T-Mobile Jump

[Gonzo3333]

Anybody with an iPhone 5 and T-Mobile switch to the Jump program yet? I just did. When I switched to T-Mobile on the iPhone 5 launch day I decided to get the insurance for the phone, something I normally would not do. When I found out that the Jump program included insurance and was $2 less than the insurance policy I originally got with my phone I said why not. Not only is it cheaper but I have the option to upgrade my phone up to 2 times a year after the first 6 months I enrolled in Jump. Anyway, I was just curious to see how many other people will want to do this, or how many people will think that Jump is a bad idea.

 

[atteligibility]

Anybody with an iPhone 5 and T-Mobile switch to the Jump program yet? I just did. When I switched to T-Mobile on the iPhone 5 launch day I decided to get the insurance for the phone, something I normally would not do. When I found out that the Jump program included insurance and was $2 less than the insurance policy I originally got with my phone I said why not. Not only is it cheaper but I have the option to upgrade my phone up to 2 times a year after the first 6 months I enrolled in Jump. Anyway, I was just curious to see how many other people will want to do this, or how many people will think that Jump is a bad idea.

I think TMO did a terrific job at presenting this as a $10/month program, but people don't seem to realize they're also returning their phone, for which they have paid a down payment and $20/month.

Compare to your previous plan with insurance, you're not paying only $2/month extra, you are also giving away $400 worth of phone when you're exchanging it.

If you're in it for the long term, you're effectively renting a phone.
Assuming you were to get the new iPhone every year, you would end up paying $150+$20*12+$10*12 =$510/year for renting the phone
The alternative is paying $650 for it every year, and sell back the old one for $400, i.e. $250/year. You could add Apple Care to it, a much much better insurance than what you're getting with TMO, and still paying much less.

 

[Agent-P]

I think TMO did a terrific job at presenting this as a $10/month program, but people don't seem to realize they're also returning their phone, for which they have paid a down payment and $20/month.

Compare to your previous plan with insurance, you're not paying only $2/month extra, you are also giving away $400 worth of phone when you're exchanging it.

If you're in it for the long term, you're effectively renting a phone.
Assuming you were to get the new iPhone every year, you would end up paying $150+$20*12+$10*12 =$510/year for renting the phone
The alternative is paying $650 for it every year, and sell back the old one for $400, i.e. $250/year. You could add Apple Care to it, a much much better insurance than what you're getting with TMO, and still paying much less.

I agree that T-Mobile did a fantastic job of presenting this. But even with knowing the actual cost, it isn't a bad option for those who like trying out competing platforms from time to time.

 

[Gonzo3333]

I think TMO did a terrific job at presenting this as a $10/month program, but people don't seem to realize they're also returning their phone, for which they have paid a down payment and $20/month.

Compare to your previous plan with insurance, you're not paying only $2/month extra, you are also giving away $400 worth of phone when you're exchanging it.

If you're in it for the long term, you're effectively renting a phone.
Assuming you were to get the new iPhone every year, you would end up paying $150+$20*12+$10*12 =$510/year for renting the phone
The alternative is paying $650 for it every year, and sell back the old one for $400, i.e. $250/year. You could add Apple Care to it, a much much better insurance than what you're getting with TMO, and still paying much less.

I didn't get an iPhone with the intention of selling it when upgrading so I think that this plan will work nicely for me. I also don't want to go through the hassle of selling my old phone, I have more important things to do with my time and time is money for me.

 

[atteligibility]

I agree that T-Mobile did a fantastic job of presenting this. But even with knowing the actual cost, it isn't a bad option for those who like trying out competing platforms from time to time.

Not following you, you're saying that even knowing that you can achieve the same result by buying and selling the phone yourself, for half the cost, it is still a good option? mmm... ok

 

[617aircav]

Wow total cost for 6 months is $280. And if you fail to upgrade after 6 months the cost continues to mount and it is less a value.

 

[atteligibility]

I didn't get an iPhone with the intention of selling it when upgrading so I think that this plan will work nicely for me. I also don't want to go through the hassle of selling my old phone, I have more important things to do with my time and time is money for me.

"time is money for me" got to love those canned sentences.

