Phones For you Phone Addicts that Hop phones...

[Irishman]

...what do you do? How does one go about deciding a couple months into a 2 year contract that you're just not getting your taint tickled by the new phone anymore, and you just jump ship? What is the process? I am one of those who keeps a phone til it stops working, so I don't understand the mentality of the chronic upgrader.

How does one upgrade your phone while keeping within the terms of your contract?

Or are you just buying them free and clear and paying the unsubsidized price?

Or are you just buying them off Craigslist and paying month to month to a carrier?

 

[dingster1]

I pick mine up from Gazelle's ebay store.

 

[mattopotamus]

...what do you do? How does one go about deciding a couple months into a 2 year contract that you're just not getting your taint tickled by the new phone anymore, and you just jump ship? What is the process? I am one of those who keeps a phone til it stops working, so I don't understand the mentality of the chronic upgrader.

How does one upgrade your phone while keeping within the terms of your contract?

Or are you just buying them free and clear and paying the unsubsidized price?

Or are you just buying them off Craigslist and paying month to month to a carrier?

Well with US carriers you are only obligated to keep service for two years, not the same phone. I usually upgrade iphones when I am eligible ($199), keep them a few months, and then sell them for at least double what I paid. Otherwise, I just outright buy phones. For example, I had an iphone 5 that I sold for $550 which paid for a note 2 minus the taxes. I sold the note 2 for $450 which paid for a nexus 4 and left me extra money.

I have service with att, so I pay the same amount whether I am on or off contract, so it only makes sense to upgrade when eligible and profit from the sale. The way t-mobile is going to offer a cheaper plan if you out right buy your phones makes them pretty appealing, but I get a 25% discount with att so it would be a wash.

 

[KentuckyHouse]

If you're in the US with AT&T, it's easy to switch out phones since they use SIM cards. I just pop my SIM from one phone to the other (I've got a nano sim but if I want to use my S3 or Note 2 I just use an adapter).

As far as buying them, I get them off-contract from reputable sites like Swappa or CTO. Yes, you're paying a lot more than an upgrade price, but if you're like me and turn around and sell one of the other phones you have, you'll most likely cover the cost of the new phone.

As I said in another thread, it's expensive to get into this game, but once you're in, you can play for little to no money out of pocket.

And mattopotamus is doing it right. Since the iPhone holds it's value so well, you can use an upgrade to get it on the cheap, maybe use it for a while, then sell it for at least double what you paid for it. In AT&T's case at least, they don't care what phone you're using...only that they've got you under contract. As long as you're paying them every month, you can use as many phones as you like.

 

[Fernandez21]

I have 10 Iines, and 2 are mine while 5 of those lines only forward calls. So it doesn't matter what phone is on those lines, but the monthly price is the same whether on contract or not, so i use those 7 upgrades whenever i get bored.

 

[mattopotamus]

Also, I always sell on craigslist, but never buy. IMO, there are too many things that could be wrong with a phone to tell in a few short minutes. Always keep your original packaging and accessories.

 

[emeraldringer]

I'm on T-Mobile, prepaid with no contract, so changing phones isn't a big deal. I bought my current phone (Nexus 4) straight from Google.

 

[Prototypical]

I have 10 Iines, and 2 are mine while 5 of those lines only forward calls. So it doesn't matter what phone is on those lines, but the monthly price is the same whether on contract or not, so i use those 7 upgrades whenever i get bored.

How much money do you waste per month, just for the convenience of a subsidized phone?

 

[ugahairydawgs]

How much money do you waste per month, just for the convenience of a subsidized phone?

Fairly easy to back into the math. $10 per line on average and another $25-$30 on each line with a data plan. Plus taxes and fees.

 

[Fernandez21]

How much money do you waste per month, just for the convenience of a subsidized phone?

? I need all of those lines and would be spending the same amount per month anyway, the subsidies are a perk in my eyes. (3 are advertised business lines, 1 is an advertised fax line, and 1 is my parents home phone ) Used to spend $30 a month on each line as they were all landlines, now only spend $10 a month on each line and get 5 extra subsidies. Plus I generally sell my old phone and make an extra $100-$300 in the process.

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Fairly easy to back into the math. $10 per line on average and another $25-$30 on each line with a data plan. Plus taxes and fees.

Actually, at&t doesn't require you to keep the data plan as long as you don't use a smartphone on that line. So you can use the subsidy to get a smartphone, but then put the sim in a dumb phone and remove the data plan.

