Guess it's been awhile since I've done this but what happened to discounted prices if you renewed your contract?

$700-800 for a phone? But hey you split it up over every month of your bill so it's affordable

Any other options that are better than purchasing from the carrier (ie eBay, craigslist, etc)?

Ag_07 said:

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Guess it's been awhile since I've done this but what happened to discounted prices if you renewed your contract?

$700-800 for a phone? But hey you split it up over every month of your bill so it's affordable

Any other options that are better than purchasing from the carrier (ie eBay, craigslist, etc)?

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I'm literally going through this crap right now. Wife's phone is crapping out. Even refurbished or gently used previous models are ridiculously expensive.

The AT&T Next program is garbage too. Make sure you read the fine print. You don't actually "own" the phone until 26 months of payments (when typically the std contract is 24 months).

I did the math last time I upgraded and it was actually a little cheaper on AT&T to do the payment plan in lieu of the two-year contract and discounted phone.

Do not buy through ATT or whoever.

But an unlocked phone off Amazon. Much cheaper.

Tree Hugger said:

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I did the math last time I upgraded and it was actually a little cheaper on AT&T to do the payment plan in lieu of the two-year contract and discounted phone.

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Yes because they make the plan more expensive if you don't do their Next program...

AliasMan02 said:

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You never really got a discounted phone, FYI.

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I know what you're getting at here but yeah, you did get a subsidized phone. You paid for it by being in a two year contract. They didn't make the plans cheaper after this new approach - they instead said add $10-$15 monthly if you DON'T do the payment plan next thing.

But no contracts! Weee. But you're held hostage by your phone payments.

ClickClack said:

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Tree Hugger said:

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I did the math last time I upgraded and it was actually a little cheaper on AT&T to do the payment plan in lieu of the two-year contract and discounted phone.

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Yes because they make the plan more expensive if you don't do their Next program...

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Yes, but once the contract is up, the plan cost goes back down. I believe you paid less overall that way, which is why carrier companies have stopped offering the subsidised phone cost with the contract.

I think.

If u can wait, I bet on Amazon prime day there will be some great deals on droid phones.

titanmaster_race said:

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ClickClack said:

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Tree Hugger said:

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I did the math last time I upgraded and it was actually a little cheaper on AT&T to do the payment plan in lieu of the two-year contract and discounted phone.

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Yes because they make the plan more expensive if you don't do their Next program...

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Yes, but once the contract is up, the plan cost goes back down. I believe you paid less overall that way, which is why carrier companies have stopped offering the subsidised phone cost with the contract.

I think.

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No, my point is they never added a cost before if you did the subsidized phone route. Now they do. If you pay the full amount over 24 months, they don't add the monthly fee. Point is, the monthly fee never existed until the Next program.

ClickClack said:

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titanmaster_race said:

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ClickClack said:

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Tree Hugger said:

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I did the math last time I upgraded and it was actually a little cheaper on AT&T to do the payment plan in lieu of the two-year contract and discounted phone.

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Yes because they make the plan more expensive if you don't do their Next program...

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Yes, but once the contract is up, the plan cost goes back down. I believe you paid less overall that way, which is why carrier companies have stopped offering the subsidised phone cost with the contract.

I think.

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No, my point is they never added a cost before if you did the subsidized phone route. Now they do. If you pay the full amount over 24 months, they don't add the monthly fee. Point is, the monthly fee never existed until the Next program.

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Yes it did. Maybe they called it something different. But it existed.

I got a 2 year contract on a subsidized Galaxy S6 wth Verizon in 2015. My monthly cost just went down by about $20 when the contract expired last month.

AliasMan02 said:

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Also, get a Pixel, switch from a major carrier to Project Fi, and enjoy life a little more.

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Been looking intO this for the past month and I'm about 99% sure I'm about to do this. Do you use it? How is it?

Agree.

At first glance this is very intriguing. Only concern would be coverage and call quality

Buy a Moto G5 Plus for $185 from Amazon.

Good enough for typical users. I know software developers who are big tech guys that use this phone.

titanmaster_race said:

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ClickClack said:

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titanmaster_race said:

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ClickClack said:

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Tree Hugger said:

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I did the math last time I upgraded and it was actually a little cheaper on AT&T to do the payment plan in lieu of the two-year contract and discounted phone.

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Yes because they make the plan more expensive if you don't do their Next program...

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Yes, but once the contract is up, the plan cost goes back down. I believe you paid less overall that way, which is why carrier companies have stopped offering the subsidised phone cost with the contract.

I think.

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No, my point is they never added a cost before if you did the subsidized phone route. Now they do. If you pay the full amount over 24 months, they don't add the monthly fee. Point is, the monthly fee never existed until the Next program.

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Yes it did. Maybe they called it something different. But it existed.

I got a 2 year contract on a subsidized Galaxy S6 wth Verizon in 2015. My monthly cost just went down by about $20 when the contract expired last month.

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Yes, because this whole program started over 2 years ago. It was implemented when you got your S6. I'm talking about 3+ years ago before this idea was implemented by all the carriers.

I wrote this up back in 2014.

I bought one of the Amazon Prime phone deals for my wife and I. Last year it was the Blu HD R1 got it for $50 a phone brand new (has amazon adds on the lock screen). I decided that as long as they continue to come out with new phones at the discounted rates then I could buy 1 a year and still come out ahead. There are other phone options now around $100 with the newest android on them.

https://www.amazon.com/Prime-Exclusive-Phones/b?ie=UTF8&node=14613304011

Ah, I thought you meant within the past year.

Carry on.

