Cellphones - BYOD vs financed through carrier?

[ExtraSlow]

Y'all know I'm a cheapskate, and like to overanalyze things. I'm really struggling with this.

I have in the past bought my handsets outright, and the used a cheap prepaid plan. Obviously, "mainline carriers" let you finance the handset over the contract term if you want. Seems like an appealing option if you are cash poot today, but can afford the monthly. Also brings risks, since most of those plans have a "bring it back" component that basically means you are leasing the phone, or are liable for returning it in good condition in 24 months, which seems like an iffy proposition.

I figure changing carriers will increase my plan costs by $60/mo, and the phone would be $20/mo on top of that. For 24 months, that seems like a hell of a lot more than the cost of buying the handset itself, even if I get a good one.


So, what say you? I want an S24 handset and a Can/USA plan, and today, I pay $34/mo for the plan. I could just spend the thousand bucks on the handset.




EDIT: Potential Mar thread warning should have been at the top.

[pheoxs]

Depending what you have to trade in Samsung has a deal right now with extra promo values for trades.

Buy New Galaxy S24 & S24+ 5G | Price & Deals | Samsung Canada

you can get $745.00 offif you trade in a pristine GALAXY S23 ULTRA 5G 512G. They give you $395.00 (Estimated Trade-in Value) +
$350.00 (Promotional Trade-in Credit)

No Trade-in? No problem. use code “S24SERIES2024” to save $250 on exclusive colours

I generally buy my phone outright but I wait for some sort of promo deal. Some stores will have gift card deals where you get ~$200 back or so. Only time I've financed is when they offer the $0/month to clear out the last gen phones as I'll just scoop that and give it to my parents to use.

[My_name_is_Rob]

To add to this, usually when Samsung pushes out a new phone, they prop up sales with some pretty good discounts. And they also typically provide the ability to finance a phone directly with minimal (or zero) interest.

[Disoblige]

I don't switch phones often (once every 7-8 years), but every time I do, I ensure it is not a lease program, and you actually KEEP the phone. Also, I was able to get a few hundred bucks off the phone itself with the provider and/or from manufacturer discounts mentioned above.

Second, I try to haggle the crap out of the phone plan as well so it's not a $60 phone plan; rather, a $35-45 plan. As an example, Sabad's Rogers winback offer back a few years ago was perfect as it allowed a new phone to be financed AS WELL as a killer winback deal.

If I cannot get that with a provider, I rather BYOD because in the end, you'll come out ahead than doing all the extra steps to get a lukewarm finance deal through a provider (which you will inevitably leave when prices rise and all other BS associated with providers).

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

I always BYOD, I tried to pay out a phone early once years ago and they wouldn’t let me.

[pheoxs]

One minor upside to financing as of late is lots of small carriers are pulling scams where you get a good BYOD price but then they immediately raise the price a few months later. Since it's month to month they can get away with it. Both Koodo and Virgin have been doing this for their Black Friday deals the past few years. They'll up it by $3-4 with a small notice on your bill in the new year.

[CompletelyNumb]

BYOD plans are super cheap.

A few years back and prior it was almost always cheaper to do the financing, especially if you change devices every two years like many people do.

Nowadays not so much.

[Doozer]

I usually do the Black Friday thing with Telus, but not the newest phone. So a couple years ago when the iPhone 14? 15? came out, I got the 13 at $0/month, with just a $200 buyout at the end of a 2yr term. I do mine and my wife's at the same time, so I'm typically not ok dropping $2K+ on phones in a single day.

Since they're probably getting given to my kids when we're done with them, I'm ok paying $200 at the end of the term for the phone, pass them down to the kids, and repeat. Which reminds me, I think that this fall will be time to go through the process again so we'll see if things have changed.

So far it's probably not the best possible deal out there, but for me, it's the best combination of lower up front costs and reasonable path forward.

[ExtraSlow]

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Depending what you have to trade in Samsung has a deal right now with extra promo values for trades..