Since I sell my iPhone every year, let me run you the process I go through:
- a Monday morning while at my desk, post ad on craigslist for iPhone to sell, 2 lines to write, no particular effort
- 5 minutes later, 20 emails from people wanting to buy my iPhone, pick the most reasonable one
- While on lunch break, meet with the person, exchange phone for $400

The whole process takes no effort at all, and virtually no time.

But if the convenience of the t-mobile process is worth $200 to you, then sure, I can't argue with that.

I find it strange though that, as you did on your initial post, people would insist on the fact that it is a great way to save money... but when presented with the math, you are now telling me that you're willing to pay a $200 premium to save 5 min of your time, because your time is money... haha, you need to pick one and go with it, either a great way to save money (which it isn't), or a very convenient way to switch phone (at a premium)

Note though that places like best buy, and even apple store I believe, also have trade in programs that don't require you to pay a monthly fee, I believe they are much better option if you want to avoid craigslist for whatever reason.

 

[deeddawg]

Not following you, you're saying that even knowing that you can achieve the same result by buying and selling the phone yourself, for half the cost, it is still a good option? mmm... ok

Personally I'd skip the program, I'd hand-me-down to a family member or resell, but I comprehend that others have different priorities in their lives.

FYI, its cheaper by more than half to make your own pizza vs. ordering. Yet many gladly pay through the nose for convenience.

 

[atteligibility]

Personally I'd skip the program, I'd hand-me-down to a family member or resell, but I comprehend that others have different priorities in their lives.

FYI, its cheaper by more than half to make your own pizza vs. ordering. Yet many gladly pay through the nose for convenience.

I understand that. I am just afraid that most people jumping into this program (no pun intended), do it with the OP impression that they're getting a great deal, not that they're enjoying the possibility of paying a premium for a no hassle service.

Let's face it, if you have the mentality of paying a premium for a higher quality service, you're most likely not a TMO customer.

So again, they did great, they're going to have people pay $20 installment +$10 jump every month, and another $150 every year, and yet they will never own more than 50% of a phone, clever...

 

[deeddawg]

I understand that. I am just afraid that most people jumping into this program (no pun intended), do it with the OP impression that they're getting a great deal, not that they're enjoying the possibility of paying a premium for a no hassle service.

Kind of like folks thinking Gazelle et al are a great deal, thanks for clarifying your point.

Be interesting to run the numbers on typical android handsets, seems they don't hold value as much as iPhones and there seems to be a new "gotta get it" phone every few months. Purely a guess about value though, I could be wrong.

 

[Agent-P]

Not following you, you're saying that even knowing that you can achieve the same result by buying and selling the phone yourself, for half the cost, it is still a good option? mmm... ok

I realise I wasn't clear. I was agreeing with you that T-Mobile packaged the idea well so that it sounds like a really good deal. And then I was saying that even with knowing that you lose some money using this approach vs selling it yourself, it's more convenient so frequent upgraders might find that the cost is worth it for the convenience.

 

[djransom]

I understand that. I am just afraid that most people jumping into this program (no pun intended), do it with the OP impression that they're getting a great deal, not that they're enjoying the possibility of paying a premium for a no hassle service.

Let's face it, if you have the mentality of paying a premium for a higher quality service, you're most likely not a TMO customer.

So again, they did great, they're going to have people pay $20 installment +$10 jump every month, and another $150 every year, and yet they will never own more than 50% of a phone, clever...

From what I understand with the way the program works that you trade in your old phone and pay the subsidized pricing for the new iPhone which would be $200 and up. I don't see where the installments would come in to play anymore. Maybe I'm missing something.

 

[deeddawg]

I don't see where the installments would come in to play anymore. Maybe I'm missing something.

They never go away. You continue to pay the phone installments, though presumably it's reset to a new 24 month term with the appropriate monthly installment for the new phone.

On top of that you also pay the $10 per month to be enrolled in the JUMP program.

 

[djransom]

They never go away. You continue to pay the phone installments, though presumably it's reset to a new 24 month term with the appropriate monthly installment for the new phone.

On top of that you also pay the $10 per month to be enrolled in the JUMP program.

Interesting.

