Can I upgrade to the S3 while still in a plan?

**MantisToboggan** · 08-20-2012, 10:28 PM

I currently have an iPhone 4S that I bought early December of 2011, I signed a 2 year contract with AT&T, I believe I am allowed a new phone at the discounted price next July- which is quite a ways away.

Is there any way that I can upgrade to a Samsung Galaxy S3 without having to pay the full retail price (I believe it's $550).

From what I can tell, there isn't a way to do it. But I figured I would ask you guys to see if there was something out there. Maybe they would allow a trade-in of my iPhone for a discount or something if I signed a new 2 year contract. Just a shot in the dark, thanks.

**jcp007** · 08-20-2012, 10:31 PM

It depends how long you have been a customer and how much you spend but you may be able to get a secured upgrade for $75 to $100 over the two year contract price.

**jneusch** · 08-20-2012, 10:59 PM

Buy at retail and sell your 4s on ebay. You can get good money for it on ebay and basically be right at the subsidized price. I have done it several times. iPhones hold their value extremely well. If you have a 32gb 4s it should bring over $400, with a 16 or 64 being slightly less or more.

You could also open an additional line, move the GS3 to your line and move your old phone or a crappy feature phone to the new line. By doing it that way you get the subsidized price, but you will be stuck paying the additonal monthly fee for the next 2 years. That's why you would want to put a basic phone on the line (no text or data requirements).

**funkylogik** · 08-20-2012, 11:22 PM

Originally Posted by jneusch

Buy at retail and sell your 4s on ebay. You can get good money for it on ebay and basically be right at the subsidized price. I have done it several times. iPhones hold their value extremely well. If you have a 32gb 4s it should bring over $400, with a 16 or 64 being slightly less or more.

You could also open an additional line, move the GS3 to your line and move your old phone or a crappy feature phone to the new line. By doing it that way you get the subsidized price, but you will be stuck paying the additonal monthly fee for the next 2 years. That's why you would want to put a basic phone on the line (no text or data requirements).

+1 sell the 4s NOW before the market is flooded with used 4s' when iphone 5 is releasf

**MantisToboggan** · 08-21-2012, 07:24 AM

Thanks for the help guys. I'm going to go to the AT&T store first to see what they say about a secured upgrade like jcp006 said. If not, I'll register on eBay to try and sell it. Good idea.

**Dhendy91** · 08-21-2012, 08:18 AM

I know in the UK you can do this sort of. I upgraded to my S3 early , all I had to do was pay off my remaining line rental ( which they discounted by 33% because I have been with them for a while) and then I got my S3 for free on the deal they had out on it also got more data minutes and texts!

So in the end it cost me about £110

**MantisToboggan** · 08-21-2012, 08:53 AM

I know this may not be the right place to ask this, but since we're on the subject, what would I call my iPhone? I see them sold as "Unlocked", but I assume that mine isn't, correct? I would just have to sell mine as being for AT&T, right?

Thanks!

**jneusch** · 08-21-2012, 09:04 AM

Originally Posted by MantisToboggan

I know this may not be the right place to ask this, but since we're on the subject, what would I call my iPhone? I see them sold as "Unlocked", but I assume that mine isn't, correct? I would just have to sell mine as being for AT&T, right?

Thanks!

That's right. Make sure you list the fact that it is AT&T in the title. Also, don't try to sell it before getting the new phone. The ESN must be clear before someone else can activate it. In other words, if you simply stop paying for your service or terminate your line early without paying the ETF the phone's ESN will be flagged and a new person won't be able to use it.

You will notice plenty of listings for bad ESN on ebay. These phones can be used for parts or as fancy iPod touches.

**evq.003** · 08-21-2012, 04:40 PM

In addition to going to the store, you should also try going online and calling over the phone (at&t sales, not the store you just visited).

I once was told that all three of them (store, web, & phone) are kind of separate entities and sort of "compete" against one another and have different options available to them.

I never confirmed this to be true, but in my personal experience I received a better deal on my wife's iPhone with sales over the phone vs in store and most recently I got a better deal in store vs the web for my SGS3.

**tntdroid** · 08-21-2012, 10:13 PM

Tolling is not allowed here. If we believe someone is trolling we will handle it. Please keep on topic.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

**Paul627g** · 08-22-2012, 02:09 AM

We do not need to discuss your thoughts or interpretation of trolling and how we handle moderating in the forums. Anyone in question of our definition of trolling please read below.

Trolling - Do not post inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages to provoke users into responding in a negative way. Calling another member a troll is also a form of trolling.

Please stay on topic or we will close the thread up if this continues.

Paul627g
Forums Moderator.

**funkylogik** · 08-22-2012, 03:40 AM

sorry Mantis

**MantisToboggan** · 08-22-2012, 10:24 AM

So here is what I found out:

I went to a store and the salesmen was helpful and not pushy. He said that they could sell it as an early upgrade for $250 more than the promotional price, so that would be $450 which is still better than full retail of $550.

I called 611 and they said the same exact thing. Both of them mentioned the thirty something dollar upgrade fee that I would get on my next bill.

I tried to talk to someone from the website, but they didn't have a clue what they were talking about, told me that I could only get it for full retail and that I should call customer care because they were unsure of the details.

So I guess my plan is to sell the iPhone on eBay and buy the S3 for $450.

**MantisToboggan** · 08-22-2012, 10:26 AM

Originally Posted by Paul627g

We do not need to discuss your thoughts or interpretation of trolling and how we handle moderating in the forums. Anyone in question of our definition of trolling please read below.

Trolling - Do not post inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages to provoke users into responding in a negative way. Calling another member a troll is also a form of trolling.

Please stay on topic or we will close the thread up if this continues.

Paul627g
Forums Moderator.

That is pretty much what I said in my post which was a reply to the gentleman who asked a simple question.

Quit with the power trip, it's not impressing anyone.

**funkylogik** · 08-22-2012, 05:39 PM

Originally Posted by MantisToboggan

That is pretty much what I said in my post which was a reply to the gentleman who asked a simple question.

Quit with the power trip, it's not impressing anyone.

+1 mate exactly. totally uncalled for, talking to decent people like that who help this site to earn money. but it wouldnt be fair if the OPs thread got locked "because of us"