Considering the new plans AT&T and Verizon - will you consider buying a non branded phone?

IRJ

Now.. all of this said... On this and more expensive phones... the old plans might have been better dollar-wise.

on my old plan
700 mins talk time + rollover mins 6 gig total data = $160/month with a 2 year contract with $200 per phone at purchase time

Over the 2 year life of the contract I would pay $160/month * 24 + $400 = $4240 plus taxes

On a NEXT plan
20 month plan = $195/month * 20 = $3900
To push this out to 24 months we add $130/month *6 = $780
Giving us a grand total of $4680

This means that moving to the new style plan actually cost me $460 over 2 years... for that money I do get unlimited talk mins (I never used my 700) and 4 extra gigs of Data and included tethering. To make the old plan be 10 Gig total and include tethering would have cost $20/month or $480 over two years.

In the end assuming I wanted 10 gigs data and tethering - I end up saving $20 over two years with a NEXT plan.

The problem is that you have ZERO equity into the device. Which is a huge win for the cell providers. When you got a new phone in the past, you basically got it for free. You pay $199 or whatever you had to up front, and you had the choice of paying the ETF or staying on a two year contract. Either way the consumer, basically got the phone free. IF you sold the phone on day one, you could easily get near $600 for it. Which would pay your $199 plus $350 ETF. If you decided to keep the phone for two years and kept in good shape, you could always resell for $150-250 on eBay.

IRJ

Now you have to pay the full price for the phone for a LOCKED phone and they give you a small break on their services. Since the little guys decided to drop their price recently, the mobile giants had no choice but to lower theirs. It is a very sneaky way that they did it. Since they no longer give you a break on the device, they make more money. Oh and guess what, If you decide to leave, you owe the entire price of the device not a pro-rated ETF. Since the device is depreciating much faster than the $20 monthly payment, you are stuck with the carrier. They tell you no problem, we will get you another device and you start the whole process of being in the hole again.

Dashrender

Believe me, you did not get the phone free.

My old plan, pay $200 And then 175 a month the plan. The new plan is down to $130 a month, then it I'm on NEXT or the standard pay $200 then the monthly goes up between $25 and $35 a month per phone...

Now you can see exactly what you are paying for a phone.. And you can save money by not upgrading.

Dashrender

In examples above show how little change in Price there actually is.

IRJ

@Dashrender said:

In examples above show how little change in Price there actually is.

Dashrender,

I promise I am trying to be helpful. I went through this with my gf and had to show her why it wasnt a good deal.

Its a big price difference for the carrier and for the user. They lower your monthly payment to try to scam their way into looking cheaper. You actually did the math so you know it isnt cheaper. $460 is alot of money to me. Hell, even $60 is alot to me. Sure they give you a little more data, but do you actually need it? You are just using it to justify the price hike, but if you dont use every single kb of extra data you arent getting your money's worth.

Here is why ATT is the winner:

They make more money total ($460 in your case which is HUGE) with less risk. You are likely to continue to use the same amount of data or at least most users at whole will do the same.
They now make money on devices not lose it. Sure they dont pay $700 outright for their phones. They probably get them for around $500 and now they are financing them for $700. As I mentioned before, you actually had some equity in the device and it almost retained its value throughout 2 years.
Users are more likely to stick with the same carrier now. Before, you were looking at switching every 2 years. Now you can upgrade at will as long as you are willing to re-establish debt with the carrier.

david.wiese

all i know is that i stayed with the 2 year contract plan on verizon and here is why.

Cheaper, we each have 2 gigs of data (all that we need) and only pay $60 per month
We both went with a customized Moto X and payed just $0.01 for the phone.

If we went with the Verizon Edge plan, the phones would have cost $16.66 / month x 24 months is $399.84 per phone x $130 per month in voice/data with 4 gigs = $3919.68
If we went with the Verizion More everything plan it costs $.01 per phone upfront x $150 per month in voice/data with 4 gigs = $3600

So not only did i save up front on the cost of the phone i am saving $319.68 over the two years.

You get ripped off when using the next/edge plans and you are still under a contract no matter which way you go unless you purchase the device outright.

edit:
If we went with the Verizon Edge plan, the phones would have cost $16.66 / month x 24 months is $399.84 per phone x $130 per month in voice/data with 10 gigs = $3919.68
If we went with the Verizion More everything plan it costs $.01 per phone upfront x $180 per month in voice/data with 10 gigs = $4320

So in this case with 10 gigs of data it is cheaper to go the Edge route where you will save $400.32 over 24 months. With higher data usage the price goes down for Edge and up for More Everything.

Dashrender

If you don't want the extra Data (I do). When you're right, but you can also not upgrade right at 2 years and you'll quickly get yourself ahead.

scottalanmiller

@david.wiese said:

all i know is that i stayed with the 2 year contract plan on verizon and here is why.

Cheaper, we each have 2 gigs of data (all that we need) and only pay $60 per month

We both went with a customized Moto X and payed just $0.01 for the phone.

If we went with the Verizon Edge plan, the phones would have cost $16.66 / month x 24 months is $399.84 per phone x $130 per month in voice/data with 4 gigs = $3919.68
If we went with the Verizion More everything plan it costs $.01 per phone upfront x $150 per month in voice/data with 4 gigs = $3600

So not only did i save up front on the cost of the phone i am saving $319.68 over the two years.

You get ripped off when using the next/edge plans and you are still under a contract no matter which way you go unless you purchase the device outright.

edit:
If we went with the Verizon Edge plan, the phones would have cost $16.66 / month x 24 months is $399.84 per phone x $130 per month in voice/data with 10 gigs = $3919.68
If we went with the Verizion More everything plan it costs $.01 per phone upfront x $180 per month in voice/data with 10 gigs = $4320

So in this case with 10 gigs of data it is cheaper to go the Edge route where you will save $400.32 over 24 months. With higher data usage the price goes down for Edge and up for More Everything.

I moved off of verizon after keeping the same account for 21 years. Saved a fortune leaving. They really burned me a lot to get me to leave. Very glad that I did.