$650 + 1 year left
$450 + $205 ETF after 1 year if you want to leave
Roughly same price either way.
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Why would anyone pay full price to avoid contract?
- Thread starter johndallas999
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$650 + 1 year left
$450 + $205 ETF after 1 year if you want to leave
Roughly same price either way.
So, why would you pay full price for phones then ? That is the subject of this thread......in case you didnt notice
I guess it makes sense for two lines or one line but not for 3,4 or more lines. And unlimited, really isnt unlimited, is it ? Or are you getting a special deal where you dont get throttled ?
You also mention a discount, not everyone can avail of this "discount", can they ? And not everyone needs family plans either.
im my case i bought the 64 full price to keep my unlimited with Verizon. i paid a little over 900. sold my 64 4S for 440. spent a total of 460 and saved the upgrade fee of 30. so its like i bought a sub'zd phone but i'm not at the mercy of a cap and can walk away whenever.
Lets see, present value using a realistic interest rate over24 months? Don't think it is going to have a material impact on the outcome.
Material impact in your context is subjective. Also people here have forgot to mention the other small fees that are in a prepaid plan and also the taxes on top of the difference. If we are comparing single cell plan, pre-pay will win hands down. So
and your point is silly. Regardless it is CHEAPER to go prepay. Obvious the flexibility and knowing your carrier will not change terms and you having to deal with it. Furthermore the other benefits if you are a person who travels and have the option to buy prepay sim at other countries rather than the very high cellular and data charges from your own carrier. I love how people here have a comment but nothing to back it up farther then their own myopic view. I guess you don't travel much and I guess paying more in your view don't matter in the point of this forum.----------
Yep so true.. and yes if you are on a family plan of 3+ it gets close with the share mins and data.
I just did this in another thread so Im only going to give the rough figures.
I have a 200 minute plan, no texts and unlimited data. I pay $65 a month and use around 20 to 30 gigs a month.
At 30 gigs on the new verizon plan I would be paying around $400. a month instead of $65. so thats an extra $335. a month I save by not upgrading my plan.
So thats why someone would pay full price for the phone to save $8,040.00 in a two year period. (well minus the cost of the full priced phone)
I have a 200 minute plan, no texts and unlimited data. I pay $65 a month and use around 20 to 30 gigs a month.
At 30 gigs on the new verizon plan I would be paying around $400. a month instead of $65. so thats an extra $335. a month I save by not upgrading my plan.
So thats why someone would pay full price for the phone to save $8,040.00 in a two year period. (well minus the cost of the full priced phone)
I'm not sure what to do. Got my 4s pickpocketed earlier this year, insurance has come through but I still have 12 months contact left with O2 (UK.). They offered to let me terminate the contract and upgrade for £120. Their cheapest phone is £250 + £26 a month with 1gb data (250 + 24x26 + 120 = £994). On the other hand I have a prepaid one on order for Apple's £529 plus o2's cheapest tariff of around £16.50 (my needs are light, data only really) comes to £925, but to match the data plan I need to spend just over £1009.
Not sure what the best choice is, but i think it might work out well just getting the cheapest tariff on the unlocked phone and buying extra data as needed? (Eg for trips etc, I work from home so have wifi most of the time.)
Not sure what the best choice is, but i think it might work out well just getting the cheapest tariff on the unlocked phone and buying extra data as needed? (Eg for trips etc, I work from home so have wifi most of the time.)
Why not move to a network with proper 3G? as an example a sim only deal on 3 with 200 min, 5000 texts and unlimited data would cost you £12.90 a month.
Most of the time, that's true. But not always.
I just bought an iPhone on a 2-year contract, unlimited data and tethering for £30 per month. I have now cancelled my landline based broadband already. Because HSPA+ is as fast as my landline, and when LTE is here, it will be even faster. Unlimited data means I can stream as much video as I like.
With the £10-15 plan, you do not get the unlimited tethering option. Now All my Internet going through my iPhone, and my monthly usage is 50GB+. The cheaper plans will not work for me.
When the LTE is eventually here, all the carriers will start to discontinue the unlimited data plan, just like the US, it's better to get these unlimited data plan now so your plan is grandfathered in, as they are a really good bargain. (unlimited data SIM's are very sought-after now in the US)
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Material impact in your context is subjective. Also people here have forgot to mention the other small fees that are in a prepaid plan and also the taxes on top of the difference. If we are comparing single cell plan, pre-pay will win hands down. So
I am not arguing which is cheaper. My only point is that with interest rates at near zero, a present value analysis is not of much help. Is there a difference in absolute terms, sure. Is it material? I think not.
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Oh, another one of these threads?
I don't know about the US, but in the UK there are some really good deals without a two year commitment. One month rolling contracts are very good, for example: £25 a month for 2000 minutes, 5000 texts and unlimited internet with tethering is an amazing deal.
Giffgaff has even better deals than that (and only do pay as you go, no contracts) but I'm moving away from them because their service has been declining a lot as of late and they don't allow tethering.
Generally speaking, if you upgrade your phone every year and sell your old model, using one of those plans and buying the phone outright is a better deal if you do the sums on the equivalent contract options.
However, if you plan to keep the phone for more than a year, the contract may be better because the phone will lose more resale value by then and your network may give you a better deal for upgrading with them than you would if you just bought another phone outright and kept using pay as you go.
