Buying and selling an iPhone on Contract for Price Difference

[BartoDelMuerto]

I'm getting the feeling that I will be disappointed with the At&t version of the Galaxy Note. I am considering ordering an international Note from Amazon.

I am eligible for an upgrade from At&t. I know that plans can change but I don't plan on leaving them, so I don't mind being locked in to a contract. What I was thinking about doing is buying a 4s from them on contract, selling it and putting the difference towards an international GNote from Amazon.

I haven't seen a lot of talk about this on the forums, so I'm not sure that it is a good idea. Has anyone done this? Is it a smart thing to do?

 

[E_man]

I have, and still am, considering just that. However, I'd wait to see what AT&T notes sell for before getting an iPhone. The iPhones tend to have the best retail value on the long tail of it's life, but a new phone can sell for more than a 4-5 month old iPhone for a while. Right now, selling a BNIB iPhone 4S 16GB white will net you around $500 - $200 to buy it - $60 in tax = $240 in profit.

A note will cost you $300 + $70 in tax. It would only have to sell for $610 on launch day to break even with after market iPhone 4S value. I believe retail on it will be $700 off contract, so you may be able to sell it for $650-$670. Make you a few extra bucks if it works out like that. If it doesn't, you can buy a 4S and sell it. That's why I am waiting.

Not to mention, when the AT&T Note comes out, the international price may go down since AT&T notes will be an enticing device for people in the Note market, and international notes may fall in price to stay relevant.

 

[Projectrally]

I have been thinking this same way. I am also on AT&T, and I've had three iPhones, but I only paid for one of them. I bought the first iPhone for $400 back in December of 2007. After a year+ of use, I sold it for more than I paid for it (unlocked and jailbroken) and bought a 3G. Two years later, I did the same thing to buy an iPhone 4. A few days ago, I just sold that (for exactly what I paid for it, including the tax), and put that money towards the international version of the Note that I'd picked up the week before.

Since I'm off contract, I figured I could pick up another iPhone and just flip it. But I looked at the cost to do that. It's $210 (after tax) for the device around here. I can sell it on ebay for about $550. After ebay, paypal, and shipping costs are deducted, I'll probably net somewhere around $485. So at the end of the day, I made $275. Not bad, but if you can string the coin together to buy the international Note without doing this, then you should wait for this summer/fall when the iPhone 5 comes out. Get on the waiting list the moment they go on sale, and then resell it in those first few weeks when there's a rush on devices and they're not being sold in other markets yet. Do that, and you'll make a LOT more cash on the deal. That's what I'm planning to do.

 

[planoman]

I'm getting the feeling that I will be disappointed with the At&t version of the Galaxy Note. I am considering ordering an international Note from Amazon.

I am eligible for an upgrade from At&t. I know that plans can change but I don't plan on leaving them, so I don't mind being locked in to a contract. What I was thinking about doing is buying a 4s from them on contract, selling it and putting the difference towards an international GNote from Amazon.

I haven't seen a lot of talk about this on the forums, so I'm not sure that it is a good idea. Has anyone done this? Is it a smart thing to do?

Why do you think you will be disappointed in the ATT GNote? Since it is so close to coming out why not just wait until it comes out and see how the reviews and user experiences are? If you are not impressed you can then get an International GNote. Especially if you are in an LTE area. Do not let talk of processor diffferences make up your mind before you actually see the phone in action.

Just my .02 cents.

 

[BartoDelMuerto]

Why do you think you will be disappointed in the ATT GNote? Since it is so close to coming out why not just wait until it comes out and see how the reviews and user experiences are? If you are not impressed you can then get an International GNote. Especially if you are in an LTE area. Do not let talk of processor diffferences make up your mind before you actually see the phone in action.

Just my .02 cents.

