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Wife doesn't care for Captivate...May be selling it

She is not as tech savy as I am and Feels she won;t use 80% of the phone and would rather have my N97 as she knows Symbian....So I may be selling her week old Captivate. (Or keep it as a back up)
What should I ask for it on a BUY IN NOW basis on Ebay. I have 102 feedback and 100% positive (Tombo7777) I don;t want bidding jut put up a good price for a qucil sale should she decide for sure. Anything less that $300 and I will likely keep it as a back up to mine. As Insurance costs $5 a month with a $100 deductable. I don;t buy Extended Warranties on anythingor phone insurance,

Ask for $400
Galaxy s rules while the rest. Well they just lumber behind and drool.

I would say as BUY IT NOW, maybe $380 if you want a pretty quick sale.

week old, sell price online for new without contract from afew places is around 499$ so anywhere from 375-450$ would be good. but then again if you unlock it you could get another $100 for it be unlocked so like 450-550$

YEah I am not sure if I want to sell it yet. She needs to use the N97 for a week (as long as she had the Sammy) before I feel she will make an informed choice. In the mean time I am using it as a "training device" for me. Rooting, unrooting installing ROMS etc....So fasr I am able to go form JF6 to JH7 and to Froyo and back without issues using Master Clear. I want to become fluent in Android as I believe this will be the platform for all my phones in the future.
N97s are going for nearly $300!!!!! I would not be too brokenhearted if she decided to keep the Captivate. The Samsung is worth more than $100 over the N97 I would think.. Damm.

gandalf21502 said:
I would say as BUY IT NOW, maybe $380 if you want a pretty quick sale.
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Yeah thats what i do on Ebay....Low priced Buy It Now....with zero minimums. I sold two contract 32GB 3GS iphones for $600 two weeks after they were released within minutes of posting....In fact I decided not to sell one and try it out for another week to make sure I did not like it.....and then sold it again within minutes.
I paid ATT $150 for both phones so $350 plus PP and Ebay costs is likely what I would sell it for BIN. If I unlock it I'll add another $100.

MT4G Out of stock everywhere :(

I'm having the worst luck. My wife and I ordered 2 brand new mytouch4g's last saturday through tmo customer loyalty for a total of 400 bucks (200each) for both phones. They didnt send the EIP acceptance until tuesday after i called them. I accepted they charged my card and I got a text message saying my order went to fulfillment Nov 12th. Well yesterday I called and they told me that the phone is backordered. wtf...! i already sold my current phones and now they don't even have an ETA of when the phones would be available. This is pretty lame.

Whoew!!!..really feel bad for you. But its a good thing,now that alot of people have mytouch 4g that means that this phone will be light up. All the dev team will be supporting this phone like crazy.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

Asonitez said:
I'm having the worst luck. My wife and I ordered 2 brand new mytouch4g's last saturday through tmo customer loyalty for a total of 400 bucks (200each) for both phones. They didnt send the EIP acceptance until tuesday after i called them. I accepted they charged my card and I got a text message saying my order went to fulfillment Nov 12th. Well yesterday I called and they told me that the phone is backordered. wtf...! i already sold my current phones and now they don't even have an ETA of when the phones would be available. This is pretty lame.
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Man, never sell your phone until you have the new ones in hand, and then don't sell them until you had the new ones a few days and checked out any bugs. It's called "common sense" and it's not taught in schools anymore! I ordered mine on Sunday when the new plans came out, they shipped Monday and are arriving today. I'd like to get my Evos on ebay, but waiting for 1-30 days until they are checked out. I have 30 days to return/exchange them and cancel the contract so I'm not porting my numbers over until everything checks out, and that includes the billing. It's so easy for them to promise a given price on the phone and then have your first bill be totally different than what's quoted. Then, and everyone hates to do this, you have to call your carrier and have a big fight. I'll keep the number they issued me and have my sprint number "forwarded" to this phone while I check it out. This plan will save a lot of potential headache.

This doth not bode well. I just ordered another MT4G too. Ugh. I hope they get their supply issues resolved.

man, that really sucks...hope you have at least something to use for the time being. If not, you can probably pick one up off craigslist for dirt cheap to at least have a phone until they come in.
I never sell my old phones...my wife hates it, but I have a good 7 foot stack of phone boxes in our bedroom closet, and I constantly buy phones I dont even use from craigslist myself
My daughters will go through them once in awhile and want to use one now and then...but sadly, they always want to go back to their iPhones.

