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Worth it to buy a 4g and then sell it...?

L

L1n3arA

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 16, 2010
3
0
So I am just curious, how much would AT&T most likely charge to get out of the 2 yr contract that goes along with the 4g? The "standard" $200 only? I might be thinking of starting a new contract, pre-ordering a 4g 16gb and then selling it on ebay for just over $800, which seems to be the average at the moment.

$200 for the phone
$200 to cancel contract
$100 overnight shipping and ebay fees,

leaves about $300 in my pocket, more or less for doing absolutely nothing. I could definitely use the cash. Someone let me know if I'm flawed in my reasoning here, cheers! :)
 
L1n3arA said:
So I am just curious, how much would AT&T most likely charge to get out of the 2 yr contract that goes along with the 4g? The "standard" $200 only? I might be thinking of starting a new contract, pre-ordering a 4g 16gb and then selling it on ebay for just over $800, which seems to be the average at the moment.

$200 for the phone
$200 to cancel contract
$100 overnight shipping and ebay fees,

leaves about $300 in my pocket, more or less for doing absolutely nothing. I could definitely use the cash. Someone let me know if I'm flawed in my reasoning here, cheers! :)
Click to expand...
ETF with ATT is now $350 for a new contract.
 
L1n3arA said:
So I am just curious, how much would AT&T most likely charge to get out of the 2 yr contract that goes along with the 4g? The "standard" $200 only? I might be thinking of starting a new contract, pre-ordering a 4g 16gb and then selling it on ebay for just over $800, which seems to be the average at the moment.

$200 for the phone
$200 to cancel contract
$100 overnight shipping and ebay fees,

leaves about $300 in my pocket, more or less for doing absolutely nothing. I could definitely use the cash. Someone let me know if I'm flawed in my reasoning here, cheers! :)
Click to expand...

At&t raised their ETF to $325. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9177110/AT_T_raises_early_termination_fee_on_smartphones

pretty sad you have to take advantage of people to make a buck though...
 
L1n3arA said:
So I am just curious, how much would AT&T most likely charge to get out of the 2 yr contract that goes along with the 4g? The "standard" $200 only? I might be thinking of starting a new contract, pre-ordering a 4g 16gb and then selling it on ebay for just over $800, which seems to be the average at the moment.

$200 for the phone
$200 to cancel contract
$100 overnight shipping and ebay fees,

leaves about $300 in my pocket, more or less for doing absolutely nothing. I could definitely use the cash. Someone let me know if I'm flawed in my reasoning here, cheers! :)
Click to expand...


you know ebay has turned into a scamming buyers wet dream. They could buy it for 800 then send you a shoe back and you would have to give them the money back?

scambay sucks
 
L1n3arA said:
So I am just curious, how much would AT&T most likely charge to get out of the 2 yr contract that goes along with the 4g? The "standard" $200 only? I might be thinking of starting a new contract, pre-ordering a 4g 16gb and then selling it on ebay for just over $800, which seems to be the average at the moment.

$200 for the phone
$200 to cancel contract
$100 overnight shipping and ebay fees,

leaves about $300 in my pocket, more or less for doing absolutely nothing. I could definitely use the cash. Someone let me know if I'm flawed in my reasoning here, cheers! :)
Click to expand...

I believe I read that you need to keep the phone 30 days befor you can get out of your contract.
With that said

phone 200
2 months service 100ish
ETF 350 or 375- don't remember
activation fee 30ish
and then taxes and such

so if you have 700 bux to blow and hope that others actually want the phone and are willing to pay over 700 dollars for it after the hype has gone down (30 days later) then go ahead.
 
L1n3arA said:
So I am just curious, how much would AT&T most likely charge to get out of the 2 yr contract that goes along with the 4g? The "standard" $200 only? I might be thinking of starting a new contract, pre-ordering a 4g 16gb and then selling it on ebay for just over $800, which seems to be the average at the moment.

$200 for the phone
$200 to cancel contract
$100 overnight shipping and ebay fees,

leaves about $300 in my pocket, more or less for doing absolutely nothing. I could definitely use the cash. Someone let me know if I'm flawed in my reasoning here, cheers! :)
Click to expand...

They raised the ETF to $325 on June 1 2010. Verizon has an ETF of $350 before u start flaming AT&T.

$325 ETF
$200 for iPhone 4 (assuming it's fully subsidized)
$18 upgrade fee or $36 for new phones
at least one month service ($40 voice plus $15 data)

plus taxes (if u are in California you end up paying taxes on the full retail value of the phone regardless of it's subsidize, there are a couple more states like this also).

So do the math, you are over $600 in initial costs.

