebay Instant Sale, even though I'm still under contract?

Like, I want to sell it to them, and get a dumb phone for a month, and then buy the iPhone 5.

Or will that not work?

 

[G-hog]

My wife and I both have iphones and we are both able to upgrade if we want too. but I think we may wait until our contract with AT&T expires in January to do anything. We want to check out Sprint because I get a 25% discount through my part time job at Home Depot. It's only 22% with AT&T.

That is if Sprint gets the iphone. If not we'll stick with AT&T and upgrade early. Right now we both have an iphone 3g.

 

[Mr. Incredible]

Will This Work:

I buy this phone Verizon Motorola MOTO RAZOR for $40.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Verizon-Mot...ell_Phones&hash=item1c1f0b18ab#ht_1667wt_1156

I switch my line to this phone, and I sell my Verizon iPhone 4 to Ebay Instant Sale for $280.

The iPhone 5 is released.

I get my dad the iPhone 5, and add him to my Family Plan.

Me and my dad switch devices (or numbers).

He has the Motorola, and I have the iPhone 5.

Sounds like this will work..right?

 

[tdar]

Will This Work:

I buy this phone Verizon Motorola MOTO RAZOR for $40.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Verizon-Mot...ell_Phones&hash=item1c1f0b18ab#ht_1667wt_1156

I switch my line to this phone, and I sell my Verizon iPhone 4 to Ebay Instant Sale for $280.

The iPhone 5 is released.

I get my dad the iPhone 5, and add him to my Family Plan.

Me and my dad switch devices (or numbers).

He has the Motorola, and I have the iPhone 5.

Sounds like this will work..right?

One problem....When you move your line over to the temp phone they will drop your data plan, so when you try to move the new iPhone back to your line you'll have to add the data plan and will find that you have lost your unlimited data.

 

[rockyroad55]

1. New iPhone is announced and I put my current iPhone on Craigslist for about $350.

2. Buy new iPhone at early upgrade price of $399 (I only need the 16GB version).

I only have to front about $70 after taxes.

Note: AT&T early upgrade pricing is 449/549, but Apple is still 399/499. Just a heads up for people out there.

 

[Mr. Incredible]

One problem....When you move your line over to the temp phone they will drop your data plan, so when you try to move the new iPhone back to your line you'll have to add the data plan and will find that you have lost your unlimited data.

I don't have a problem with losing the unlimited data.

Last months billing cycle, I only used 296875KB (0.29 GB?), and currently in this cycle (8 days in), I'm at 0.173GB of data.

So, losing my unlimited Data and getting 2GB for the same price is not a big deal to me, since I hardly ever use my data to begin with.

So, with that said.

Other then losing the unlimited data plan, will this plan work?

 

[rockyroad55]

I don't have a problem with losing the unlimited data.

Last months billing cycle, I only used 296875KB (0.29 GB?), and currently in this cycle (8 days in), I'm at 0.173GB of data.

So, losing my unlimited Data and getting 2GB for the same price is not a big deal to me, since I hardly ever use my data to begin with.

So, with that said.

Other then losing the unlimited data plan, will this plan work?

Sounds like your plan will work. It just might take some time to get things sorted out. Best bet is to head into a store a couple days after release when things calm down so the reps can take their time helping you.

 

[Mr. Incredible]

Sounds like your plan will work. It just might take some time to get things sorted out. Best bet is to head into a store a couple days after release when things calm down so the reps can take their time helping you.

I'm most likely going to order the phone this weekend, and do the switch next week.

There are 2 lines on my iPhone though, Ive dropped it once or twice.

I want my $280, instead of $230.

If I go to the apple store, will they replace it for me? I already need them to replace my head phones, cause it's falling apart. Will they replace my iPhone 4, no questions asked?

 

[ScoutDad]

I'm most likely going to order the phone this weekend, and do the switch next week.

There are 2 lines on my iPhone though, Ive dropped it once or twice.

I want my $280, instead of $230.

If I go to the apple store, will they replace it for me? I already need them to replace my head phones, cause it's falling apart. Will they replace my iPhone 4, no questions asked?

Have you checked Gazelle lately? I'm sure they're down in price, but they do give you 30 days to return it to them. You could avoid the hassle if they're close in price.

 

[ECUpirate44]

I don't have a problem with losing the unlimited data.

Last months billing cycle, I only used 296875KB (0.29 GB?), and currently in this cycle (8 days in), I'm at 0.173GB of data.

So, losing my unlimited Data and getting 2GB for the same price is not a big deal to me, since I hardly ever use my data to begin with.

So, with that said.

Other then losing the unlimited data plan, will this plan work?

Might as well just drop the unlimited plan. Verizon users get punished for going over 2gb anyway

 

[KurianOfBorg]

Once you buy the first phone, you can sell it for an easy $800 at the end of the year in my country and but the next one.