[TXSTYLE]

Just curious if any of you have found providers that offer FREE Premium (keyword) phones for free without: leasing or installments???

I understand why they are doing this, even though they make their bread & butter via monthly plans.

Best I've seen is buy get one...

[C1Boston]

I've been doing this with 2 year contracts for as long as I can remember. When I was looking to upgrade from my iphone 6 to 7 I noticed this is no longer a thing. I dont lease or pay in installments....that stuff drives me CRAZY, 20 dollars or 40 dollars per month added to my bill when the phone is just 700 dollars.

[fecurtis]

Yeah they're pretty much gone.

Phone plans have gotten a lot cheaper and that's because they've stopped subsidizing the phones so if you buy the phone outright, you aren't tied down to any contractual agreement.

[M_Six]

And phones have gotten a lot more expensive. Word is the iPhone 8 might break the $1000 mark. Ouch.

[R3dliner]

not technically gone but changed. ATNT gave me $650 credit trade in for my 6 plus to upgrade to 7 plus.

Verizon if you pay off 50% of the phone balance they will let you upgrade for free.

[RABAUKE]

Originally Posted by M_Six

And phones have gotten a lot more expensive. Word is the iPhone 8 might break the $1000 mark. Ouch.

That's about $8 Million Canadian!

[EL Jeffe 5]

Originally Posted by M_Six

And phones have gotten a lot more expensive. Word is the iPhone 8 might break the $1000 mark. Ouch.

I can tell you right now I love apple products I will never spend $1000 on Iphone 8 unless its made out of gold and its worth twice as much.
There is nothing wrong with my Iphone 6.

[ASBSECU E93]

Yes

[xQx]

Phone provider here. They were never free. We always used to load the cost of the handset into your monthly fee.

Then two things happened: 1. Some ratbag cheap providers started offering plans without phones for $5/mth less for the same voice minutes, and people started comparing our plans to them. 2. Apple entered the scene and started selling $1200 handsets (which cost us $1150), and suddenly everybody was asking for them rather than our "free" $200 phones (which cost us about $100).

It's a hell of a lot easier to hide $5/mth of extra charges into a monthly plan than it is to hide $45/mth. (multiply by 24 months to get the allowance for your "free" phone on the 2 year contract)

If you shop around you should be able to find a provider with a MRO - Monthly Repayment Option - where you pay $40 - $45 extra each month so you can pay off an iphone interest free.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by xQx

Phone provider here. They were never free. We always used to load the cost of the handset into your monthly fee.

Then two things happened: 1. Some ratbag cheap providers started offering plans without phones for $5/mth less for the same voice minutes, and people started comparing our plans to them. 2. Apple entered the scene and started selling $1200 handsets (which cost us $1150), and suddenly everybody was asking for them rather than our "free" $200 phones (which cost us about $100).

It's a hell of a lot easier to hide $5/mth of extra charges into a monthly plan than it is to hide $45/mth. (multiply by 24 months to get the allowance for your "free" phone on the 2 year contract)

If you shop around you should be able to find a provider with a MRO - Monthly Repayment Option - where you pay $40 - $45 extra each month so you can pay off an iphone interest free.

I'm pretty sure Verizon does that. I had the option of paying for my iPhone 7 over time but decided to just pay for it outright to keep to a month-to-month account (no contract). The end cost for the phone was the same either way, though.

The fee that gets me is the per-device connection fee. If I use my iPhone as a hotspot and connect my iPad to it and surf, it costs me nothing extra (except data usage). But if I had an iPad with LTE and connected directly, it'd cost me $10/mo every month. I wish the telcos would just charge for data usage and not nail you for every device connected to the plan.

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by R3dliner

not technically gone but changed. ATNT gave me $650 credit trade in for my 6 plus to upgrade to 7 plus.

Verizon if you pay off 50% of the phone balance they will let you upgrade for free.

I have Verizon and got the same deal for my 6s plus. $650 over 24 months so I just pay the difference in monthly installments for my 7 plus, about $9 and change a month. If I want to upgrade to the 8 I will forfeit my remaining credits, however, and I'll have to pay the remaining balance on the 7 plus, but I can then trade in the 7 plus presumably and do the pay the difference in installments again.

[PINeely]

Originally Posted by M_Six

And phones have gotten a lot more expensive. Word is the iPhone 8 might break the $1000 mark. Ouch.