So there's really benefits to both sides. Personally I've tried to stay away from committing to a 24 month contract but I might sign one to get a cheap iPhone 5 anyway, especially since I'm already looking to get away from giffgaff. Plus I'm trying to get a job at Three at the moment and if I get it I'll be selling everyone contracts whenever possible, and it'd be kinda hypocritical not to use one myself wouldn't it?
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Not always. On Three you can get an iPhone 5 for £79 and for £34 a month you get 500 minutes, 5000 texts, and unlimited data. That same deal without a contract saves you less than £10 less a month but then you have to pay over £500 for the phone.
I don't know about the US, but in the UK there are some really good deals without a two year commitment. One month rolling contracts are very good, for example: £25 a month for 2000 minutes, 5000 texts and unlimited internet with tethering is an amazing deal.
Giffgaff has even better deals than that (and only do pay as you go, no contracts) but I'm moving away from them because their service has been declining a lot as of late and they don't allow tethering.
Generally speaking, if you upgrade your phone every year and sell your old model, using one of those plans and buying the phone outright is a better deal if you do the sums on the equivalent contract options.
However, if you plan to keep the phone for more than a year, the contract may be better because the phone will lose more resale value by then and your network may give you a better deal for upgrading with them than you would if you just bought another phone outright and kept using pay as you go.
So there's really benefits to both sides. Personally I've tried to stay away from committing to a 24 month contract but I might sign one to get a cheap iPhone 5 anyway, especially since I'm already looking to get away from giffgaff. Plus I'm trying to get a job at Three at the moment and if I get it I'll be selling everyone contracts whenever possible, and it'd be kinda hypocritical not to use one myself wouldn't it?
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Not always. On Three you can get an iPhone 5 for £79 and for £34 a month you get 500 minutes, 5000 texts, and unlimited data. That same deal without a contract saves you less than £10 less a month but then you have to pay over £500 for the phone.
I'd love to go to 3 as their deals always seem slightly cheaper but the coverage map for home is still quite bad (I'd be worried I'd start dropping calls again like I did on o2) and my friend has an iphone 4 which at work would only work if propped up against her desk phone - any other position it would lose signal completely.
The latter is in MK so not exactly in the sticks!
I did it to keep my grandfathered plan on Verizon. I sold my iPhone 4 for $250 which helped. Here is what I keep by buying full price. I get a corp. discount.
450min voice - $33 a month
250 text - $5
Unlimited data - $23
Also when needed I can get unlimited hotspot for $23 a month.
450min voice - $33 a month
250 text - $5
Unlimited data - $23
Also when needed I can get unlimited hotspot for $23 a month.
Woah! That's an awesome deal but 250 texts?!?!
that *might* work for me (but I'd really have to watch it) but my wife would use all of those in a minute... our primary method of communication is text message. Right now, 2/3 of the way through the billing cycle, we have sent like 500 texts...
Almost everybody I text with is on iMessage. There are also other messaging solutions out there that don't use texts.
True. My subsidized 4s is sim unlocked and works just fine overseas. You don't have to buy unsubsidized to be unlocked overseas.
Today makes a week I've had my iPhone 5 and I'm already using the unlock. I arrived in Canada yesterday, went to Rogers and spent $50 on a prepaid SIM. Since it's prepaid I'm not getting Rogers LTE, just 3G but it's pretty fast.
199+325+Activation Fee+First Month's Service (if you cancel before 30 days, you have to return the phone)
I always wondered, how are they going to "make" you return the phone? What if you say it was dropped and damaged?
Really can't say as I've never done it before, I'm just aware that it's policy. I'd imagine they'd still request the broken unit back for refurb. This is pure speculation but I figure at worst they could blacklist the IMEI if they don't get it back.
I'm sure the carriers are quite aware that an ETF plus the subsidized price is cheaper than buying the phones at full retail. With that awareness, I'm sure they have some policies in place that make the sign the contract then pay the ETF method just inconvenient enough to provide and incentive to people who want the phone off contract to just buy the phone at full retail.
Material impact in your context is subjective. Also people here have forgot to mention the other small fees that are in a prepaid plan and also the taxes on top of the difference. If we are comparing single cell plan, pre-pay will win hands down. So
I am not arguing which is cheaper. My only point is that with interest rates at near zero, a present value analysis is not of much help. Is there a difference in absolute terms, sure. Is it material? I think not.
SUBJECTIVE! THAT IS YOU thinking it is not material. Let me break it down for you. Contract $$$ no contract $. New plans be expect to pay $20-30 more a month. Simple as that. Do you just come and poop on a thread with silly replies which have no point. Read the topic in this thread, people here have made their buying decisions for less of a difference based on your non 'material' impact.
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For me it makes sense.
I do it because my plan costs me $23/month including taxes for unlimted data unlimited texting, unlimited incoming calls, unlimited carrier calling, 350 local minutes, voicemail, and caller ID. to get a subsidized iphone would require me to lose my unlimited data and pay $50 + / month. No thanks!
I do it because my plan costs me $23/month including taxes for unlimted data unlimited texting, unlimited incoming calls, unlimited carrier calling, 350 local minutes, voicemail, and caller ID. to get a subsidized iphone would require me to lose my unlimited data and pay $50 + / month. No thanks!