 

[freediverdude]

This sounds like it could be an ok deal for the android people who could get the latest and greatest every 6 months this way, and the previous phone not worth all that much. Probably not such a great deal for the once-a-year iPhone people who still have a valuable phone after 12 months.

 

[TheProFTW]

They never go away. You continue to pay the phone installments, though presumably it's reset to a new 24 month term with the appropriate monthly installment for the new phone.

On top of that you also pay the $10 per month to be enrolled in the JUMP program.

Yet, you're never finished paying the phone, you only pay 1/3 of the phone until you switch to a second phone.

 

[deeddawg]

Yet, you're never finished paying the phone, you only pay 1/3 of the phone until you switch to a second phone.

At month six you've paid $332 on JUMP ($146 + 6*31) and owe $378 (18*21) on the phone. Do the upgrade, you now have a new phone. You're $509 ($146+332) out of pocket and owe $504 (18*24).

On the normal financing at month six you've paid $272 and owe $378. Pay off your phone, buy a new one at $146 down, and sell your old one for $400 net. You're now $396 ($272 + 146 - 400) out of pocket and owe $504 on the new phone. Better choice by $113.

It gets even worse for JUMP program participants if they upgrade yearly.

Again this assumes no value to the insurance and that the person wouldn't otherwise buy the insurance. If you are a phone insurance kind of person the numbers will be different.

 

[Truefan31]

I think the main appeal is that it includes insurance. Most carrier insurances alone are around 10 a month, so the jump adds some options for upgrading.

Is it ideal for us? It's opinion but I applaud tmobile for trying something different

 

[atteligibility]

I think the main appeal is that it includes insurance. Most carrier insurances alone are around 10 a month, so the jump adds some options for upgrading.

Is it ideal for us? It's opinion but I applaud tmobile for trying something different

Not sure if some of you guys don't read the whole description AND don't read the comments here either, but you guys seriously need to stop thinking that this thing is $10 a month, and comparing it to other $10/month insurances.

This doesn't cost $10/month, IT COSTS $10/MONTH + YOUR OLD PHONE (minus the rest of your installments).
If you were to exchange your iPhone every year for example, it is as if you were buying out the rest of your installments ($240) then resell it to them for $240. That would essentially achieve the same result.
Not only would you lose money on the trade ($400 market value - $240 trade in=$160), but you would spend $10/month to get that privilege.
So essentially here, you are trading in your phone for $240-12*10=$120.

Any other trade in programs would give you $300+ for the same phone, you could go around $400 on craigslist.

That means you're short $180-280 vs a regular trade in program.
Sure you've got crappy insurance for that extra fee, but that means the insurance TRUE cost is $15-$23/month

Why would people not take a second to do the math, it's not complicated!!!

Again, Jump = trade in program + insurance
Two main ways to look at it:
- Insurance =$10 . Trade in value=remaining of your installments (since you give up your old phone in exchange of not paying the rest of installments for it). If you have a year=20*12=$240 to go, then trade in value is $240
- Or if you assume their trade in value is fair market price, then this is equivalent to a $15-$23/month insurance (see calculations above)

Sorry for the long post, but I am frustrated to see so many people falling for the TMO misleading presentation.

----------

I applaud tmobile for trying something different

I actually applaud them too, for crafting a marketing masterpiece.

Trade-in and insurances are two high profit areas where operators are trying to expand lately, but are probably the least sexy of their services as the consumer always feels taken advantage of.

Somewhat, they managed to bundle the two together, give it a fun name, take even more advantage of the customer than usual on those services, and yet get people excited.

I applaud that, this is genius.

 

[2298754]

Lol, at all the "time is money" comments.

It literally takes a few hours to sell an iPhone on CL. My record is about an hour so far for my old 3G

 

[CEmajr]

Since Apple only releases 1 iPhone per year and iPhones hold their resale value pretty well (except the Sprint models), this is a much better deal for Android users than iPhone users.

-Pay $150 for iPhone 5S at release
-Make $240 worth of payments over the next 12 months
-Pay $120 for JUMP

At month 12 you've paid $390 for your iPhone plus $120 for this program. Total $510

Then at month 12 let's say the iPhone 6 comes out, you give your 5S back to T-Mobile for $240 to pay what you still owed on the phone and pay $150 down to get the 6.

