[Q] Can someone elaborate more about T-Mobile subsidized phones? - General Questions and Answers

Hey guys so today I researched about T-Mobile subsidized 2 year contract plans and that in the 2 years you are actually paying for the phone itself. I don't completely understand this and why would it be cheaper to purchase an unlocked phone for full price and have it cheaper in the long term off contract? I have a family plan with 4 people right now and would this apply to me? Please answer, I don't understand this.

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Verizon - Cancel contract -- pay for phone?

Quick question for anyone who has looked into this before ...
I know when you get an upgrade and new phone you are increasing your contract by 2 years, and that contract is what essentially gives you a discounted price on the phone... so... I'm wondering... If you were to cancel your contract (paying the $150 fee) would you also be responsible for the difference in retail price on the phone??? Or is the $150 cancellation fee the ONLY charge???
jw
Zenoran said:
Quick question for anyone who has looked into this before ...
I know when you get an upgrade and new phone you are increasing your contract by 2 years, and that contract is what essentially gives you a discounted price on the phone... so... I'm wondering... If you were to cancel your contract (paying the $150 fee) would you also be responsible for the difference in retail price on the phone??? Or is the $150 cancellation fee the ONLY charge???
jw
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I have been through this with Sprint and AT&T/Cingular and the cancellation fee with them is all you pay. I have never used Verizon and probably never will.
I'm just wondering my options for down the road... not too happy with Verizon.. service does work in my home city but if I try going outside or visit my hometown I can never get any signal.
will have to see who releases the newest badass pda device.. usually sprint wins the race for some reason... att & verizon still haven't even gotten the touch yet! I'm not too concerned with ATT cuz they're clearly sleeping with apple but verizon really needs to get off their asses and come up with something innovative to capture our geeky attention... IT'S NOT IN THE NETWORK.
AT&T by far have the best coverage for HSDPA in Ohio and around the USA except for the west coast for some reason. The best devices are not at the carrier's stores. Check out some options at www.onthegosolutions.com
phones on that website are NOT cheap!...
$150 cancellation fee ? You have nice contracts in the U.S. ! Here, to resign we must pay the fee for every month remaining in our mobile contract, which would amount to something like €500 ($800) for me...
m3uch4 said:
$150 cancellation fee ? You have nice contracts in the U.S. ! Here, to resign we must pay the fee for every month remaining in our mobile contract, which would amount to something like €500 ($800) for me...
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ouch! Well, that's why I was wondering if you have to pay for the phone or not too??? reason being.. I paid $100 for my Titan from Verizon with all the discounts and such.. I'm sure that would turn around and sell on ebay for 250+??? that's easily cost of my phone + cancellation fee... could easily jump ship to another carrier for a new model with little or no cost... that is, however, if they dont charge you for the phone in addition to contract cancellation.
buying phones retail seems silly though... i surely cant afford $600+ for a phone... eek!

Price?

