Is it really cheap when buy phone with a plan?

[mrthanhnguyen]

I have an iphone X and AT&T says I can trade in my phone and pay $100 plus tax then $3/month for 30 months so I can get an iphone 12 which is $900 or so if I buy directly from Apple. I think Apple buyback iphone X at $250. So $250+$100 + $90 payment plan plus tax. Does AT&T really sell phone this cheap or I will see an increament in price in a next bill cycle? Business makes profit and that equation yields a loss. Anyone has an idea?

 

[sam_86314]

I got my LG V40 from my provider with a payment plan, and I ended up paying a total of $450 (before tax and interest methinks) when I finished with the payments. I think the MSRP was over $900 (!) when I got it. Wasn't a lease plan or anything (since I still have the phone and it's now unlocked for any carrier).

 

[jjnissanpatfan]

100$ a month for 30 months = $3000 = profit! So you pay 450 of the 900 and they might use $300 of the 3000 for the network. They probably pay more in tax from your money in the 30 months than they will pay for the additional maintenance. 450+3000=3450 then minus the 900 and 300 = 2250$ PROFIT BABY!

 

[Deleted member 202104]

They're essentially just giving you an $15.33/month discount on your plan. (900-250-100=550) and (550/30=18.33-3=15.33)

And by doing so, locking you in for another 30 months.

 

[hat]

Yeah, that's what it's all about, locking you into the plan via the phone you're paying a negligible amount each month for over a very long time. They know that they'll have that customer for at least the next 30 months, because they lured them in with the shiny new thing, and they're going to make it really inconvenient to get out if the customer decides to do so before the phone is paid off.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
No at&t don't they are a waste
Go to xfinity mobile plans are a lot cheaper and work just fine cell phones too.

 

[jboydgolfer]

phone plans are like credit cards, you get lower cost now at a price later. if possible (& it is always possible since no one NEEDS a new phone) pay full price for your phone, making you the owner. Plans are one thing, subsidized is another. both are technically subsidized, but a phone you get from AT&T, sprint, Tmobile, with a plan, is not the same thing as a phone you get from say Boost mobile. with boost there is no contract (unless you want one), you pay a subsidized price (usually 20% off) & that lower price is given, with the understanding you will use boost as your provider (sim lock), but youre not paying any interest or phone payments, just the service fee. when you get a phone & dont pay the full cost of the phone, you get a credit check, & you pay a monthly payment to pay back the cost of the phone, plus interest, as well as any fee's for the service that phone is running on.

a few years back, i realized i was paying for 4 phones, one for each kid, & my wife from 3 different providers. so i got a family plan from boost mobile, it cost me $150/month, for 5 phones, with unlimited data, calling ,& text. there is no other charges. no phone payments (since i paid the full cost minus subsidize discount). its eay & simple, they even come with 35Gb high speed hotspot

 

[Jetster]

I pay $33 a month and no contract. Bought the phone for $250. A contract is never cheap

 

[Hyderz]

never go with a 24 month contract, you will always end up paying more for the services you don't actually need.
unless you dont have enough money to pay upfront for a new phone, even then you can choose the lowest plan.
but usually those have mediocre plans attached to them such as limited data, limited speed, etc etc

 

[Toothless]

Worked as support for a while at a major phone retailer.

They get the phones at discount and make enough money from the plans to do big discounts like this. What you should do is add all payments, plus buyout (if you want to keep/own) and tax.

My V40 was $15/no for 18 months, plus 6 months for buyout. I paid a little under MSRP for it over time but got a free tv, so yeah.

(Per month payment - discount) x months + buyout.

Aim for promotions, that's where you can match or save money. Flat leases are where you lose.

 

[simlife]

if your worried about money dont but anything apple you are paying more for the name then anything its like buying alien wear or gucci they are posting billions in profit noy because they are value or customer based... my mom got a budget moto phone for 350 with 4 gbs of ram a 2-3 day battery aka slightly higher then iphones when it came out with 0 trade in or aggrement... phones are like cars dealers will try to get as much money as they can... even though a diff car or dealer can give you the same for less. you can litterly buy a car at one dealership for 2-3k more then one 4-5 miles aways its kinda like gas stations.. how is one 20c per gallon higher then the one down the street

i live in a low cost area of the usa but i own a house and bought it making 12.70 a hour when i bought it with 0 roommates dont get nickled and dimed track all your money the phone market is in fact dying... hence the billion dollar company's diching replacing battery's

 

[Toothless]

if your worried about money dont but anything apple you are paying more for the name then anything its like buying alien wear or gucci they are posting billions in profit because they are value based

That's how anything is. Some people prefer how Apple has their devices and if they want that then so be it. I've seen Apple for cheater than Samsung or LG on promotions, so more power to them.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

I got 2 Note 20 ultra for 600 usd. At&t was running a $1000 off promo for every device traded in so yeah you can get decent phones for cheap.