AT&T will sell you the iPhone with no contract for $599 plus taxes (no upgrade or activation fee)

so your math is flawed. Now if you plan on being with AT&T and plan obusing another older phone than it maybe worth it to sell the iPhone 4.
 
you're going to want to sell the 32gb so it will be $300+tax on the phone

the etf is another $325, plus you may have to wait before opening another line

unless you are getting $1000 it isn't worth your while and even then the profit isn't enough for the hassle.

now tack on if you wanted an iphone at a later date it would cost you another $200-$300 if they let you open a separate account and give you the subsidy. or if you buy outright you are talking about $600, and at that point you are losing money if you sold at $1000

in order for this to be worth while and still end up with an iphone 4 at the end you'd have to sell at over $1500
 
Hellishness said:
He's not taking advantage of anyone. If someone wants to pay $800 for it, it's their choice.
Click to expand...

it's the same as scalping tickets...people buy up the stock of something with no intention of using it, but only to make some extra money off it. people that actually have interest in getting that item are out of luck because there wasn't enough available and they are either forced to pay high prices or wait.

had you been the person that was screwed out of getting the item and then seen the extremely high prices your view would probably be different.
 
quid squid said:
it's the same as scalping tickets...people buy up the stock of something with no intention of using it, but only to make some extra money off it. people that actually have interest in getting that item are out of luck because there wasn't enough available and they are either forced to pay high prices or wait.

had you been the person that was screwed out of getting the item and then seen the extremely high prices your view would probably be different.
Click to expand...

The way AT&T has raised the ETF to $325 is to discourage cell phone reselling. The only people who benefit from reselling iPhone 4 are the ones who don't plan on using it.

Or there's a loophole in the AT&T system. Like the iPhone 3G (2008) where the system kept letting you reactivate the first gen iPhone and it made you reeligible for anoher upgrade immediately (I know peole who purchased at least 10 iPhone 3g before AT&T closed that loophole).
Or when last year AT&T had a glitch that let AT&T premiere users keep in ordering iPhone refurbs for subsidized prices eve though they were still under contract.

Outside of those situations, it's not a good idea to plan on flipping the iPhone 4
 
Sweet, thanks for everyones input. Taking into account the new ETF etc, it seems it wouldn't likely be worth my time. I'm thinking if I can make around $200 profit, It would be worth the minor hassle but if not then its just going overboard to make a buck.
 
I will be selling three of them and will use profits to help pay for our family vacation in July. I will not be cancelling though, just upgrading the lines on my account.
 
L1n3arA said:
So I am just curious, how much would AT&T most likely charge to get out of the 2 yr contract that goes along with the 4g? The "standard" $200 only? I might be thinking of starting a new contract, pre-ordering a 4g 16gb and then selling it on ebay for just over $800, which seems to be the average at the moment.

$200 for the phone
$200 to cancel contract
$100 overnight shipping and ebay fees,

leaves about $300 in my pocket, more or less for doing absolutely nothing. I could definitely use the cash. Someone let me know if I'm flawed in my reasoning here, cheers! :)
Click to expand...

Didn't the ETF go up more than 300?
 
if you dont plan on cancelling your account, you might be able to get some bucks..

$200- iPhone 16gig
$360- ($15 data plan for 24 months)
$100-shipping/fees/taxes.

assuming you can sell your 16gig for $1,000 (but highly doubt it)
 
iPadztr said:
if you dont plan on cancelling your account, you might be able to get some bucks..

$200- iPhone 16gig
$360- ($15 data plan for 24 months)
$100-shipping/fees/taxes.

assuming you can sell your 16gig for $1,000 (but highly doubt it)
Click to expand...

You can easily cancel data plan after the first billing cycle.
 
iPadztr said:
if you dont plan on cancelling your account, you might be able to get some bucks..

$200- iPhone 16gig
$360- ($15 data plan for 24 months)
$100-shipping/fees/taxes.

assuming you can sell your 16gig for $1,000 (but highly doubt it)
Click to expand...

Karnivore said:
You can easily cancel data plan after the first billing cycle.
Click to expand...

Where are you guys gettin this?? You can't cancel the data OR voice plan. The minimum is $55 per month, before taxes.
 
Hellishness said:
Where are you guys gettin this?? You can't cancel the data OR voice plan. The minimum is $55 per month, before taxes.
Click to expand...

Sigh... you're beating a dead horse here, my friend. Yes, you CAN cancel data at any time since data is only a feature, just like text messaging. The contract you're signing is for voice service only. The caveat is that you have to stop using iPhone on that line or AT&T will re-add data back to your account automatically.
 
snkeyez95 said:
$100 for shipping and ebay fees? Sounds high. I would just send it 2 day or something.
Click to expand...

Ebay fee for selling an iPhone 4 for $875 was $55.50, express shipping $32.05 and pay pal fee was 25.68. Total received $905 including shipping. This sale of one 4 with shipping and fees paid for 3 32g iPhone 4's minus a payment of $169 I'll be left with when it's all said and done.

2 32g 4's for $169, not a bad deal if you ask me. ;)

Of course with the new etf's this deal OP is trying to work just wouldn't be worth it.
 
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