There are a few reasons. The processor is one. Besides being slower I've read that the development community will be much bigger for the Exynos Notes. I don't see LTE as a benefit. It drains battery, requires a slower processor (which I think is much more important on a phone) and I am not in an LTE area. Also, I've read that OS updates will come a lot faster to the international phone.

That being said, I agree that waiting an seeing is the smart move.

 

[BartoDelMuerto]

I have been thinking this same way. I am also on AT&T, and I've had three iPhones, but I only paid for one of them. I bought the first iPhone for $400 back in December of 2007. After a year+ of use, I sold it for more than I paid for it (unlocked and jailbroken) and bought a 3G. Two years later, I did the same thing to buy an iPhone 4. A few days ago, I just sold that (for exactly what I paid for it, including the tax), and put that money towards the international version of the Note that I'd picked up the week before.

Since I'm off contract, I figured I could pick up another iPhone and just flip it. But I looked at the cost to do that. It's $210 (after tax) for the device around here. I can sell it on ebay for about $550. After ebay, paypal, and shipping costs are deducted, I'll probably net somewhere around $485. So at the end of the day, I made $275. Not bad, but if you can string the coin together to buy the international Note without doing this, then you should wait for this summer/fall when the iPhone 5 comes out. Get on the waiting list the moment they go on sale, and then resell it in those first few weeks when there's a rush on devices and they're not being sold in other markets yet. Do that, and you'll make a LOT more cash on the deal. That's what I'm planning to do.

That is a really good idea. I might end up doing that.

 

[planoman]

There are a few reasons. The processor is one. Besides being slower I've read that the development community will be much bigger for the Exynos Notes. I don't see LTE as a benefit. It drains battery, requires a slower processor (which I think is much more important on a phone) and I am not in an LTE area. Also, I've read that OS updates will come a lot faster to the international phone.

That being said, I agree that waiting an seeing is the smart move.

One important feature is that the battery will not drain faster if you are not in an LTE area. When the skyrocket came out even people in non LTE areas reported that they achieved even faster speeds on HSPA+ with the skyrocket than with other faux 4G phones. There were so many flame wars between the processor but now I think it is recognized that the snapdragon is a capable processor. My skyrocket is certainly capable.

I have the International GNote and the Exynos, so I am certainly not trying to sell you on anything. I think you said you are going to wait and see what ATT brings since it is only another 10 days or so. If it is acceptable, it would surely save you the trouble of buying and selling a iphone.

I do think that you have a point on the updates. I do not think there is any doubt the the International GNote will and has received more and quicker updates. If you are not one to unlock, root and flash that may be a big consideration.

Best of luck! I think you will love the phone regardless of the model that you end up getting!

 

[BartoDelMuerto]

One important feature is that the battery will not drain faster if you are not in an LTE area. When the skyrocket came out even people in non LTE areas reported that they achieved even faster speeds on HSPA+ with the skyrocket than with other faux 4G phones. There were so many flame wars between the processor but now I think it is recognized that the snapdragon is a capable processor. My skyrocket is certainly capable.

I have the International GNote and the Exynos, so I am certainly not trying to sell you on anything. I think you said you are going to wait and see what ATT brings since it is only another 10 days or so. If it is acceptable, it would surely save you the trouble of buying and selling a iphone.

I do think that you have a point on the updates. I do not think there is any doubt the the International GNote will and has received more and quicker updates. If you are not one to unlock, root and flash that may be a big consideration.

Best of luck! I think you will love the phone regardless of the model that you end up getting!

This may be a question that is impossible to answer at this point, but is it true that the dev community will be much smaller for the Snapdragon version (meaning there won't be as many/any quality roms)?

I am new to the android community so I don't know a lot about rooting and don't have a good feeling for what to expect. I've jailbroken iPhones before so I do have similar experience with that kind of thing on the other side of the fence.

 

[BartoDelMuerto]

I just wanted to post an update to this thread so it has some closure.

I ended up getting the AT&T Note on launch day. I love it and do not in any way regret getting it instead of the international version.