 

[jamojamo]

? I need all of those lines and would be spending the same amount per month anyway, the subsidies are a perk in my eyes. (3 are advertised business lines, 1 is an advertised fax line, and 1 is my parents home phone ) Used to spend $30 a month on each line as they were all landlines, now only spend $10 a month on each line and get 5 extra subsidies. Plus I generally sell my old phone and make an extra $100-$300 in the process.

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Actually, at&t doesn't require you to keep the data plan as long as you don't use a smartphone on that line. So you can use the subsidy to get a smartphone, but then put the sim in a dumb phone and remove the data plan.

Wow am I glad you posted this. Do they really not require you to keep a data plan on one of the lines if you aren't going to use it for data? My wife works from home and we are paying $34 a month for land line and I have an open line on our Family Talk plan. Would you see that as a way for me to get a HTC One or S4 and then just use a SIM adapter for my iPhone5's sim into one of those and just slip the SIM from the "new" phone into a dumb phone for her to use for work?

I can't believe they don't want people to keep the data for that extra line.

 

[fr4c]

Wow am I glad you posted this. Do they really not require you to keep a data plan on one of the lines if you aren't going to use it for data? My wife works from home and we are paying $34 a month for land line and I have an open line on our Family Talk plan. Would you see that as a way for me to get a HTC One or S4 and then just use a SIM adapter for my iPhone5's sim into one of those and just slip the SIM from the "new" phone into a dumb phone for her to use for work?

I can't believe they don't want people to keep the data for that extra line.

Correct, just swap a dumb phone (non data) into that line and remove the data plan. The providers don't care as long as you fulfill your 2 year contract.

I do this with my extra line on Verizon as well, since I'm paying for the lines anyways.

 

[92jlee]

I have 10 Iines, and 2 are mine while 5 of those lines only forward calls. So it doesn't matter what phone is on those lines, but the monthly price is the same whether on contract or not, so i use those 7 upgrades whenever i get bored.

What is your monthly bill on 10 lines?!

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? I need all of those lines and would be spending the same amount per month anyway, the subsidies are a perk in my eyes. (3 are advertised business lines, 1 is an advertised fax line, and 1 is my parents home phone ) Used to spend $30 a month on each line as they were all landlines, now only spend $10 a month on each line and get 5 extra subsidies. Plus I generally sell my old phone and make an extra $100-$300 in the process.

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Actually, at&t doesn't require you to keep the data plan as long as you don't use a smartphone on that line. So you can use the subsidy to get a smartphone, but then put the sim in a dumb phone and remove the data plan.

I should have scrolled down! Sorry

 

[maflynn]

I don't change phone too often but if I do mid contract, selling my phone on craigslist usually provides enough funds to offset the full price of the new phone.

 

[MRU]

..what do you do? How does one go about deciding a couple months into a 2 year contract that you're just not getting your taint tickled by the new phone anymore, and you just jump ship? What is the process? I am one of those who keeps a phone til it stops working, so I don't understand the mentality of the chronic upgrader.

Sometimes it's just the allure of trying something new, and appreciating technology regardless of whether it's android, blackberry, ios, windows mobile based.

The process ? Well that's just you deciding 'hey I want this or want to try this". and doing it.

Is there any real difference from those that upgrade twice a year to those that upgrade their iPads or phones every year or two.

In fact upgrading sooner if you can do so means you often capitalise on the second hand value of your handset far more than if you let it go 24 months.

How does one upgrade your phone while keeping within the terms of your contract?

If your lucky and spend time on the carriers forums helping people and proffering solutions to problems - they often reward your loyalty with early upgrades - so for a bit of work you can get out of your 24 month contract

Or are you just buying them free and clear and paying the unsubsidized price?

Sometimes, sometimes not. As my example above I use that early upgrade loyalty to get the newest iPhone each year. If I want another android handset I usually buy sim free and sell an older phone (which will be at most 6-10 months old) to cover most of the cost of the new one. My HTC One cost me @€150 after selling my 64GB 4S

Or are you just buying them off Craigslist and paying month to month to a carrier?
Don't have craigslist here, but we do have similar service called adverts.ie and yes I've used that in the past for trading phones and selling them

 

[0dev]

what do you do?

When I had the spare cash lying around (which I don't now until I get another job) I had one main phone which I kept for at least a year and one secondary phone which I changed every few months or so.

How does one go about deciding a couple months into a 2 year contract that you're just not getting your taint tickled by the new phone anymore, and you just jump ship?

I never sign any contract longer than a month for mobile service, and like I said I keep one main phone for at least a year so I don't have to worry about jumping my data and contacts and stuff around too often.

What is the process? I am one of those who keeps a phone til it stops working, so I don't understand the mentality of the chronic upgrader.

I see a phone that interests me and pick up a cheap one from eBay or CeX usually. I like trying various platforms too and I know I'm not taking much of a risk using an underdog phone if it's not my main one and I know I can sell it on again pretty easily.