I bought my first one through TMO on launch day. But, I just ordered one for my wife on Monday through WireFly and it just came today. WAY better price than buying through TMO. Call them and you can get a better deal than what's posted on their site.
The only thing about them is they bombard you with "additional" great offers while you are on the phone with them. Don't buy their insurance plan, it's crap. I bought it and found out it didn't cover water damage at all, so no dropping the phone in the crapper by accident. And it won't cover theft from an unoccupied building... so if I leave my phone at home, go somewhere, and get burglarized; it won't be covered. Worthless. I called and canceled the crappy insurance. It's not eligible for a TMO $6/mo protection plan when you buy it through WireFly, but if you bring it into the store and show them it's not damaged, they will give you a $4.75/mo plan that is the same as their $6/mo plan, but the difference is that it doesn't include equipment malfunction/failure. Only covers damage or theft.

yeah i havent found it in stock anywhere in my area...i really want one !

wow that does suck they had a lot of them right by my house in cali. i just returned my white one for a black one at the store and they did it no problem. but if u dont have a phone, just go to a tmobile store and tell them what happened and try to get a loaner phone. thats what i had to do for a day cause i sold my hd2 so i can upgrade to the mytouch 4g but it wasnt gonna come out for another day when i sold my phone.

I bought 2 MT4Gs on NewEgg.com
I found the MT4G in stock on NewEgg...i ordered 2 (1 black and 1 White) i was about to buy them on amazon for $119 and saw they wouldnt be delivered until Dec. 28th...so went over to trusty NewEgg.com and they had the same price ...Ordered on Monday the 15th and will be delivered tomorrow...hurry the might still have them ..btw i checked back on NewEgg the following day and the price was up to 149$
FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER @Face_Melter we can be MT4G friends...lol

The stores are usually stocked... I would try there. Also they will let u swap within the 14 days at a tmobile store too even if you got the original phone from the 800 number.

I bought my mytouch 4g from newegg when it came our for $79. Last i saw target mobil was selling it for 79 too so check it out. I just dont understand why people are buying this phone for 200.

I got mine from Radio shack for $149(2 year upgrade). Plus Radioshack gave me $130 for my HD2 with wall charger and $60 for my G1 and wall charger. So I paid nothing for my MT4G. And I bought a car charger for it.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

i ordered mine this morning from amazon before they went out of stock...still shows the shipping date as tomorrow, so hopefully it still gets shipped

topgun303 said:
I bought my mytouch 4g from newegg when it came our for $79. Last i saw target mobil was selling it for 79 too so check it out. I just dont understand why people are buying this phone for 200.
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You really don't understand the concept behind tiered pricing? Seriously?

I just ordered one for $267 and paid for 3 day shipping from retentions. Got tired of the Vibrant GPS not working. If I paid for 3 day shipping I better damn well get it. We'll see I guess.

I got my 4G Black, at costco, say would I be able to walk into t-mob and exchange for a red one? curious, as I still have a week before the 14 days are up.

it's those damn commercials that is making this phone sell like crazy
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

Considering selling?
My wife had problems with her MyTouch 4G speakerphone and had me get her a "simple" phone. I'm supposed to receive a brand new one from T-Mobile within the next week and I am thinking about selling it. What should I expect it should sell for? Thanks.

Ken B said:
My wife had problems with her MyTouch 4G speakerphone and had me get her a "simple" phone. I'm supposed to receive a brand new one from T-Mobile within the next week and I am thinking about selling it. What should I expect it should sell for? Thanks.
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Since T-mobile is selling it for $450 new with buyers remorse, warranty, and option to add insurance, I would probably shoot for 400 if it's still unused.

