Buying at Best Buy vs. Wirefly price difference

HabsFan

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My wife and I have an iphone 3gs and are looking to move back to Verizon and get the Droid X. It seems like Best Buy and VZW are charging $200 with a new 2 year contract (i'm fine with 2 years) while sites like wirefly and even walmart are giving the phones away for free with a new contract.

Whats the incentive for buying at Best Buy or VZW? I'm aware that walmart and wirefly have a seperate ETF charge in addition to VZW, but that doesn't bother me because I can keep it for 2 years. Is there something else I'm missing? It just seems to good to be true to save $400 on 2 phones.
 
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HabsFan

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Nevermind - I searched and found another post.

Seems like the only difference is the extra ETF and I can't change my plan for 6 months which is also fine with me.

Mods can delete this thread if they want.
 

cloudstrife05

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What's the extra ETF. I was looking at the x at wirefly just in case I don't get the Thunderbolt.

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gsu_golfer

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Generally they are 250 or 300. Again, the connection to the third party is only for six months. Check out Amazon as well.

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cloudstrife05

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Generally they are 250 or 300. Again, the connection to the third party is only for six months. Check out Amazon as well.

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ETF = early term. fees im assuming right? Well if thats the case, its like that across the board. Im really on the fence because of the upfront $$ i will have to spend on a new phone, (Thunderbolt) or get a X, EVO, for free. I think they are selling the EVO for $20 though,
 

gsu_golfer

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Generally they are 250 or 300. Again, the connection to the third party is only for six months. Check out Amazon as well.

Sent from my DROID PRO using DroidForums App

ETF = early term. fees im assuming right? Well if thats the case, its like that across the board. Im really on the fence because of the upfront $$ i will have to spend on a new phone, (Thunderbolt) or get a X, EVO, for free. I think they are selling the EVO for $20 though,

Right. I don't know about the others, but IIRC, Amazon and Best Buy have rather unrestrictive policies - to simply keep your line active and not move it to a family plan as a secondary line. Of course, if you're already a secondary line it's no big deal.
 

zero7404

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be aware of the additional etf and terms they put in place wen u go thru with a deal from wirefly .... not sure how best buy does it.

posted via android
 
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HabsFan

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What's the extra ETF. I was looking at the x at wirefly just in case I don't get the Thunderbolt.

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For the X, Wirefly is charging $300 if service is deactivated during the first 181 days in addition to Verizon's $350 ETF.
 

cloudstrife05

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What's the extra ETF. I was looking at the x at wirefly just in case I don't get the Thunderbolt.

Sent from my Droid using DroidForums App

For the X, Wirefly is charging $300 if service is deactivated during the first 181 days in addition to Verizon's $350 ETF.

wow...ok, hmmm well 6 months you cant do anything with it other than upgrade the plan, cant see myself downgrading. You could probably still get a new phone as long as you dont do anything to the plan for the first 6mths.
 

gsu_golfer

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What's the extra ETF. I was looking at the x at wirefly just in case I don't get the Thunderbolt.

Sent from my Droid using DroidForums App

For the X, Wirefly is charging $300 if service is deactivated during the first 181 days in addition to Verizon's $350 ETF.

wow...ok, hmmm well 6 months you cant do anything with it other than upgrade the plan, cant see myself downgrading. You could probably still get a new phone as long as you dont do anything to the plan for the first 6mths.

Exactly. Who downgrades their plan on a regular basis?
 

fis

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Wirefly's terms are the same as amazon, walmart, etc. This seems to be the subject of much confusion but it's really quite simple.

It's all about the commission they receive from Verizon, which as you can imagine is how they subsidize the phone price so much. You're only going to run into an ETF charge if Verizon revokes their commission.

Notice there is a minimum rate plan required when you order. For example, if you are upgrading, you can't select a rate plan priced below $50. That's because verizon doesn't compensate dealers very well for those plans. You can pretty much make any changes you want as long as you stay within the minimum requirements that were there when you ordered. So for example if you start with an unlimited plan and later drop to a 1400 minute plan, you won't run into any ETF.

People here on the forums give warnings about buying from Wirefly because of this ETF, but honestly, I would love to hear just once from somebody who actually got hit with this charge.

I've posted before that I'm a big Wirefly fan. I've gotten my last several phones from Wirefly including all of my family's phones. Shipping is always quick and activation is a easy as dialing *228. Easiest money you'll ever save.

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HabsFan

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Wirefly's terms are the same as amazon, walmart, etc. This seems to be the subject of much confusion but it's really quite simple.

It's all about the commission they receive from Verizon, which as you can imagine is how they subsidize the phone price so much. You're only going to run into an ETF charge if Verizon revokes their commission.

Notice there is a minimum rate plan required when you order. For example, if you are upgrading, you can't select a rate plan priced below $50. That's because verizon doesn't compensate dealers very well for those plans. You can pretty much make any changes you want as long as you stay within the minimum requirements that were there when you ordered. So for example if you start with an unlimited plan and later drop to a 1400 minute plan, you won't run into any ETF.

People here on the forums give warnings about buying from Wirefly because of this ETF, but honestly, I would love to hear just once from somebody who actually got hit with this charge.

I've posted before that I'm a big Wirefly fan. I've gotten my last several phones from Wirefly including all of my family's phones. Shipping is always quick and activation is a easy as dialing *228. Easiest money you'll ever save.

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Thanks for the very detailed explanation. Once I decide between the D2G and the X I'll be ordering from them.

Agreed on the ease of buying from a third party. I can't believe it's not more popular

Yeah, it seems like a no brainer to me to save all that money.
 

evor1

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do promotions still apply if bought through 3rd party? for example the deal verizon had where smart phones talk free so you get 9.99 off each month. would you still be able to get that if not purchased through verizon?
 

fis

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yes the promotions like Smartphones Talk Free still apply when you order from Wirefly but I think that promotion is over.

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