Best Buy to Relaunch iPhone 4/4S Trade-Ins for 'Free' iPhone 5

People can get more by selling their old phones unlocked.

Right now an unlocked iphone 4s is $340is used. A persin could buy the cheast iphone 5 and still have some money for other stuff.

You're the exact type of person who just reads what is the price on the internet and assumes everyone can get that same price OR MORE.

When you see it priced that high, it does not mean any joe blow or jane doe can sell theirs for that price as well. That's the misconception of these sales on the internet; used prices that are just ridiculously high and yet forum members post messages saying "hey, look, it goes for this price online so you are a fool to sell it for any less!" -

You do realize it takes a lot of effort to sell used. Sure amazon or any other buy back online will take it for more but this is not always the case and having bestbuy do this promotion makes it a safe and easy way for EVERYONE to get a new iPhone.

There's really no point in the USA to buy an unlocked phone either. You still pay monthly premiums AND most of the time you are on a contract. If you go out and buy an unlocked phone WITHOUT a contract you are just dumb or have too much money to throw around. Take the 2 year contract and get the phone discounted up front. Otherwise you just pay even more with the non-contract phone.

People can get more by selling their old phones unlocked.

Right now an unlocked iphone 4s is $340is used. A persin could buy the cheast iphone 5 and still have some money for other stuff.

There's really no point in the USA to buy an unlocked phone either. You still pay monthly premiums AND most of the time you are on a contract. If you go out and buy an unlocked phone WITHOUT a contract you are just dumb or have too much money to throw around. Take the 2 year contract and get the phone discounted up front. Otherwise you just pay even more with the non-contract phone.

Ever heard of Straight Talk? Net10? T-Mobile? Contracts are so 2 years ago (pun intended). Some of can do math.

Huh? Not so much ....

First of all, it doesn't take THAT much effort to sell used, over the net.
Yeah, it's not as convenient as just handing your old phone to some Best Buy rep. and getting an instant credit -- but you pay dearly for that convenience.

I have no problem with these kinds of things being offered ... but no way I'd do it!

The price you see the used phones going for on eBay really IS a pretty accurate indicator of what they're selling for. The trick is to look at the average selling prices of the COMPLETED auctions though -- not just the ASKING prices of auctions in progress (which often have no bidders yet).

People keep forgetting that there's a healthy market for unlocked phones not bound by any contracts, because only these can easily be used with the cheaper, second-tier carriers like Straightalk, Virgin Mobile or Cricket Wireless -- where monthly fees are as low as $45 or so for unlimited text and talk, plus some sort of data package.

I agree that it doesn't normally seem to make any sense to buy a new unlocked smartphone at full price. But that really is the price the phone sells for, new. When you do a 2 year contract and get the phone for a lot less money up-front, you're going to wind up paying for it eventually anyway.

You're the exact type of person who just reads what is the price on the internet and assumes everyone can get that same price OR MORE.

When you see it priced that high, it does not mean any joe blow or jane doe can sell theirs for that price as well. That's the misconception of these sales on the internet; used prices that are just ridiculously high and yet forum members post messages saying "hey, look, it goes for this price online so you are a fool to sell it for any less!" -

You do realize it takes a lot of effort to sell used. Sure amazon or any other buy back online will take it for more but this is not always the case and having bestbuy do this promotion makes it a safe and easy way for EVERYONE to get a new iPhone.

There's really no point in the USA to buy an unlocked phone either. You still pay monthly premiums AND most of the time you are on a contract. If you go out and buy an unlocked phone WITHOUT a contract you are just dumb or have too much money to throw around. Take the 2 year contract and get the phone discounted up front. Otherwise you just pay even more with the non-contract phone.

I'll happily sell my 4s on craigslist and buy whatever Apple calls the new one (presumably 5s). Squaretrade is great for that kind of thing.

So, you give them an iPhone 4S, which cost up to $949 (64GB + AppleCare), and in return you get "up to" $150 and a contract with an evil company that will cost you thousands of dollars?

WHERE DO I SIGN UP?

Can I get them to spit in my face, as well?

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You sure do like to assume.

T-Mobile doesn't force subsidies on you like AT&T and Verizon do.

Buying full price with T-Mobile = lower monthly bill.

Buying on contract with AT&T/Verizon = higher/subsidized bill.
Buying full price with AT&T/Verizon = higher/subsidized bill.

I still have the 2009 phones I got with AT&T. I'm still paying the higher/subsidized monthly prices. I don't want to get "new" phones with them and end up in a contract. That works out for me, because I can now switch my lines to T-Mobile.

People should learn how to read. You get a minimum of the $150 price which is what they are selling the i5 for. If your phone is worth more, you get the difference on a gift card.

The no contract plan w/ T-Mobile is a valid option for those who travel in and out of the states frequently and like most, service is contingent upon location. Difference with TM is, that if you live in a rural area, quality of service suffers. If you purchased the device, and cancel service, you must either pay in full, or return the device to the carrier.

People paint with such broad strokes, it's almost comical.

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I was interested in this until



I'm done with 16 GB phones. I'll never go back. Plus I have vzw unlimited, so no more subsidies for me!

The 32GB i5 is $250 so if your device has a higher trade in value, you put that towards whatever you want.