That's the reason you see the end of the free phones and the beginning of the "payment plan" phones. Too expensive for the manufacturer to give away, contract can't reasonably cover the cost and make a profit too.

Additionally $1000 is too much for most people to spend on a phone all at once. But there's still people out there without a pot to piss in who have no problem being on a payment plan for 3 years, if it means having the latest and greatest.

Unpopular opinion these days, but maybe if you can't afford a decent phone you don't need to be spending all day on facebook and snap chat, all made possible by your payment plan contract. Maybe you don't need games and apps. You need a phone that can call, text, receive email. That's it.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by PINeely

That's the reason you see the end of the free phones and the beginning of the "payment plan" phones. Too expensive for the manufacturer to give away, contract can't reasonably cover the cost and make a profit too.

Additionally $1000 is too much for most people to spend on a phone all at once. But there's still people out there without a pot to piss in who have no problem being on a payment plan for 3 years, if it means having the latest and greatest.

Unpopular opinion these days, but maybe if you can't afford a decent phone you don't need to be spending all day on facebook and snap chat, all made possible by your payment plan contract. Maybe you don't need games and apps. You need a phone that can call, text, receive email. That's it.

I was in a Verizon store a few months ago and there was a woman at the counter settling up her overdue charges on her account so they wouldn't cut off her service. Not paying the current bill, mind you, but just paying the overdue stuff. She proceeded to tell the CSR that she needed to go to the cable company next to pay the overdue charges there, too. She went on and on about how they had the full cable plan with all the premium channels, etc, etc.

Some folks just don't grasp the concept of a budget or living within one's means.

[TXSTYLE]

Thx the the feedback guys.

[PoorLurker]

Years ago, I used to love hearing the deals that my family plan would get at these hole in the wall Chinese places.

Now, they can't do anything for us and now buying a phone is like buying a car.

They talk about numbers using per month and then try to upsell you on everything.

[TXSTYLE]

Originally Posted by C1Boston

I've been doing this with 2 year contracts for as long as I can remember. When I was looking to upgrade from my iphone 6 to 7 I noticed this is no longer a thing. I dont lease or pay in installments....that stuff drives me CRAZY, 20 dollars or 40 dollars per month added to my bill when the phone is just 700 dollars.

E X A C T L Y what I used to do and I feel the exact same with tacking on $30 or $60 due 2 phones onto my bill. I definitely try snagging unlocked devices. But if like me, you want new every year, shit gets kinda high.

[dzvero]

Free is more expensive. they buy phone for $500, it retails for $600, they make u pay $720 for 2 years. You got the phone for free

[Dang3r]

Since years I have to pay additionally to my desired phone at the provider (T-mobile) and the better the model, the higher the payment.
Times are gone where a crappy cellphone has to be paid with a symbolic Euro or Dollar. But I surely never would spend hundreds of bucks for a lousy I-phone.

[dzvero]

I bought unlocked galaxy s5 for family , still using it with t-mobile. I pay $100 for 4 lines unlimited data text and some talk. I use my plan in europe every year and in some other countries with no problem. I paid like 2100 for phones. Its been almost 3 years . I did the math and it was cheaper to buy unlocked and get cheap monthly bill with no contract .

[nyalpine90]

i do miss the old days, blackberry 8900. One of my favorite phones
battery lasted for days, it was light and fit in your pocket.

[jgoens]

Originally Posted by PINeely

Unpopular opinion these days, but maybe if you can't afford a decent phone you don't need to be spending all day on facebook and snap chat, all made possible by your payment plan contract. Maybe you don't need games and apps. You need a phone that can call, text, receive email and go on Bimmerpost.That's it.

FTFY

[KingOfJericho]

Originally Posted by xQx

Phone provider here. They were never free. We always used to load the cost of the handset into your monthly fee.

Then two things happened: 1. Some ratbag cheap providers started offering plans without phones for $5/mth less for the same voice minutes, and people started comparing our plans to them. 2. Apple entered the scene and started selling $1200 handsets (which cost us $1150), and suddenly everybody was asking for them rather than our "free" $200 phones (which cost us about $100).

It's a hell of a lot easier to hide $5/mth of extra charges into a monthly plan than it is to hide $45/mth. (multiply by 24 months to get the allowance for your "free" phone on the 2 year contract)

If you shop around you should be able to find a provider with a MRO - Monthly Repayment Option - where you pay $40 - $45 extra each month so you can pay off an iphone interest free.

THIS.

It was naive to think they were ever really free.