Best avenue to take to replace phone without upgrading?

[SpikeJones]

Hi All,

I currently have a note 2, and to be honest, it’s on its last leg. My upgrade is on December 19th, along with two other phones within the family plan I am on. I am wondering what I can do to get a new phone without having to upgrade or cancel my contract. I was thinking of getting the new Moto G off contract, but then I realized I would still have to pay my share of the family plan for really nothing until my contract ends.

Is there then a way I can erase and sell my phone on craigslist or something, and buy a used/new phone a similar way and give that phone my contract without having to “cancel” the contract? As you can tell, I am not too knowledgeable in this area. I am sure there has to be a way that this can be done, as people break their phones and have to get new ones, or just get tired with them before the phone is up. This of course could all be wishful thinking, and Verizon just won’t allow it.

If I do have to follow the upgrade path, are early upgrades a thing anymore? I am constantly reading how Verizon is changing their plans and stopping loopholes for keeping unlimited data, etc, so it seems like they won't allow this anymore, so is it at all possible I can upgrade come October (looking at at note 4 currently). If early upgrades are no longer a thing, I really would like to try and find something now-ish, as I don’t know if this will last until December.

Thanks! I hope I am not missing anything obvious, but it just seems like there should be something people can do in situations like these.

 

[VooDooCC]

You can buy a phone outright from anywhere, new or used, as long as it's a Verizon branded phone. All you have to do is take the SIM card out of your old phone and pop it in the new one.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[JoshGlzBrk]

I would recommend Swappa.com. They use Paypal so you're pretty much protected from everything.

 

[mebobio]

It's my understanding that you can't just change out the sim card. If he wants the note 4 I believe that it takes the new sim card and the old one will not work?

 

[Mr. Toad]

It's my understanding that you can't just change out the sim card. If he wants the note 4 I believe that it takes the new sim card and the old one will not work?

No. The sim card is what connects the phone to the network. I can my micro sim and put it in any phone that takes a micro sim that is compatible with Verizon. It will then be the phone attached to my account. You can even cut a micro sim down to a nano sim and use it in an iPhone or Moto X.

All he had to do is purchase a compatible phone. Put his sim into it and it will work. The phone just has to verizon branded and have clean esn.