We all know a year old iPhone model usually sells for like $300-400 when the newest model comes out so not as great a deal unless you're one of the people who would have bought the old $12 insurance anyway.

For Android users it's a great deal.

-Get the Galaxy S4 right now for $99 down
-Make 6 months worth of $20 payments, total $120
-Pay 6 months worth of JUMP payments, total $60

At month 6 you have:
-Paid $210 for your phone plus $60 for JUMP (total $270)
-You still owe $360 on your phone

T-Mobile will guarantee you a trade-in value of $360 for your S4 and you can upgrade to the Note 3 for $150 (or whatever they charge for it when it comes out). Since the resale value of Androids drops much faster than iPhones, $360 guaranteed from a carrier for a 6 month old Android device is a great deal. On par with what you would get from Craigslist/eBay which is unheard of.

So for us iPhone users as usual we are better off selling our phones ourselves because carriers won't give close to the value of what they fetch on eBay/Craigslist. It's not bad though for those who would rather have an easy trade-in at their carrier.

 

[deeddawg]

this is a much better deal for Android users than iPhone users.

Agreed. Not a deal for iPhone users due to the release cycle and value retention. Not that bad a deal for Android users for the same reasons, provided people are happy to jump brands/types every six months.

 

[atteligibility]

Since Apple only releases 1 iPhone per year and iPhones hold their resale value pretty well (except the Sprint models), this is a much better deal for Android users than iPhone users.

-Pay $150 for iPhone 5S at release
-Make $240 worth of payments over the next 12 months
-Pay $120 for JUMP

At month 12 you've paid $390 for your iPhone plus $120 for this program. Total $510

Then at month 12 let's say the iPhone 6 comes out, you give your 5S back to T-Mobile for $240 to pay what you still owed on the phone and pay $150 down to get the 6.

We all know a year old iPhone model usually sells for like $300-400 when the newest model comes out so not as great a deal unless you're one of the people who would have bought the old $12 insurance anyway.

For Android users it's a great deal.

-Get the Galaxy S4 right now for $99 down
-Make 6 months worth of $20 payments, total $120
-Pay 6 months worth of JUMP payments, total $60

At month 6 you have:
-Paid $210 for your phone plus $60 for JUMP (total $270)
-You still owe $360 on your phone

T-Mobile will guarantee you a trade-in value of $360 for your S4 and you can upgrade to the Note 3 for $150 (or whatever they charge for it when it comes out). Since the resale value of Androids drops much faster than iPhones, $360 guaranteed from a carrier for a 6 month old Android device is a great deal. On par with what you would get from Craigslist/eBay which is unheard of.

So for us iPhone users as usual we are better off selling our phones ourselves because carriers won't give close to the value of what they fetch on eBay/Craigslist. It's not bad though for those who would rather have an easy trade-in at their carrier.

Your math is misleading and the conclusion is therefore incorrect.

In the case of the iPhone:
- If, as you did, you consider that you paid $510 for the iPhone, you can't say that TMO is taking the phone back for $240, you're mixing cash flow with debt, just doesn't work.
- The "virtual" transaction of TMO giving you $240 for your phone goes hand in hand with you "virtually" paying the reminders of your installments ($240), resulting in a null cash flow operation (effectively, there is no cash exchanged in you giving your phone back).
- Therefore if you want to consider that TMO gave you $240 for the trade in, you have to consider that you paid $510+$240 for your phone=$750

The best way to not make reasoning mistakes here is really just to consider cash flow, what goes in and out of your pocket just doesn't lie.

For iPhone, every year swap with Jump:
- new phone: $150
- installments: $240
- Jump: $120
Total: $510

For iPhone, craigslist resale:
- new phone: $650
- resell old phone: $-400
Total: $250

Galaxy S4, 6 months swap with Jump:
- new phones: 2*$99=$198
- installments: $240
- Jump: $120
Total: $558

Galaxy S4, 6 month swap with resale on Craigslist
- new phones: 2*$620=$1,240
- resell 6 month old phones: 2*$400=-$800
Total: $440


Yes Android works better with Jump than iPhone, but it's not on par the DIY craigslist method.