I got mine on the day it was released, 10am my local tmobile store opened up and I was the 1st customer there. Paid like 320 for the MT4g cuz I wasn't in my full upgrade Price. but then I sold my HD2 for 350 so I thought hey Might as well buy the new phone... When I got home and the wife saw that I had the new MT4G she wanted one too. So I went back 2 days later and got the white one for her paid 200 for hers..
I think that all these 3rd party websites are ordering all these phones from tmo so that's why the main tmobile is backed ordered. But if you go to the stores they have them stocked up...

mt4g resale value...

from what i see on ebay new mt4g selling for around 380...im not trying to "flip" this phone but in a year or whenever i decide to upgrade i would sell and from what it seems ill be lucky to get 125-150...when other phones stay in the 225-300 range
anyone else notice this?

yeah and its because of the pricing on amazon and tmobile, which is priced at 79.99 for a 2 year while the others are still at 129.99 and even at 199.99. This comes from tmobile and HTCs contract and their goals for selling the device. It sucks but the positive that i see is that it can either become a big community with development ?

I sold my 20 month old G1 for $110 on eBay when I got the Vibrant last July. Due to all the issues with the Vibrant, I sold it when the MT4G came out. At that time, the Vibrant wasn't even out for 4 months, but I was only able to get $300 for it. From what I understand, they are going for even less on Craigslist.
The moral of the story? If, in a year or so, you are able to get $150 for the MT4G, it's not exactly horrible. There are other phones in the same class that probably won't even fetch that much.

kgbkny said:
I sold my 20 month old G1 for $110 on eBay when I got the Vibrant last July. Due to all the issues with the Vibrant, I sold it when the MT4G came out. At that time, the Vibrant wasn't even out for 4 months, but I was only able to get $300 for it. From what I understand, they are going for even less on Craigslist.
The moral of the story? If, in a year or so, you are able to get $150 for the MT4G, it's not exactly horrible. There are other phones in the same class that probably won't even fetch that much.
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I just sold 2 HTC Evo's I got on launch day in June for $300 a piece. If you keep the original box that seems to add resale value for some reason I don't really get. Also having extra accessories to throw in like cases/chargers can be the difference between them choosing your phone and another.

itmustbejj said:
I just sold 2 HTC Evo's I got on launch day in June for $300 a piece. If you keep the original box that seems to add resale value for some reason I don't really get. Also having extra accessories to throw in like cases/chargers can be the difference between them choosing your phone and another.
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Agreed. I always keep all the boxes and printed literature that comes with my electronics. I also threw in two gel cases and an extra Realook screen protector.

itmustbejj said:
I just sold 2 HTC Evo's I got on launch day in June for $300 a piece. If you keep the original box that seems to add resale value for some reason I don't really get. Also having extra accessories to throw in like cases/chargers can be the difference between them choosing your phone and another.
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+1 on keeping all the box and everything it came with. It proves to the buyer that the item is not stolen and will fetch a MUCH higher price.
Here's my resale performance:
iPhone 3G 16GB (one year old) = $350
iPhone 3GS 32GB (1.5 years old) = $400
Samsung Captivate (2 months old) = $340

I got $360 for my Nexus One on eBay, which I let go after getting root on the MT4G. Having all original stuff including the box definitely helps.

i keep all my old phones... THEY ARE MINE!!!!!
i have on my desk 3 G1's, 2 MT3G's, 1 ION, 1 N1 (ok this is actually on loan), 1 G2 (gf), 1 MT4G

why did u keep ur g2 when u got ur mt4g ? No contracts?
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

my (now ex) girlfriends phone...
work for an indirect dealer.... basically every 3 months i get a phone for new contract price without a contract...

I won't buy a used phone unless the person is selling the orig box and lit. The bar code can be gone but somebody selling the box along with the phone tells me that they will have taken better care of their phone. Maybe not true but I've purchased several phones off ebay and never have had a bad experience with the condition of the phone.

daryllh said:
I won't buy a used phone unless the person is selling the orig box and lit. The bar code can be gone but somebody selling the box along with the phone tells me that they will have taken better care of their phone. Maybe not true but I've purchased several phones off ebay and never have had a bad experience with the condition of the phone.
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Having a box and oem stuff at least tells you the guy did not picked it up from some unlucky soul at a starbucks or local library.

Resale value holds steady
Bought a G1 for 80 with contract
6 months later traded G1 + 50 for HD2
1 month later traded HD2 for Nexus One
8 month later traded Nexus One + 50 for G2
1 week later traded G2 for Nexus One + Dock + Cash
1 month later traded Nexus One + Dock for MT4G
Paid 180 and have had the G1, HD2, Nexus One, G2, and now Mytouch 4g and my 2 year deal is up in March.

