Do you purchase your phone outright or do the payment plan?

Cell Phone

  • I buy my phone outright.

    Votes: 68 67.3%

  • I have to do a payment play/subscription.

    Votes: 30 29.7%

  • I don't have a phone.

    Votes: 2 2.0%

  • I like the Three Stooges!

    Votes: 12 11.9%
  • Total voters
    101
IceDigger

IceDigger

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Feb 22, 2001
Messages
12,092
When it comes time for a new phone do you purchase your phone outright or do the payment plan/subscription?
 
With a plan it is just outright stupid over here to buy a phone...
A normal plan with phone included on a 2 year period is around 500€ more expensive than normal plan + phone bought seperate.
If you cannot pay for a new phone now, then don't buy it...
 
I pay the subsidized amount for renewing the two year contract. Typically around $99 when I'm ready to upgrade.
 
buy out right, use cricket pay 55 a month for unlimited call and text and 5gb of data. saved me money in the long run
 
I pay $60 for Verizon unlimited data so I don't plan on leaving and prefer subsidized phone which isn't always possible but the last phone, Note 3, was subsidized.
 
I pay outright on TMo (Nexus 5), subsidize on Sprint, and like the Three Stooges.
 
Bought my recent phone outright.
Went to the AT&T shared plan, no contract.
~$40/mo less than contract. Save $480. Bought my phone used from swappa.com for around $500.
Saved money compared to renewing my AT&T plan + paying $200 for the subsidized S5.
 
I'm still clinging to unlimited data on Verizon, where it benefits you none to buy your phones outright since they charge you the same monthly rate either way. So I get a new phone every year or so by transferring upgrades to our 3rd line so I can keep unlimited data on my line and get a new phone at a subsidized price. Just got a One M8 for $100 a few months ago and think this phone will last me at least a year.

Having said that, there's not really an option on the poll that applies to me. Buying a new phone on Verizon isn't a "payment plan/subscription" unless you're on their Edge plan, which I'm not.
 
I switched carriers to T-Mobile's JUMP program, so buying outright really didn't benefit me. I might buy my next phone, though. I prefer to avoid cell contracts whenever possible.
 
On the ATTs new family plan thing with NEXT. I don't plan on using NEXT so my next phone will be bought outright.
 
I usually just buy my phones through the plan when I get an upgrade so it's only 200-300, however, I broke my phone and voided any warranty by trying to fix it myself. So I bought my Note 3 through the payment plan on Verizon. My bill shot up from $92 a month to $165. It'll be paid off in 2 months, which I can then upgrade to the Note 4 for the $299.

I don't think I'll do the payment plan thing again unless I do something stupid (again).
 
I paid outright for my Nexus 5 (and my wife's), and switched to Ting.

I went from paying Verizon $220 for 2 lines and unlimited data & texting & 1500 minutes per month to paying Ting $42 where I pay for what I use (and stay on WiFi whenever possible) on 2 lines.

Considering the phones we were looking at (M8 on or off contract through AT&T), I've already more than made up the difference I paid for buying the Nexii outright in just the 4 months or so I've had Ting. At this point, the difference in price is basically offsetting the increase in price I pay for rent after moving.
 
I bought my phone outright but I barely use it as a phone and more as mobile general purpose computing device (not sure what you want to call this, PDA but with a larger entertainment component?) with access to wifi and as a camera. My actual phone bill is roughly $25 per year. If I wanted unlimited minutes and "unlimited" data (unlimited with limitations) it'd be $30-$35 monthly (although with a lower quality provider).

By comparison if I wanted a subsidized high end phone I'd have had to pay $65 a month for a 3 year contract with unlimited minutes/texts but only 500mb data (or was it less) and over $100 for the phone at the time I last bought. Although contract lengths are down to 2 years now, although just checking now the minimum plans are now $80+ a month (lol...)?

This is in Canada.
 
My Lumia 920 was a contract phone (unlocked though) but I paid it outright. It was quite a bit cheaper that way than without contract and I would have stayed with the operator anyway. I did the same thing with Galaxy S. It usually doesn't make sense to buy contract phone here in Finland but sometimes there can be really nice deals. I saved about 100 € in both cases.
 