I paid the difference though out of pocket so I wouldn't have 20 usd per month added to my bill.

 

[DrCR]

@mrthanhnguyen The major question is what sort of plan you need. Something like Ting could be a far cheaper route despite initial up front device cost than whatever short-term benefit you might get from AT&T or the like trade in + service deal.

 

[Vya Domus]

I imagine it's 3$/month + whatever the plan was before, right ?

That's how they make money, those plans already cover the price of the phone over the 30 months + the service itself and profit.

Word of advice, sell the phone yourself and buy one without a contract and then get a cheaper plan.

 

[kurosagi01]

The way I calculate my monthly payment vs buy it now/outright the phone and if the total cost after the contract only cost slightly more than the phone itself.
So most phone contracts in the UK are 2 years so I generally look at it like: 24 x (£x per month) + initial payment vs £x monthly sim x24 + buy phone outright.
And if the cost is only 50-100 quid more then I would consider it if the sim package is good.

 

[Vayra86]

The general idea is that any mobile plan that comes with a supposedly 'cheap' or 'free' phone can be replaced with a bought model alongside a long term Sim-Only plan, that doesn't necessarily lock you into a contract longer than a year, or even monthly. The price is hidden within the actual call tariffs or price/GB or just a fixed amount that you lose if you don't use it. In the Netherlands its now officially forbidden to use the 'cheap/free' phone marketing any longer, because its a straight up lie and places people in debt, especially the weaker groups at the bottom of the social ladder.

And the net result will be better with sim only in the long term, in many cases. But ideally you'd get the whole deal paid by employer tbh, in that case see if you can get your hands on something with Dualsim for a neat way to have private/work separated on the same device. The main reason now to still get a sub+phone on a lengthy contract is because you want a phone you can't afford. Not exactly the best way to approach finance, but who am I.

When I did pay my own mobile bills, I ran with the Simonly idea and paid about 8 eur/month for call/internet usage, and phones can be resold after a few years time too, plus you can switch to even cheaper plans if your usage changes or if plans change.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Yeah nothing is free with at&t lol they actually don't know what a contract is, price will fluctuate upwards every month.
Hit you with 10.us just for voice mail too eventually if not already.

 

[Toothless]

Hi,
Yeah nothing is free with at&t lol they actually don't know what a contract is, price will fluctuate upwards every month.
Hit you with 10.us just for voice mail too eventually if not already.

Contracts for discounted phones has been dead for a long time. When contract buyouts started happening people would get a $1000 for $200 and switch providers. Partly why phones are locked to carriers and the whole buyout lost traction.

If you sit down and figure out what your bill should be, you can call in and raise hell to get anything extra adjusted. Your taxes might be fluctuating causing your bill to go up and down $5 or so.

Also do read the lease agreement, it'll help in the long run.

 

[xrobwx71]

Hi,
No at&t don't they are a waste
Go to xfinity mobile plans are a lot cheaper and work just fine cell phones too.

Comcast uses the Verizon network which is reliable for the most part. (In my neck of the woods)

 

[ThrashZone]

Contracts for discounted phones has been dead for a long time. When contract buyouts started happening people would get a $1000 for $200 and switch providers. Partly why phones are locked to carriers and the whole buyout lost traction.

If you sit down and figure out what your bill should be, you can call in and raise hell to get anything extra adjusted. Your taxes might be fluctuating causing your bill to go up and down $5 or so.

Also do read the lease agreement, it'll help in the long run.

Hi,
I haven't had to call into xfinity/ comcast yet
I had to call at&t every other month on overcharges, life is short and at&t is the devil lol

 

[Toothless]

Hi,
I haven't had to call into xfinity/ comcast yet
I had to call at&t every other month on overcharges, life is short and at&t is the devil lol

You can escalate enough to get that fixed. Cause enough chaos and you'll get there eventually.

 

[ThrashZone]

You can escalate enough to get that fixed. Cause enough chaos and you'll get there eventually.

Hi,
I'm going to sick with life is too short to do that over and over again

Comcast uses the Verizon network which is reliable for the most part. (In my neck of the woods)

Hard to believe this because plans on verizon are as high as at&t's are and xfinity mobole is 25.us a month if you pay by the gig which is great because I don't use data on cell very much at all literally email stuff only anything else is local wifi data.

 

[Toothless]

Hi,
I'm going to sick with life is too short to do that over and over again


Hard to believe this because plans on verizon are as high as at&t's are and xfinity mobole is 25.us a month if you pay by the gig which is great because I don't use data on cell very much at all literally email stuff only anything else is local wifi data.

The data caps are literally because Comcast runs on Verizon. You have to pay more for unlimited and it just more money for Verizon.

 

[P4-630]

I'm still using an "old" Galaxy S7.... (at first with a 2 year contract 36 EUR/month)
Now the phone is mine, unlimited phone calls/unlimited sms/1000mb data 12,50 EUR/month