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only full retail pricing?!?

O

ocbaud

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 20, 2008
48
0
Midwest City, Oklahoma
So i bought my 3g two weeks after it was released last year.
If i check on att's site or the apple site, it says i'm only eligible to purchase the 3gs at the full retail price of an assload of money.

I know i won't be eligible for the full discount of $199 or $200 until december, but I thought that I would atleast be able to get the 3gs for a price of say $399/$499 depending on the model.


any input on this?
 
Sounds right to me... your current contract started last year and for the least expensive rate plans, the fully subsidized price is available to the users around December. The $399/$499 pricing is not full retail, rather early upgrade pricing; it is subsidized.
 
ocbaud said:
I paid $499 for my 16gb 3G
Click to expand...

OK, so this is why. That was the "early upgrade price." All current customers are eligible for the early upgrade price unless they have already used an early upgrade in the last 12 months. This would be where you fall in. Since you are not eligible for the full subsidy and you have used an early upgrade in the last 12 months the only option left is full retail pricing.

gloss said:
People who pay more than $100 a month for their phone, I believe.

Also people who are around 18 months into their 24 month contract.
Click to expand...

Nope. You are referring to the full subsidy.

There are three levels of pricing:

Full Subsidy ($199/$299) -> Available to new customer and those who are upgrade eligible.
Early Upgrade ($399/$499) -> Available to all existing customers who are not upgrade eligible and have not used an early upgrade in the past 12 months.
Full Retail ($599/$699)
 
abiyng87 said:
OK, so this is why. That was the "early upgrade price." All current customers are eligible for the early upgrade price unless they have already used an early upgrade in the last 12 months. This would be where you fall in. Since you are not eligible for the full subsidy and you have used an early upgrade in the last 12 months the only option left is full retail pricing.
Click to expand...

ok, thats what i was wondering :) thank you


For some reason, the only time i've heard of the early upgrade deal was for iphone users. I thought I would be able to get that price as long as I was a current 2g or 3g owner
 
ocbaud said:
For some reason, the only time i've heard of the early upgrade deal was for iphone users. I thought I would be able to get that price as long as I was a current 2g or 3g owner
Click to expand...

Yeah, that seems to be the most common source of early upgrades, but it is available to non-iphone lines who aren't upgrade eligible as well. Which is rather handy.
 
iphone.aggie said:
All you have to is log onto the AT&T wireless site to see when you can upgrade. No need to call them and keep them from answering all the calls about MMS.
Click to expand...

lol

weird thing is, that when i go to "upgrade eligiblity" on the att site, it doesn't give me a date at all, just says I can upgrade for the full retail price.

I have to dig around on my premier site to actually find the upgrade time, which is december.
 
ocbaud said:
lol

weird thing is, that when i go to "upgrade eligiblity" on the att site, it doesn't give me a date at all, just says I can upgrade for the full retail price.

I have to dig around on my premier site to actually find the upgrade time, which is december.
Click to expand...

Okay, that is weird. When I go there, it says I can upgrade in 8/2010. Perhaps YOU need to call them. :)
 
Last year (September) I got my iPhone 3G for an early upgrade price of $499. Then this year, I upgraded to the iPhone 3GS (early) for $499 (32GB). I don't see how your situation is any different than mine. Call AT&T and ask them exactly what they mean by full retail price. For some reason, AT&T might *think* retail pricei s $499.

You should be able to get the iPhone for $499.
 
abiyng87 said:
Nope. You are referring to the full subsidy.

There are three levels of pricing:

Full Subsidy ($199/$299) -> Available to new customer and those who are upgrade eligible.
Early Upgrade ($399/$499) -> Available to all existing customers who are not upgrade eligible and have not used an early upgrade in the past 12 months.
Full Retail ($599/$699)
Click to expand...

Oops.
 
haha yeah, its been like that for a while
 

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If you're not current with your AT&T bill, it will show the full retail price for your upgrade option.
 
TheSpaz said:
Last year (September) I got my iPhone 3G for an early upgrade price of $499. Then this year, I upgraded to the iPhone 3GS (early) for $499 (32GB). I don't see how your situation is any different than mine. Call AT&T and ask them exactly what they mean by full retail price. For some reason, AT&T might *think* retail pricei s $499.

You should be able to get the iPhone for $499.
Click to expand...

thats what i was originally thinking
 
TheSpaz said:
Last year (September) I got my iPhone 3G for an early upgrade price of $499. Then this year, I upgraded to the iPhone 3GS (early) for $499 (32GB). I don't see how your situation is any different than mine. Call AT&T and ask them exactly what they mean by full retail price. For some reason, AT&T might *think* retail pricei s $499.

You should be able to get the iPhone for $499.
Click to expand...

Perhaps they have a sliding scale for early upgrades like they do for upgrades.
 
I was in the exactly situation you are. Everything told me I could only get the "no commitment" pricing (including the guy on the phone). My eligibility date was December 15th 2009. I pay $80 per month and I got my 3G 4 days after launch last year.

Find your nearest AT&T corporate store (NOT an authorized retailer) and ask for the early upgrade pricing...not the "no commitment" pricing which they are telling you now. I tried calling in to AT&T to get this but they didn't have the ability to override my account status...the manager at the corporate store did and easily got me the early upgrade pricing.

People paying more than $100 per month haven't reached their eligibility date either (though they are much closer because of how much they pay per month)...but through the special deal they are getting they get the best pricing (fully subsidized pricing) earlier than they are supposed to...people who pay less than $100 per month can get the early upgrade pricing at most. You just gotta ask the corporate store guys for the override...they'll do it. The guys on the phone are hit and miss...some of them don't give a crap at all. Fortunately the guy I talked to (that's the nice way of putting it) cared a bit and called my local corporate store for me to confirm I could get the pricing there.
 
Rather than pay $399/499 each year to upgrade, it seems the most affordable option is to pay the $599/699 and get it over with. I did that with the 3GS so now next year I'm locked in for whatever the lowest price is that they'll throw at us.
 
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