Wow all these trading and selling, nice! I've kept all my phones till like a week ago, when I sold the MyTouch 3G to a co worker for $150, and traded my G1 for a Tattoo. LOL. I still have the Nexus One and The Vibrant to play with.

upgrade phone for $150.

Ok, been talking to Verizon for weeks now, trying to dump this clunker of a phone. They absolutely refused to give me an early upgrade. But yesterday i did get a woman who gave me great advice i wanted to share.
She said even if she did the early upgrade, I would have to accept another 2 year contract, pay $299 for the phone, and the $350 termination fee that goes with it. She said that I should go to ebay and get a New or nearly new Droid Razr which sells for $350 at times. I could sell my charge for up to $200 and my upgrade will cost me $150 without the termination fee. so I'm basically saving $800 by not having them 'upgrade me'.
So that's what i did. I actually paid $375 for an auction with free shipping and saw the charge sold regularly for about $170-190. Still, I can always sell the razr later on and get something new with no penalties from here on.
don't flame me if you love the charge. It's just been problematic for me. Too little memory for my needs. between scrabble, Words with Friends, all my other apps which have 5 meg resident notifiers, my phone crashes often.

why would the $350 early termination fee come into play if they "gave" you an early upgrade....that sounds like cancelling your account and opening a new one...slight miscalculation I would say

she said based on how long i've had phones with Verizion (8 months for the fascinate, and 6 months with the charge), if in another 6 months i were to want another new phone outside of verizon. I'm only getting the Razr because i'm still on the hook for the term fee. I would get the nexus galaxy on tmobile's $30 plan if not for the term fee. By doing this, i will be out by August and can move on freely to any phone and any other non-contract plan. Can even stay on Verizon month to month.
I already moved my wife and son to Tmobile's $30 4G plan and they love it. In August, i will move there most likely if they still offer it.

You really didn't get an upgrade offer it seems, right?
I was on the phone with someone last week who told me I should look on eBay for a new phone since they won't give me any deal. The guy told me I could sell my phone for $200 easy, but I'm not in the market to be playing that game and dealing with idiots on ebay/CL.
I'm actually surprised a bit with Verizon that they wont give early upgrades. When I was with AT&T I got one in 5 months because my phone was stolen and smashed. I got $150 credit towards $$ off the iPhone and extended my contract for 2 more years.

orateam said:
I already moved my wife and son to Tmobile's $30 4G plan and they love it. In August, i will move there most likely if they still offer it.
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Don't do this. Verizon is expensive but they actually use that money to upgrade their cell sites and make new ones. It is hands-down the best wireless carrier in the US, and in my opinion, worth it unless you spend your whole life in downtown Chicago for example.

When I had my HTC Thunderbolt 4G, I sold that for $150 and used the money to get a Droid Charge from Craiglist for $300, no contact extension whatsoever.
But I was negative $150, but considering how much I hate the thunderbolt, it's really worth it.

Droid RAZR? That would be a downgrade! Locked bootloader, super-wide unpractical bezel, terrible screen (pentile), worse camera. Total gimmick phone that sells due to the huge marketing blitz on Verizons behalf

adrenaline_rush said:
Droid RAZR? That would be a downgrade! Locked bootloader, super-wide unpractical bezel, terrible screen (pentile), worse camera. Total gimmick phone that sells due to the huge marketing blitz on Verizons behalf
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That's your opinion, not fact, and your opinions are incidentally not shared by the overwhelming majority of people who review phones for a living:
http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/motorola-droid-razr-black/4505-6452_7-35033947.html ("4.5/5 With its razor-thin design, jam-packed features, and blazing speed, the Motorola Droid Razr is easily one of the year's top Android smartphones.")
http://www.bgr.com/2011/11/07/motorola-droid-razr-review/ ("The Motorola DROID RAZR has replaced Samsung’s Galaxy S II as the best Android device I’ve ever used.")
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5198/motorola-droid-razr-review-a-better-clad-bionic/ ("The RAZR is honestly some of the best Android hardware I’ve seen in a long time.")
http://pocketnow.com/android/motorola-droid-razr-review (4.5/5 "It's thin, lightweight, durable, fast, and has a beautiful screen.")
Just because it's not as good as the Galaxy Nexus -- though the latter's lead will narrow once the Razr gets ICS -- doesn't mean it's not a very good device.

