You’re probably as sick of hearing about deals as I am. Black Friday this. Small Business That. Cyber Monday online. Blah. Blah. Blah.
More than ever it seems deals evolved into mostly an elaborate “come on” aimed to convince us to buy stuff we may or may not need at prices that may or may not be a deal.
Deals are becoming passe. Except, for cellular phones. And more specifically iPhones. The iPhone is one of the last devices where it seems genuinely tough to score a good deal.
Before I share this iPhone deal, let me explain a little how carriers continue to screw you.
Sure, carriers ditched contacts starting with T-Mobile and slowly moving through the other greedy three.
Sadly these contracts were replaced with sneaky “bill credits” sometimes issued when you buy a phone “on sale”.
The credits are applied evenly over the life of a cellular phone installment plan in order to lower the net cost of the phone. The hidden “gotcha” is the bill credit completely stops if you leave the carrier before the loan is paid in full.
Today the only real sale on a smartphone is one where the carrier doesn’t issue bill credits provided you stay on their plan. And this is the deal that Best Buy is offering – with two caveats:
a. The iPhone being offered is an older iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus
b. The savings are only on the lower capacity 32 GB models and only for Verizon, AT&T or Sprint variants (NO T-Mobile or Unlocked/SIM Only) and you will pay sales tax on the full price.
BUT – there are NO bill credits.
You’ll still finance the phone for 24 months however you can pay it off at any time and walk away with a less expensive brand new iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus.
This is a good device deal for anyone whose kids are walking around with old phones in need of replacement or for anyone whose phone is desperately in need of an upgrade yet doesn’t need the latest and highest capacity iPhone.
TIP: Best Buy offers online ordering. You can order online and go in-store and pick up the phone from the customer service desk instead of waiting for a salesperson in the cellular phone department. I ALWAYS use the online pickup since my local Best Buy tends to be busy and it can be difficult to attract the attention of a salesperson in their cellular department.
Just say no to bill credits!
via SlickDeals