You were still paying for the phone on contract through higher service rates. With Next, the cost of the phone is separated from the cost of the service, so when the phone is paid for, you only pay for the service. On contract, you pay a higher rate and are entitled to buy a subsidized phone, but when your contract runs out you continue to pay the same high rate regardless of whether or not you get another subsidized phone. This is why Next has the potential to work out better for most people. If you are constantly upgrading your phone, you won't see much price difference, but if you hold on to your phone after it's paid for you'll see some savings.

ClickClack said:

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titanmaster_race said:

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ClickClack said:

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titanmaster_race said:

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ClickClack said:

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Tree Hugger said:

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I did the math last time I upgraded and it was actually a little cheaper on AT&T to do the payment plan in lieu of the two-year contract and discounted phone.

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Yes because they make the plan more expensive if you don't do their Next program...

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Yes, but once the contract is up, the plan cost goes back down. I believe you paid less overall that way, which is why carrier companies have stopped offering the subsidised phone cost with the contract.

I think.

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No, my point is they never added a cost before if you did the subsidized phone route. Now they do. If you pay the full amount over 24 months, they don't add the monthly fee. Point is, the monthly fee never existed until the Next program.

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Yes it did. Maybe they called it something different. But it existed.

I got a 2 year contract on a subsidized Galaxy S6 wth Verizon in 2015. My monthly cost just went down by about $20 when the contract expired last month.

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Yes, because this whole program started over 2 years ago. It was implemented when you got your S6. I'm talking about 3+ years ago before this idea was implemented by all the carriers.

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"Subsidized" phones carried a monthly charge of like $20 a month until the contract termination. My current Verizon phone had this and it stopped being charged about 6 months ago. I bought the phone (iPhone 6 plus) for like $300 if I signed a two year contract. Now the monthly fee is gone and you don't get the "subsidy".

I'll add that if you have the grandfathered unlimited data (I do), you will actually pay more with Next than on contract because AT$T didn't lower the service price for that plan, so now you will pay the old contract rate PLUS the cost of the phone.

If I remember correctly, they left the service plan pricing at the contract rate and offered "discounts" for switching to Next to everyone except unlimited data customers.

Both of my posts refer specifically to AT$T. I'm not familiar with the details of the other carriers.

AT&T's "unlimited" plan is a throttling nightmare.

Bayside Tiger Ag said:

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ClickClack said:

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titanmaster_race said:

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ClickClack said:

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titanmaster_race said:

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ClickClack said:

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Tree Hugger said:

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I did the math last time I upgraded and it was actually a little cheaper on AT&T to do the payment plan in lieu of the two-year contract and discounted phone.

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Yes because they make the plan more expensive if you don't do their Next program...

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Yes, but once the contract is up, the plan cost goes back down. I believe you paid less overall that way, which is why carrier companies have stopped offering the subsidised phone cost with the contract.

I think.

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No, my point is they never added a cost before if you did the subsidized phone route. Now they do. If you pay the full amount over 24 months, they don't add the monthly fee. Point is, the monthly fee never existed until the Next program.

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Yes it did. Maybe they called it something different. But it existed.

I got a 2 year contract on a subsidized Galaxy S6 wth Verizon in 2015. My monthly cost just went down by about $20 when the contract expired last month.

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Yes, because this whole program started over 2 years ago. It was implemented when you got your S6. I'm talking about 3+ years ago before this idea was implemented by all the carriers.

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"Subsidized" phones carried a monthly charge of like $20 a month until the contract termination. My current Verizon phone had this and it stopped being charged about 6 months ago. I bought the phone (iPhone 6 plus) for like $300 if I signed a two year contract. Now the monthly fee is gone and you don't get the "subsidy".

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I know. The point is a few years ago before this all started, you could get a subsidized phone without an added monthly charge (you just were locked in for two years, that was how they justified the subsidy). I've said this like 5 times in this thread. I'm not talking about now. I'm talking about now compared to 3 or so years ago when they first hatched this whole idea and implemented it.

And I know how much of a rip-off it is compared to what they used to offer because 3 years ago I walked into an AT&T to buy a new phone and they had just started this whole Next thing unbeknownst to me before I walked in. I walked out after trying to show the salesperson the math and how much of a ripoff it was on a piece of paper. He couldn't seem to follow. I think they baffled the low intelligence sales people with so much bullsh*t when training them on their new programs that they actually believe it's a better deal than what they used to offer.

Really it's all moot now because it's become common practice. But I member.

scoodogg said:

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Buy a Moto G5 Plus for $185 from Amazon.

Good enough for typical users. I know software developers who are big tech guys that use this phone.

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Moto pure user. Great phone. Sub $200 cost.

Verizon plans suck too.....pay a monthly mortgage for a phone.

Dan things are like crack.....they've got us where we can't live without one.

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Also, get a Pixel, switch from a major carrier to Project Fi, and enjoy life a little more.

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Isn't that a $700 phone also? Not sure that solves the OP's problem.

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Isn't that a $700 phone also?

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649 + tax

Crusaders41 said:

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Verizon plans suck too.....pay a monthly mortgage for a phone.

Dan things are like crack.....they've got us where we can't live without one.

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Well yeah they've all done it, that's the point. They all have the exact same basic setup.

They still sell flip phones. And theyre cheap

Gota De Limon said:

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AliasMan02 said:

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Also, get a Pixel, switch from a major carrier to Project Fi, and enjoy life a little more.

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Been looking intO this for the past month and I'm about 99% sure I'm about to do this. Do you use it? How is it?

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I did this for about a year. Had great service and call quality. Only reason I stopped was new job is paying for my phone/data so had to leave ProjectFi.