How does one upgrade your phone while keeping within the terms of your contract?

I use either a SIM only 30 day rolling contract or good old pay as you go on all my phones so that's not an issue.

Or are you just buying them free and clear and paying the unsubsidized price?

For my main phone which I keep for ages I will buy it brand new and unlocked with no subsidy, yes. Subsidised phones are a rip-off in the long term anyway. And for the secondary phone...

Or are you just buying them off Craigslist and paying month to month to a carrier?

...I basically do this.

 

[cynics]

think of it this way, lot of guys are just selling their upgrades at minimal/no cost to them.

If you are eligible for an upgrade and want a nexus 4 its better to get an iPhone 5 then sell it and buy a nexus 4.

Pretty easy really.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Also, I always sell on craigslist, but never buy. IMO, there are too many things that could be wrong with a phone to tell in a few short minutes. Always keep your original packaging and accessories.

I've had nothing but good luck buying and trading phones from Craigslist. That's not my usually route of buying a phone though, as it can be hard to find a mint or new phone that's not close to or above retail. I'm not buying nothing second hand unless I get a good enough deal.

 

[johnjefferson]

In the past year i have gone from a Galaxy S3 to an iphone 5 to an HTC DNA to a Note 2 back to an iphone 5. I just take the current one I have, sell it on Craigslist and buy the new one at full retail. So for instance, when the Galaxy S4 comes out, I will probably sell this iPhone 5 for around $500 then put that towards the S4. I'll only end up paying around $200 out of pocket for the S4, same as a new contract or upgrade price.

 

[theuserjohnny]

My parents don't use smartphones they're content with their basic phones based on what I'm reading do you think it's possible for us to pocket money if they use an upgrade on say an iPhone and then just sell it on eBay? They're on Verizon if it matters.

 

[0dev]

My parents don't use smartphones they're content with their basic phones based on what I'm reading do you think it's possible for us to pocket money if they use an upgrade on say an iPhone and then just sell it on eBay? They're on Verizon if it matters.

Doesn't Verizon lock the phones to your account since they use CDMA? If so then no. If not, and if the buyer can just register the phone themselves, then yes, there's no reason why you can't do that.

 

[johnjefferson]

Doesn't Verizon lock the phones to your account since they use CDMA?

Nope. Why would it matter that its a CDMA phone? Besides, Verizon's LTE phones use SIM cards.

 

[theuserjohnny]

Nope. Why would it matter that its a CDMA phone? Besides, Verizon's LTE phones use SIM cards.

Yeah my Galaxy S3 used a SIM for Verizon's LTE sadly the phone broke. I bought the Google Nexus 4 with the plan of going to one of those prepaid plans (Straight-Talk, etc). But Prior to going this route I saw listings of both Verizon iPhone 5s and Google GS3s for 300 plus.

Right now a Samsung GS3 is roughly at least 300+ and right now if you renew with Verizon for 2 years you can have one for 100. So assuming I can sell it I would make money right?

 

[fr4c]

My parents don't use smartphones they're content with their basic phones based on what I'm reading do you think it's possible for us to pocket money if they use an upgrade on say an iPhone and then just sell it on eBay? They're on Verizon if it matters.

Upgrade your parents line to a smartphone, which will in turn add the data plan to their respective lines. Then when you get home, log on to Verizon account management and switch the dumbphones back on to the line, which will then remove the data plan you just added in store. This will then free up the ESN of the new smartphone you just purchased, enabling you to sell it and allow the next user to add it to their account. You can probably have a rep do this for you in store, but I rather just do it myself when I get home because it is so easy to do and saves myself the trouble of explaining it to the rep thats selling you the phone.

This is why for Verizon & Sprint, people will list whether the ESN to good, or not.

 

[theuserjohnny]

Upgrade your parents line to a smartphone, which will in turn add the data plan to their respective lines. Then when you get home, log on to Verizon account management and switch the dumbphones back on to the line, which will then remove the data plan you just added in store. This will then free up the ESN of the new smartphone you just purchased, enabling you to sell it and allow the next user to add it to their account. You can probably have a rep do this for you in store, but I rather just do it myself when I get home because it is so easy to do and saves myself the trouble of explaining it to the rep thats selling you the phone.

This is why for Verizon & Sprint, people will list whether the ESN to good, or not.

Yeah I've always wondered why that's listed. Thanks so much you seem to always be a help in anything I post!

Yeah when my GS3 broke we just reactivated my old basic phone and they took of the data plan.

Is it easy to do your self to reassign the dumbphone after upgrading to the smartphone?