Falcyn said:
That's your opinion, not fact, and your opinions are incidentally not shared by the overwhelming majority of people who review phones for a living:
http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/motorola-droid-razr-black/4505-6452_7-35033947.html ("4.5/5 With its razor-thin design, jam-packed features, and blazing speed, the Motorola Droid Razr is easily one of the year's top Android smartphones.")
http://www.bgr.com/2011/11/07/motorola-droid-razr-review/ ("The Motorola DROID RAZR has replaced Samsung’s Galaxy S II as the best Android device I’ve ever used.")
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5198/motorola-droid-razr-review-a-better-clad-bionic/ ("The RAZR is honestly some of the best Android hardware I’ve seen in a long time.")
http://pocketnow.com/android/motorola-droid-razr-review (4.5/5 "It's thin, lightweight, durable, fast, and has a beautiful screen.")
Just because it's not as good as the Galaxy Nexus -- though the latter's lead will narrow once the Razr gets ICS -- doesn't mean it's not a very good device.
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I'm not gonna say its a bad phone but the locked bootloader and blur (in general, not really just on the razr) will keep me away from any moto phone for the time being... if they put out an unlocked relatively bloat/skin free (read: nexus) phone I'd give it some thought
my .02

Android central just picked it as the phone of the year over the nexus.
http://www.androidcentral.com/2011-android-central-awards-editors-choice-picks
Fact is that the Motoblur, HTC sense, Touchwiz , all are there because AOSP is just plain. Right now, everyone loves ICS because it's different and adds alot of features over froyo. But how happy would you be with stock froyo or gingerbread. That is pretty much what you will get on Nexus, stock. I like HTC sense, Moto and touchwiz. I prefer to have a phone with ICS and sweet touches. What's funny is that the RAZR is getting the nod over the Nexus while it's still on gingerbread with moto. I can only imagine how cool the phone will be on ICS with MOTO and custom roms.
I looked at the nexus, but ebay has them running for $550. That's a $200 premium. If i don't like the RAZR, which i doubt, i can always sell it a few months out and get the Nexus when the sticker shock price comes down. In the meantime, i'll have a phone that is leagues ahead of the charge and it's 200 megs or RAM that keeps crashing on me.

JihadSquad said:
Don't do this. Verizon is expensive but they actually use that money to upgrade their cell sites and make new ones. It is hands-down the best wireless carrier in the US, and in my opinion, worth it unless you spend your whole life in downtown Chicago for example.
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I love Verizon. But $30 bucks is alot cheaper than any other 4g Unlimited plan. Hell, its the same price as what others charge for 2GB data plans.
Verizon could have done an early upgrade for me and got me for another 2 years. I would have sent them $300 for the RAZR and they would have been way better off. It's their fault that are not doing early upgrades. If I were them, i would do early upgrades as soon as i recouped my profit for the phone which is usually less than 6 months of service depending on options. I can tell the employees i've dealt with at verizon wanted to do it for me, they knew holding onto a customer for 2 more years plus paying $300 for a phone they probably got for $300 is the best way to keep customers. Just a big corporate company not allowing it.

Used Phone Prices Make No Sense...to me

With new phone prices without a contract around $500 and upgrade prices for the hot models running $99-250, I was thinking maybe I should shop recent used, i.e. an Incredible 2 or even a Galaxy Nexus or RAZR now that the Maxx is out. So checking eBay and Craigslist, and various forum marketplaces I am seeing that used pricing runs from $100-$300 on the Inc2 to $300-$500 on the Nexus and RAZR.
My son just got an Inc 2 upgrade for free. Why would anyone pay $100-$300 (widely asked) for a free phone? I might pay $50 to play with it. Why would anyone pay $400 for a used Nexus or RAZR when you can upgrade for $199 or $249 (less with a new account). I would pay $100, OK, but why pay more than the upgrade price? I understand the desire to avoid a contract, but seriously you have to get service from somewhere. I can't believe that many of the people selling these things paid full retail, so how can the used prices be more than most people paid in the first place. There can't be that much demand and the supply increases daily.
Please explain.

