Phones are no longer a luxury item. We’ve rounded up some awesome tips to help you get a good deal on a great phone. Read on.
Monitor Fluctuating Prices
When it comes to buying an electronic device, timing is everything. Phone prices dip and rise based on the time of year, how old the product is, and what promotions the brand is running. If you give yourself time to monitor the market, you may just be able to get a flagship product at an affordable price. Even carriers have flash sales and promotions with exciting offerings. As soon as you’ve landed on an unbeatable deal, snap it up immediately – those flash promotions don’t last very long.
Shop During the Holidays
And we don’t just mean Black Friday. Retail outlets, stores, and manufacturers use all US holidays to run some sort of promotion that moves their inventory fast. You want to take advantage of this. Don’t forget additional non-holidays like Amazon Prime Day and Apple’s Back to School Promotion.
Look for Carrier Promotions
All carriers structure their promotions differently. Some may offer new subscribers a prepaid gift card after they’ve signed up with them and used their service for a month. Other providers offer cash rebates. There may be a good deal for a new phone in these promotions but read the terms and conditions carefully before you commit.
Buy an Unlocked Phone
This is a hack that doesn’t necessarily shave down the price at checkout but is far more valuable in the long term. With an unlocked phone, you can move between carriers to find the best deal. Unlocked phones also tend to have less preinstalled software which cuts out the need to buy additional storage later.
Look Online Before You Go to The Big Box Store
It’s quite common to find carrier websites that are running promotions for discounted activation fees and gift cards. These are exclusively online and will bring down your total cost.
Buy Last Year’s Flagship Product
Instead of only looking at mid-range phones, keep an eye out for promotions on last years’ flagship products. These phones are often discounted when a new iteration is released.
