I am tired of reading all of the same damn questions about buying an Evo.
So here it goes:
If you are a Sprint Premier customer you get an upgrade every 12 months. This qualifies you for NEW customer pricing. It is said that it is $150 off, which is technically correct, but it is actually new customer pricing.
Sprint does mail in rebates. 3rd party resellers typically give them instantly. IE Best Buy and Radio Shack give the full discount at the time of purchase.
You CAN buy from Radio Shack or Best Buy even if you are an existing customer. If you are eligible for a full upgrade you will get new customer pricing.
It is not technically allowed for you to buy a phone with a line that is eligible for the discount and then swap it to another line. If you do this and are sending in a MIR you will get denied. It is much easier to pull this trick off if you buy at a thrid party reseller.
$75 off is the standard discount for people who are 1 year into a 2 year agreement, unless that line is Sprint Premier. If you do a $75 off rebate you get $75 off whatever the retail is and do NOT qualify for the MIR or extra instant discounts.
Best Buy and RadioShack are supposed to activate the phone before you are allowed to leave the store. This really effs you if you are trying to swap another lines phone discount. The way I have gotten around this is to tell them it is for a significant other and you are surprising them. If they activate the phone, your S/O will be without a means of communication, it also ruins your surprise. YMMV
This phone is NOT eligible for the legacy SERO plans. As far as I know you do not qualify for the discounts if you are on one of the legacy SERO plans. In other words the "phone swap trick" will not work if you are wanting to keep the legacy SERO plan.
I think I have hit all the key points. I am new to this forum, but it seems most of the people posting questions are new to this type of thing altogether. I have been doing the upgrade curve since my Treo 600 back in 2003. I know the ins and outs of working Sprint and getting maximum rebates and such. If you have any other questions feel free to ask and I will try and help. If you see something in error let me know.
So here it goes:
If you are a Sprint Premier customer you get an upgrade every 12 months. This qualifies you for NEW customer pricing. It is said that it is $150 off, which is technically correct, but it is actually new customer pricing.
Sprint does mail in rebates. 3rd party resellers typically give them instantly. IE Best Buy and Radio Shack give the full discount at the time of purchase.
You CAN buy from Radio Shack or Best Buy even if you are an existing customer. If you are eligible for a full upgrade you will get new customer pricing.
It is not technically allowed for you to buy a phone with a line that is eligible for the discount and then swap it to another line. If you do this and are sending in a MIR you will get denied. It is much easier to pull this trick off if you buy at a thrid party reseller.
$75 off is the standard discount for people who are 1 year into a 2 year agreement, unless that line is Sprint Premier. If you do a $75 off rebate you get $75 off whatever the retail is and do NOT qualify for the MIR or extra instant discounts.
Best Buy and RadioShack are supposed to activate the phone before you are allowed to leave the store. This really effs you if you are trying to swap another lines phone discount. The way I have gotten around this is to tell them it is for a significant other and you are surprising them. If they activate the phone, your S/O will be without a means of communication, it also ruins your surprise. YMMV
This phone is NOT eligible for the legacy SERO plans. As far as I know you do not qualify for the discounts if you are on one of the legacy SERO plans. In other words the "phone swap trick" will not work if you are wanting to keep the legacy SERO plan.
I think I have hit all the key points. I am new to this forum, but it seems most of the people posting questions are new to this type of thing altogether. I have been doing the upgrade curve since my Treo 600 back in 2003. I know the ins and outs of working Sprint and getting maximum rebates and such. If you have any other questions feel free to ask and I will try and help. If you see something in error let me know.