Yeah they'll offer me $140 for my current pixel 7. For that price my kid can have it.
The $250 off code appears valid though, so $849 for the Galaxy S24. That's a solid deal.

[dj_rice]

I always BYOD as I don't like any of Fido's offerings. Was a HTC man then now loyal OnePlus

[killramos]

Have done it both ways.

Currently leasing my phone through Telus because it becomes a monthly expense to write off rather than a capital expense.

Often times the leasing cost sum of the parts is a lot less even if you buy it out at the end. I watch for those deals and lease my wife phones. I think I’m paying $14 a month for her iPhone which worked out to $400 less than sticker or something. Have done this a couple times for her.

Though if you want the latest and greatest iPhone the cost is the same aside from Telus giving you 0% financing for it.

[BokCh0y]

Used to do BYOD but Rogers over the past 2 years have come to me with some crazy credits and phone deals.

Current plan has a $37/month credit on the plan for 2 years plus a monthly phone finance (not lease, this is buy out in 2 years) of $50/month. They did come to me two years ago with a similar deal for the Pixel 6 and after my BB Key2 finally bought the farm, I went with their deal. About 3 months from the phone being entire paid out and the 2 year term ending, they came back and give me a $150 credit on my remaining balance and got me to do the same program again all over, i ended up saving $150 on my Pixel 6 overall cost, sold it for $250 so the phone was $400 less than buying it straight out in the end.

LOLOL Mar.

[max_boost]

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Used to do BYOD but Rogers over the past 2 years have come to me with some crazy credits and phone deals.

Current plan has a $37/month credit on the plan for 2 years plus a monthly phone finance (not lease, this is buy out in 2 years) of $50/month. They did come to me two years ago with a similar deal for the Pixel 6 and after my BB Key2 finally bought the farm, I went with their deal. About 3 months from the phone being entire paid out and the 2 year term ending, they came back and give me a $150 credit on my remaining balance and got me to do the same program again all over, i ended up saving $150 on my Pixel 6 overall cost, sold it for $250 so the phone was $400 less than buying it straight out in the end.

LOLOL Mar.

That worked out nicely and continues to work so just depends on the marth

[BokCh0y]

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That worked out nicely and continues to work so just depends on the marth

Yeah dude!!! That's the only reason i did it the first time cuz it was a good deal with the credits and you own the phone, I wasn't going to do renew but when they came to me with another deal, hellz, i'm a chinaman and I love picking up pennies hahahahaha

[JRSC00LUDE]

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Yeah dude!!! That's the only reason i did it the first time cuz it was a good deal with the credits and you own the phone, I wasn't going to do renew but when they came to me with another deal, hellz, i'm a chinaman and I love picking up pennies hahahahaha

Are you the one that peak out by Canmore used to be named after?

[BokCh0y]

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Are you the one that peak out by Canmore used to be named after?

I had to look that up actually, didn't know there was a such thing

[Swank]

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I don't switch phones often (once every 7-8 years)

I wish mine lasted that long, and I take good care of them. 1st one got pooched by a crappy firmware 'update', 2nd one the screen started peeling off. On the 3rd one in 10 years now, hopefully I have your luck with this one. I finance then change to a BYOD plan 10 seconds after it's paid off.

[Xtrema]

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So, what say you? I want an S24 handset and a Can/USA plan, and today, I pay $34/mo for the plan. I could just spend the thousand bucks on the handset.

The best time to get a Samsung is during launch when they add $300 toward your trade in + bonus item (like buds or something).

Then the next best time to get a Samsung is black friday when telcos need to get rid of their stock.

Buying it out right, rarely does 3rd party sellers can beat Samsung's own site.

I am always BYOD but when Freedom willing to give me a free Pixel 7 just to stick around for 2 more years, I bit.

[black300]

I am looking to switch carriers, looking for iphone 15 Pro Maxx. Any good phone deals and plan deals. Costco had a really good one for a business about a month ago but I missed the ship.

[HHURICANE1]

Saved about $500 buying direct from Google on my Pixel 8 Pro. Don't have to deal with being locked to any one carrier either. Win-win I'd say.