I see all these posts where people say they will never lock themselves into a contract. But if the price of the subsidy is already built into the monthly plan, why not sign the two year contract and get the iPhone 6 cheaper? I understand you don't want to lock in, but most people I know have been with ATT or Verizon for 5 years so it isn't like you are locking yourself into a miserable service, for the most part ATT and Verizon are the best (after all they do have the biggest number of subscribers and coverage).
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Why buy iPhone 6 off contract on ATT or Verizon if subsidy is already built in?
- Thread starter Kendo
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It isn't always cheaper. My family's on the AT&T 10GB plan, and two-year contracts cost about $150 more (total) than the cost of NEXT over two year.
Also, two-year contracts require paying more money up-front: $199+ (per phone)
With NEXT, the only money up-front is the sales tax: ~$40 (per phone, in my state)
Not to mention, folks on two-year contracts that want to upgrade yearly are looking at paying $649+ up-front for the mid-contract upgrade.
Not doing 2-year contracts is cheaper for me, and involves a whole lot less money immediately out of pocket when folks do upgrades.
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The not wanting a contract thing is mostly emotional vs. logical, in the past anyways. I hated contracts for a bit, then realized I was not going to switch anyways.
BUT, that has all changed.
Up until recently, my plan was the same cost if a 5 year old phone vs a new phone. We were paying about $240 a month, plus ipad charges.
The new plan has varied pricing for the service and phone. All our phones are at the $15 price point. Total plan with 10gb shared data is now $160 and we can tether. We lost our unlimited plan, but did not need it. Shared is better and we can use it on ipads too.
BUT, if I got a new phone on contract, the monthly cost goes up for that phone. We could be back to the old price in a hurry.
BUT, that has all changed.
Up until recently, my plan was the same cost if a 5 year old phone vs a new phone. We were paying about $240 a month, plus ipad charges.
The new plan has varied pricing for the service and phone. All our phones are at the $15 price point. Total plan with 10gb shared data is now $160 and we can tether. We lost our unlimited plan, but did not need it. Shared is better and we can use it on ipads too.
BUT, if I got a new phone on contract, the monthly cost goes up for that phone. We could be back to the old price in a hurry.
Because it's not anymore. Both AT&T and Verizon offer service discounts up to $25/mo per line for BYOD or NEXT/EDGE.
With many of the current plans the there is a discount for non-contract/subsidized phones, so the built-in price of the subsidy gets discounted. That's where it no longer becomes a simple contract vs. no-contract decision, but actual monetary differences can often be involved making one or another option better in some way just from the pricing perspective.
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Yup, basically that, which is somewhat new.