Some people have just upgraded recently and can't do a new contract before their two years is up without paying a pretty decent fee. It's cheaper to buy the phone from someone else and maybe get rid of their old phone than to pay the price for getting a new contract. Some people here also own multiple devices and switch them out often, so it doesn't really make sense to open a new contract for each phone. Check people's sigs: some members/devs here have four or five devices at a time.
And just in case you don't know why there's a charge for early upgrades, the carriers give you the phones at discount because over a two year contract you will end up paying down the expense they took. If they give you a new phone every six months you have gone through around $2000 worth of devices and they certainly won't make that up just from your monthly bill.

danam said:
With new phone prices without a contract around $500 and upgrade prices for the hot models running $99-250, I was thinking maybe I should shop recent used, i.e. an Incredible 2 or even a Galaxy Nexus or RAZR now that the Maxx is out. So checking eBay and Craigslist, and various forum marketplaces I am seeing that used pricing runs from $100-$300 on the Inc2 to $300-$500 on the Nexus and RAZR.
My son just got an Inc 2 upgrade for free. Why would anyone pay $100-$300 (widely asked) for a free phone? I might pay $50 to play with it. Why would anyone pay $400 for a used Nexus or RAZR when you can upgrade for $199 or $249 (less with a new account). I would pay $100, OK, but why pay more than the upgrade price? I understand the desire to avoid a contract, but seriously you have to get service from somewhere. I can't believe that many of the people selling these things paid full retail, so how can the used prices be more than most people paid in the first place. There can't be that much demand and the supply increases daily.
Please explain.
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It is all in being eligible for an upgrade!!! People who break, drop in toilet, or lose their phone are the ones paying. They had a new phone and liked it. But they broke it and aren't eligible for an upgrade price for another two years. They would have to pay full price. A used phone at $250 is better than paying $500 from the provider since you have no upgrade options.
I like it. My last two upgrades I have made money!!!! I had an original droid. I upgraded to my droid X for $299. $100 rebate brings cost down to $200. Sold for $250 on ebay!!! Old droid would have cost someone $400 from verizon if they weren't eligible for an upgrade. They have the phone they want and saved $150 versus buying a new one from verizon.

85gallon said:
I like it. My last two upgrades I have made money!!!! I had an original droid. I upgraded to my droid X for $299. $100 rebate brings cost down to $200. Sold for $250 on ebay!!! Old droid would have cost someone $400 from verizon if they weren't eligible for an upgrade. They have the phone they want and saved $150 versus buying a new one from verizon.
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I understand why it works for the seller . But this sort of presumes that more people are dropping phones in toilets than are buying new phones and retiring old ones, and I am not sure that can be so. Alternatively, it assumes that a real lot of people want to upgrade in less than two years and are willing to pay hundreds for the privilege; and I am not sure that can be so either.
I guess that I am cheap. But if I am entitled to pay, say, $199 in 3-6 months I am not paying more now for used equipment.

Some carriers give a cheaper monthly rate if you own your phone. I always buy phones outright either new or used and save money overall.
Sent from HTC G2

Crashdamage said:
Some carriers give a cheaper monthly rate if you own your phone. I always buy phones outright either new or used and save money overall.
Sent from HTC G2
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nothing is free.
My phone cost me £120 new which came with a PAYG sim.
My contract sim only is £13 a month.
I could have got the same phone on contract for £35 a month.
So I would be paying an extra £22 a month on a 18 month contract, after 5-6 months I would have been payiing more for the phone and be out of pocket. The contracts where the phones seem free have you paying for the phone monthly instead.

danam said:
I guess that I am cheap. But if I am entitled to pay, say, $199 in 3-6 months I am not paying more now for used equipment.
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What are you going to do? Pay $50 on a throw away so you have a phone for the next 3-6 months or just go without a phone for that time?
Also, a lot of people don't realize that their old cell phones are worth something. They throw them in a drawer or the garbage or they recycle them so they can feel good. I hope they never find out!!
I will be getting a free RAZR in a few months!!! After rebates and ebay of course!!
I was actually digging through some old stuff a few months ago and I ran across an old Moto Z6TV that I forgot to put up on ebay when I retired it years ago. I put it up on ebay and got $40 for it. I think it was3 or 4 phones ago. And I let the prospective buyers know it would be needing a battery soon in the auction listing.
Peeps need them for something. Maybe they know something I don't and are stocking up for the Zombie apocalypse. Who knows. I don't care as long as they are buying!!