Well I have read numerous sources saying it will be 199.99 with 2 Year Contract.. Now I am seeing receipts for 149.99 with contract or 299.99 without contract. I truly want this phone and the 50$ wont stop me, but hey it is 50$ more dollars for apps and accessories. Does anyone know if they price was changed or if I should bring in a picture of the receipts to get a 50$ off or will I just end up paying 200$?
AT&T and Samsung posted on their twitter that it is $199 with a contract, and $350 without a contract.
I'm hoping it is $350, cause that's how much money i got for it! haha.
Yah, but how are people getting it for 300 or 150?
I have no idea. I haven't seen any receipts and such.
http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/576/receiptn.jpg
and
http://imgur.com/EYdsN.jpg
Now I'm jealous. I hope it is $300 but i'll settle for $350!
haha yah I mean, paying an extra 50 really won't stop me. But hey, thats 50$'s I can use on accessories etc
I guarantee that it's 349.99 without a contract and 199.99 with a 2 year contract.
The people that are getting 50 or 100 dollars off the prices of the phone is because of the AT&T upgrade advantage.
http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/why/upgrade-advantage.jsp
If the primary line on your account is over $100 then that line will be upgrade eligible every year.
I believe they have three ways of paying.
1. upgrade elligable its $199 with a 2 year contract and USE your elligability.
2. Not elligable for an upgrade its $350. with a 2 year extension on your contract but not using your future upgrade.
3. No contract $499.
I just called and thats what two local stores told me.
I was just told 500 off contract from an AT&T store.
chakra said:
I believe they have three ways of paying.
1. upgrade elligable its $199 with a 2 year contract and USE your elligability.
2. Not elligable for an upgrade its $350. with a 2 year extension on your contract but not using your future upgrade.
3. No contract $499.
I just called and thats what two local stores told me.
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Woa, that'd be completely new for att. I've never seen any signs or ads anywhere for previous phones that describe option 2, always just 1 or 3 (renew your contract or just no contract pricing - no inbetween). If I'm wrong, I apologise, but I haven't heard of that before.
I called a store from one of the recepits that people have posted, and they told me that there was no way some of the pricing, nor sales have happened. I was told $500 dollars from a store that was $300.
I was also told $199 from a store that sold one for $149 and that I was reading the receipt wrong and instead of the "samsung i897" like the receipt says, it was really a 3gs 32 gb phone. Basically, I was told that I am an idiot and it wasn't really that price.
what the hell is going on?
Now I'm just more mad than anxious.
tysj said:
Now I'm just more mad than anxious.
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I agree. This whole pricing war is becoming insane, not to mention differen't prices for different people is not right.
AllTheWay said:
I guarantee that it's 349.99 without a contract and 199.99 with a 2 year contract.
The people that are getting 50 or 100 dollars off the prices of the phone is because of the AT&T upgrade advantage.
http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/why/upgrade-advantage.jsp
If the primary line on your account is over $100 then that line will be upgrade eligible every year.
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That makes a lot more sense. So I think that actually clears up everything. Stores don't sell them at different prices, you may just be eligible for an additional discount. But I will still call several places when it is out to try to pick it up for 150$
So since my phone line is $150 a month, but i just upgraded last month, I am able to get this phone for $350 or $500?
wait... I want to get this phone but no data plan... as an att customer already which pricing would fit me
madjsp said:
So since my phone line is $150 a month, but i just upgraded last month, I am able to get this phone for $350 or $500?
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Honestly, I don't think think you are eligible for any of the 50 or 100$ off. Now I still haven't quite found out why some stores are charging 350 or 500 so I would simply suggest calling around.
Danni3 said:
wait... I want to get this phone but no data plan... as an att customer already which pricing would fit me
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Well I don't think you can purchase the phone without a data plan. Maybe off contract, but if you want the 2 year agreement price, you HAVE to get a data plan. As for the 50 and 100$ off, you NEED a 2 year agreement and that means you NEED a data plan.
Panduh said:
Honestly, I don't think think you are eligible for any of the 50 or 100$ off. Now I still haven't quite found out why some stores are charging 350 or 500 so I would simply suggest calling around.
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every retail store I've called is selling for 500 dollars, or they do not have any pricing information yet.

Sell Phone That's under contract?

I have a phone on contract that I'll like to sell , and want to know if I can sell it to someone and use another phone in its place on my contract, with out any issues.
Bump!
Someone must know the answer.
Basically you can sell phones on contract as long as it does not have some SIM lock or something which unabling the one buying from using the phone.
I signed a contract a few years ago, but decided not to have the phone.
To reverse or changed the contract was not possible at that time, so...I sold the phone and use my old one instead...of course, I still was paying the normal price as in contract until end of the contract ended...
The system of the contract monthly price was... basic contract price + Phone price/24 months = total contract price monthly....for 24 months....
I continued paying the agreed price but got the phone price compensated by selling the phone
aaa said:
Basically you can sell phones on contract as long as it does not have some SIM lock or something which unabling the one buying from using the phone.
I signed a contract a few years ago, but decided not to have the phone.
To reverse or changed the contract was not possible at that time, so...I sold the phone and use my old one instead...of course, I still was paying the normal price as in contract until end of the contract ended...
The system of the contract monthly price was... basic contract price + Phone price/24 months = total contract price monthly....for 24 months....
I continued paying the agreed price but got the phone price compensated by selling the phone
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Thanks, I'm selling it to someone on the same carrier[TMO] , the phone is locked to T-Mobile still, so there should no problems?
I've done this as well. Basically, you keep the contract but you sell the phone. There's no problem with this at all as the phone is considered a "gift" for taking out the contract. As soon as the contract starts it's your property and you can do what you want with it.
johncmolyneux said:
I've done this as well. Basically, you keep the contract but you sell the phone. There's no problem with this at all as the phone is considered a "gift" for taking out the contract. As soon as the contract starts it's your property and you can do what you want with it.
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Thanks again, wasn't sure if it would be fine with the carrier if I did this. Last time I was on a contract was on sprint and didn't know if I could still trade phones. Can't wait till my next upgrade then! Gonna try and get the SGSII or Nexus P, and then sell that too.

