Pay full price for new cellphone?

[Starbrite]

Am I crazy to even consider paying full price for a new cellphone from AT&T?? Do people actually pay full price anymore? I've never done it, always just waited til it was time to renew my contract.

I'm not due for an upgrade for a long time, but I hate my phone & want to move into the smartphone era. There are no discounts available to me

Do they ever cut you a deal in the store? Knock a few bucks off?

 

[ksloane]

I buy all of my phones. Haven't been under a contract in years. I buy from ebay though, not from my cell provider.

 

[Marionnette]

Am I crazy to even consider paying full price for a new cellphone from AT&T?? Do people actually pay full price anymore? I've never done it, always just waited til it was time to renew my contract.

I'm not due for an upgrade for a long time, but I hate my phone & want to move into the smartphone era. There are no discounts available to me

Do they ever cut you a deal in the store? Knock a few bucks off?

How far away from eligibility are you? I can upgrade my phone every 18 months if I want to. The discount is not as steep and I have to pay the upgrade fee but it's better than paying full price.

Or if you are on a family plan, you can use another member's upgrade eligibility to upgrade your phone. I can't remember the term that they use for it but I have done it when my older son wanted a new iphone and he wasn't due for an upgrade for a couple of months. I just went to the Best Buy and asked them to use my upgrade for his phone number.

If none of those work for you, check ebay for phones. People sometimes put their old phones up for sale when they upgrade. Or they upgrade to a new phone and sell it right away on ebay as a new phone. Either way it could be a lot cheaper than getting one directly from AT&T.

 

[disneymom2003]

What kind of phone do you want and are you in a contract with a certain carrier? AT&T has an Iphone for $49. It is not the newest model but I think $49 is a great price for a new Iphone.

 

[Starbrite]

How far away from eligibility are you? I can upgrade my phone every 18 months if I want to. The discount is not as steep and I have to pay the upgrade fee but it's better than paying full price.

Or if you are on a family plan, you can use another member's upgrade eligibility to upgrade your phone. I can't remember the term that they use for it but I have done it when my older son wanted a new iphone and he wasn't due for an upgrade for a couple of months. I just went to the Best Buy and asked them to use my upgrade for his phone number.

If none of those work for you, check ebay for phones. People sometimes put their old phones up for sale when they upgrade. Or they upgrade to a new phone and sell it right away on ebay as a new phone. Either way it could be a lot cheaper than getting one directly from AT&T.

I'm not due for an upgrade until November. I'll have to check & see if anyone else is eligible now.

None of our phones are currently smartphones, so we don't have a "smart" plan. I'll have to involve AT&T to upgrade my data plan...so I don't think I can go straight to ebay can I?

 

[Starbrite]

What kind of phone do you want and are you in a contract with a certain carrier? AT&T has an Iphone for $49. It is not the newest model but I think $49 is a great price for a new Iphone.

I'm under contract w/ AT&T...And I love them, so I'm fine with my contract.

That same IPhone is $249 for me since it's not my turn for a new phone.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

I wouldn't buy a brand new phone from any of the phone carriers unless I have an upgrade discount.

I don't know about AT&T but Verizon offers refurbished phones for much cheaper than new, you can ask AT&T if they do the same.

As PPs said the iPhone has a cheap option and you can also look on eBay. We have gotten many good deals on eBay when we wanted a new phone before our contract was renewable.

Also, talk with your friends. I have had more than one friend get a smartphone and find that the phone is too smart for them so they go back to a regular phone and give the smartphone to a friend. Maybe someone you know has one laying around.

 

[disneyfreakk]

You wouldn't be the first to pay full price for a cell phone.

A couple of years ago I went in to upgrade my phone and DH went with me. While I was taking care of all of the paper work, DH was looking around the store. So as I am finishing up my paper work, DH comes up and tells the lady he wanted "that" phone. He wasn't up for an upgrade and paid $400 or $500 for the new phone.

on a side note, I can't take DH with me anywhere without him wandering about and finding something that he just HAS to have, he is just like a little kid.

 

[Darcy03231]

I'm not due for an upgrade until November. I'll have to check & see if anyone else is eligible now.

None of our phones are currently smartphones, so we don't have a "smart" plan. I'll have to involve AT&T to upgrade my data plan...so I don't think I can go straight to ebay can I?

Yes, you can. You just need to make sure the phone is an AT & T one and that the ESN # is clear.

We're with US Cellular and I've bought lots of phones from eBay. When the kids were younger they tended to lose them. I'd buy the replacements from eBay since they were so much cheaper. Since they've gotten older and gone to the smart phones they're much better about keeping track of them as they don't want to go back to a non-smart phone if they lose it.

 

[rock_doctor]

I buy all of my phones. Haven't been under a contract in years. I buy from ebay though, not from my cell provider.

I do the same thing. Every two years i get a new phone (latest model) from ebay (from a sprint reseller) and i have no contract, the same plan for over 13 yrs and have the phone i want.

 

[ellone]

We did buy a full priced phone for my husband for Straight Talk. He wanted a data plan and their plans were so much cheaper than anything from the big companies.