Tup3x said:
My Lumia 920 was a contract phone (unlocked though) but I paid it outright. It was quite a bit cheaper that way than without contract and I would have stayed with the operator anyway. I did the same thing with Galaxy S. It usually doesn't make sense to buy contract phone here in Finland but sometimes there can be really nice deals. I saved about 100 € in both cases.
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I always find it interesting how differently rate structures work in North America versus... well, most of the world. It's only lately that US and Canadian carriers have been trying to shy people away from contracts after years of doing everything they can to force people into agreements. Even then, it's still typically cheaper to go for a contract if you don't replace your phone often.

In Europe, at least, it would almost be silly to go on contract; you frequently get a discount just by subscribing to a given plan. It's part of why Apple doesn't do as well abroad as it does in North America. While the on-contract pricing is equal to everyone else's, the full price has historically been steep compared to some (not all) high-end phones from rivals.
 
I'm on Straight Talk, so I don't really have the choice. I just buy the things.

Next time, though, I'll probably get a more budget-minded phone. Feels as though there's not a whole lot more value to be had from high-end phones these days.
 
I'd been doing the AT&T 2 year thing for a while now. My contract has been up for a while and they've been on my case to "get a new phone!" and resign but.....

Just snagged a OnePlus and plugged my SIM into it. Figuring to keep it for some time if I can ever get used to how different Android is from iOS.
 
When Nokia Lumia 1020 came out, the price was the same on both Amazon and AT&T except only that AT&T included a 2-year contract. No savings buying phone.
 
I am with sprint and subsidize the phone since it is more expensive to buy the phone outright since it doesn't affect my monthly payment.
I pay $58/month for unlimited and have an iPhone 5S.
 
T4rd said:
I'm still clinging to unlimited data on Verizon, where it benefits you none to buy your phones outright since they charge you the same monthly rate either way. So I get a new phone every year or so by transferring upgrades to our 3rd line so I can keep unlimited data on my line and get a new phone at a subsidized price. Just got a One M8 for $100 a few months ago and think this phone will last me at least a year.

Having said that, there's not really an option on the poll that applies to me. Buying a new phone on Verizon isn't a "payment plan/subscription" unless you're on their Edge plan, which I'm not.
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That loophole is soon to be closed. my brother was doing that as well to keep his unlimited on the primary line.
 
Zepher said:
That loophole is soon to be closed. my brother was doing that as well to keep his unlimited on the primary line.
Click to expand...

No, it's only closed if you were using a non-smart phone (feature) phone line that you were transferring the upgrade to, which you can still do, you just have to pay for the extra smart phone plan for the length of the contract on the line you transferred the upgrade too. You can no longer downgrade the smart phone plan to a feature phone plan after you get the new phone.

What I'm doing is transferring the upgrade to our 3rd line that is already on a 2GB smart phone plan and plan on keeping that line on one for the foreseeable future. So that loophole still exists and I will continue to exploit it until Verizon closes it. :D
 
T4rd said:
No, it's only closed if you were using a non-smart phone (feature) phone line that you were transferring the upgrade to, which you can still do, you just have to pay for the extra smart phone plan for the length of the contract on the line you transferred the upgrade too. You can no longer downgrade the smart phone plan to a feature phone plan after you get the new phone.

What I'm doing is transferring the upgrade to our 3rd line that is already on a 2GB smart phone plan and plan on keeping that line on one for the foreseeable future. So that loophole still exists and I will continue to exploit it until Verizon closes it. :D
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Ya, he was keeping the extra line with no data on a dumb phone.
 
i bujy them out right now but we use Net10 for service and we also buy used phones, although they are new models anymore. Just got the wife a used S5 which looks brand new and it was like 400 bucks.
 
Cheaper for me to get subsidized phones from Sprint while keeping my $50 month unlimited everything plan. I use multiple GB of cell data a months and almost alway over 10 hours of talk time.
 
I have purchased my 3 out of my last 4 phones outright, one wasn't even really a "plan", it was on winds promotion, it's sort of like a plan,

$40/month with or without the phone, only difference is , I have a "tab" that needs to be paid off if I leave before 3 years, If it's after three years the tab is gone, and every month, 10% of my $40 goes towards the tab as well, without increasing the price of my service (unlimited talk/text/data(5gb and throttled after that to a lower speed)).

the other 3 I bought outright. Samsung Focus, Nexus 4, and Galaxy S4
 
I don't do either.

I use the carrier upgrade discount which cuts $450 off the price of the phones I buy taking them from $650 down to $200.
 
Always outright. Made a mistake getting on a contract about 10 years ago, and it's one I won't make again. Prepaid ftw.
 