Swap Phone?

So, I want the One lol. I signed a contract with AT&T last year for my XL, does this mean I would get a early termination fee if I bought a One and stuck my sim in it?
KungPow90 said:
So, I want the One lol. I signed a contract with AT&T last year for my XL, does this mean I would get a early termination fee if I bought a One and stuck my sim in it?
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Buy one unlocked
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Why would you want the one when HTC will release another phone in 5-8 months?Let's be smart here, 2 year contract right? 10 dollars is subtracted a month from Etf so 1 year is 120$ so around 200$ for etf and probably another 200 for the phone.400$ total plus tax.
cyanogendroid said:
Buy one unlocked
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
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Why would I need an unlocked one? It wouldn't work if I got one on craigslist or eBay that wasn't unlocked, for AT&T?
you would only pay an early term fee if you bought it from at&t. if you buy it anywhere else you won't.
if you buy one from craigslist or ebay you'll be fine.
exad said:
you would only pay an early term fee if you bought it from at&t. if you buy it anywhere else you won't.
if you buy one from craigslist or ebay you'll be fine.
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Awh yeah. That's what I'm talking about. Now to find a cheap One...
I think paying etf and the phone price would be cheaper, you would be looking at maybe 440$( if the price above remains true, usually good smartphones start from 199$ and mabye more for the expanded memory on the phone)(32,64,etc)depending on the release price of the HTC one.And usually eBay is sketchy. You should look on amazon, alot more safe.no contract prices online are usually hiked up and you would be looking to pay 500$+
As someone who worked for AT&T wireless, mainly tech support, for three years, here is how the breakdown works. First, the contract does NOT mean you cannot use another phone. The whole point of a contract is to allow you to buy a phone a very low price. For example, the HTC One X+ is aorund $400-500 retail. But when you sign a two-year contract, you agree to stay with AT&T for two years, and in return you get a phone at a discounted price. That is ALL the contract is for. If you dropped the $400-500, then you will not sign a contract. The ETF start at $325, and decreases $10 every month. Yes, even in the 23rd month, you will still have to pay $60 to get out of contract.
Now to answer your other question, if you put your sim card into a new phone, it will not do anything wrong to your account. Just like if you put it into an iPhone, it does nothing, but allow you to use certain network features. Can't remember if the One has LTE, but if it does, then data should still work. If not, call AT&T and get re-provisioned for the regular smartphone data plan. Just wanted to clear it up for anyone who wanted to know.
WhatTheAndroid? said:
I think paying etf and the phone price would be cheaper, you would be looking at maybe 440$( if the price above remains true, usually good smartphones start from 199$ and mabye more for the expanded memory on the phone)(32,64,etc)depending on the release price of the HTC one.And usually eBay is sketchy. You should look on amazon, alot more safe.no contract prices online are usually hiked up and you would be looking to pay 500$+
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Don't forget activation fees. When all is said and done (ETF, activation fee, subsidized price) it might just make more sense for the OP to just stay on contract, and buy from AT&T at the full retail (unsubsidized price), which they will do. Or like you said, Amazon is a good place to check to, as they often have some very competitive pricing.

cant decide

retail or contract
Verizon full retail $900 for the 128gb s6 edge
Verizon two-year contract $500 (after $50 mail-in rebate)
is the $400 difference worth the contract?
id be doing the payment plan if i do the $900 ($37.49 a month)
chances are ill prbly want the S7 next year.
FYI, please note the sticky posted in General:
DO NOT post questions In the General Section
Wrong section,
But it all depends on your current plan. Is it the same as the one you'll changing to? If so, get the 2 year contract.
Is the new plan significantly worse than your current plan for the price? Buy it outright.
Can't afford to buy the phone outright and you're planning to switch phones for the next generation?
Don't buy a new phone. You likely don't need it anyway.
asdfvtn said:
Wrong section,
But it all depends on your current plan. Is it the same as the one you'll changing to? If so, get the 2 year contract.
Is the new plan significantly worse than your current plan for the price? Buy it outright.
Can't afford to buy the phone outright and you're planning to switch phones for the next generation?
Don't buy a new phone. You likely don't need it anyway.
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once i sell my phone ill pay off the s6, but i wanna wait till after i get the s6 to sell itade of a neither one is worse than the other. im just confused on the point of a 2yr "discount" if its still $550.
ive arldy gone from an s5 to a note 4 and now to the S6 (prbly shouldnt be getting a sammy tho my s5 gave me slow internet and my note 4 is rly laggy) heres hoping sammy gives me a phone that works.

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