Not everybody wants a contract. You can get a contract and pay $1k-$2k over the course of 2 years for a "free" phone or you can get a significantly cheaper pay as you go service and pay $200 for an unlocked phone.

I do business on CL all the time. This time of year is notorious for high-priced phones. If you wait until spring and summer really hits, phones will be available left and right.
Usually CDMA phones are cheaper as well, so if you look around daily, you'll find a good deal.
Sent from my 2ghz Impulse 4G

Depends on the financial status of the person to go for used phone or a new contract phone

In the past two years I've gone through 5 android phones and saved a ton of money giving the phones down to my wife and mom and never have to sign a new contract. Currently my wife has an Iphone, my mom a nexus s 4g, and I traded my android phone for an Iphone 4s...I'm going to sell that 4s and get a white Epic 4G Touch for 350 tonight, the Iphone should sell for a decent amount, I'm not out to gouge anyone but the Iphone holds value well (I hated the iPhone or I'd keep it but I miss android)

Well let me explain how it makes sense. Here's my actual history:
Buy an HTC Touch Diamond for $125 close to when it came out on some weird contract thing.
Sold Diamond for $200, bought iPhone 3G when moved to tmobile for $250, did a few other deals in between, but ended up trading the iPhone 3G for an HD2 when HD2 came out on tmobile. Sold HD2 for $250 a couple months ago, and moved to ATT and got a Galaxy Note on Contract (thru a friend $10 add a line) for $300 (soon to be $150 back for the promo), for all the deals I did between there I probably netted a few hundred dollar profit, bought and sold tablets as well (used most of them, I'm not trying to be a businessman here). You get to try out a bunch of devices this way.
If you take care of them, the resale is worth the original purchase. If you bought a Galaxy Nexus unlocked for $650 like 6 months ago, you could probably sell it RIGHT NOW for $650 easy if you took damn good care of it.
It's just how it works, you're not really out that much money if you're smart about how you do it, I've dropped $400 on devices and stuff and used/resold etc...

I agree with the general idea of the thread, some used phones are too much IMO.

There is a reason people are paying the used phone prices and I'm willing to bet they checked their options before dishing out a few hundred dollars.
We all get that most providers essentially mortgage you a device through your plan but if you don't fall under their qualifications to upgrade then your about to realize how much these little gadgets actually retail for. If you can upgrade through your provider that's your best bet. If not the used market is probably your go to option.
Sent from my Galaxy S2

eplote was
Taking into account that most phones are essentially a computer in your pocket, the used prices should reflect upon the age of the tech, total use time and who the owner was.
In the IT industry, hardware drops in value quite rapidly due to new gear coming out.
If the handset is a current model of it's class, then expect a premium price.
As for iDrones, they are like the fashion industry, you pay for a label and a social status as an iPhollower.
/Rant over
Crikey

If that makes no sense to you go take a look what people are paying for "used" Iphones.

for what its worth, used galaxy ace's were been sold for more then I paid for mine brand new.
from what I can see on ebay people usually only take 10-20% of the price of a new phone unless there is obvious damage. if you find a retail phone with a discount it will be less than used on ebay.

Most people charge too much for their used phones yet people due to contract issues buy them^^

My personal experience is that if you try to find a used phone on the E bay the price has no sense, but if you look in a local site of vacancies you can find good occasions, expecially if you make an offer that is lower of the asked price.

heres how i got my amaze, i bought it broken. honestly, as long as it turns on, im happy, i do customer service for t-mobile but i have at&t only because i have been with them since they were cingular. anyways, dont want to get off topic at hand, i can repair anything. my amaze had went through a joy ride through a dryer. and i still payed 250.00, then i had to get a digitizer/LCD, then a back, then a battery, but i still came out cheaper then retail price. i get laughed at on the smoke deck at work because of my phone but as the month went on it got nicer and nicer then a new trainee said when did you get your new phone? lol i build it...really. i got my inspire with a cracked screen the only phone i have that NOT damaged is my infuse lol