SirMaster said:
I don't do either.

I use the carrier upgrade discount which cuts $450 off the price of the phones I buy taking them from $650 down to $200.
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You don't get a discount....why does no one understand subsidized pricing?

What do you think you are in a contract for? What does the ETF pay for?
 
Domini said:
You don't get a discount....why does no one understand subsidized pricing?

What do you think you are in a contract for? What does the ETF pay for?
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Well it makes sense to me. It's just about getting what I want for the least cost.

I pay $200 for the phone and then $50/mo for my plan, so my total cost for phone+service for 2 years is $1400. My plan consists of unlimited LTE data and more minutes than I could possibly use.

The only requirement is that I must have the plan for 2 years. But this is completely fine. I have had the plan for more than 6 years now and have no reason to stop it.


The other option is that I buy the phone outright for $650 and then pay for some service month-to-month.

So that's $450 more for the phone which works out to $18.75/mo if you divide that savings into 24 months.

So take my current $50/mo plan and subtract $18.75 and you get $31.25/mo.

So in order to pay less than I do now (in total at the end of 2 years) I would have to have a service that I can get unlimited LTE data and plenty of minutes for less than $31.25/mo, and one that has equal speeds and coverage as I do now. Do you know of a plan like that? I do not.

Contracts and ETF have 0 effect on me. Why would I care if I have a 2 year contract or pay month-to-month if I'm keeping my service indefinitely? And why do I care about ETF again if I am not going to cancel it because I want and like my service.
 
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Like most here have said I too have unlimited Verizon data so I use the upgrade on other lines.
 
Outright to keep unlimited data...no 2GB lines to snag upgrades from. Oh well. Usually I just buy used phones off ebay that are 6 months old. Currently the LG G2 is weapon of choice.
 
Buy my phones outright after my family had a bad experience with an AT&T contract some years back. Been working out fairly well so far, but due to the cost I usually buy the best midrange I can afford (Nokia Lumia 521, Nokia Lumia 925, Moto G, etc.), flagships are off my radar unfortunately.
 
Outright most of the time since I buy multiple phones a year. Sometimes I get upgrade pricing whenever they give me that.
 
Get HTC One M8 with 2 year contract, $99 for phone. Immediately cancel. Early termination fee is:
> If your contract term results from your purchase of an advanced device, your early termination fee will be $350 minus $10 for each full month of your contract term that you complete.
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/support/customer-agreement

$350. So for $99 + $350 + first month of service + tax you got a HTC One M8. You can basically sell it on Ebay for that and break even.

That is pretty much worst case?

Unless you're trying to hold onto unlimited data or something it starts to be hard to justify not getting a contract phone. You're basically paying for it no matter what. Might as well take it.
 
SirMaster said:
Well it makes sense to me. It's just about getting what I want for the least cost.

I pay $200 for the phone and then $50/mo for my plan, so my total cost for phone+service for 2 years is $1400. My plan consists of unlimited LTE data and more minutes than I could possibly use.

The only requirement is that I must have the plan for 2 years. But this is completely fine. I have had the plan for more than 6 years now and have no reason to stop it.


The other option is that I buy the phone outright for $650 and then pay for some service month-to-month.

So that's $450 more for the phone which works out to $18.75/mo if you divide that savings into 24 months.

So take my current $50/mo plan and subtract $18.75 and you get $31.25/mo.

So in order to pay less than I do now (in total at the end of 2 years) I would have to have a service that I can get unlimited LTE data and plenty of minutes for less than $31.25/mo, and one that has equal speeds and coverage as I do now. Do you know of a plan like that? I do not.

Contracts and ETF have 0 effect on me. Why would I care if I have a 2 year contract or pay month-to-month if I'm keeping my service indefinitely? And why do I care about ETF again if I am not going to cancel it because I want and like my service.
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I'm in the exact same situation, at best I can switch to tmobile with my plan and lower the bill by $20 a month, except we are on a family plan and we all get subsidized phones for 4 lines, you won't get that on tmobile. No incentive for me to change to any carrier when verizon beats them all on price when you factor in the phone discounts. They are also the only one to get service at my house.
Domini said:
You don't get a discount....why does no one understand subsidized pricing?

What do you think you are in a contract for? What does the ETF pay for?
Click to expand...
Seems you don't get subsidized pricing, unlike the above poster.
 
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