Get an unlocked HTC One on AT&T for $175

[jrb363]

Note: This only works if you have an upgrade available.

Step 1: Buy an iPhone for $200 from AT&T

Step 2: Sell it unopened on Ebay/Swappa/etc for $600 ($50 less than Apple sells it for)

Step 3: Buy an unlocked HTC One for $575 (no tax and free shipping!), and you just got yourself an unlocked, unbranded One for $175, almost $50 cheaper than you would end up paying for AT&T?s crapware laden version after tax.

 

[swebb]

Just one thing to take into account if you go the eBay route is the combined 11% scraped off the selling price between eBay and Paypal.

 

[tewest86]

Just go the Swappa rout. Better than eBay and you only pay a $10 fee plus your usual PayPal fees.

 

[Topgonzo]

No guarantee on what you get on eBay and you have to ship and wait etc. To much involved to save a small amount.

Sent from my brilliant HTC One

 

[Jaymil]

I'll second the swappa.com comment. I've sold 4-5 phones on there and bought a couple as well. You pay a flat $10 fee to swappa when the phone sells plus whatever paypal charges you to withdraw money. More conveienent and cheaper than ebay... safer and less stressful than craigslist.

 

[Jaymil]

No guarantee on what you get on eBay and you have to ship and wait etc. To much involved to save a small amount.

Sent from my brilliant HTC One

Yeah I bought two lumia 920's off of ebay that were both supposed to be in "Perfect mint condition". One of them the earpeice was blown and the other had a ton of little scratches on the back. Luckily I was able to get both refunded but it really turned me off of buying phones on ebay.

 

[raoden]

Note: This only works if you have an upgrade available.

Step 1: Buy an iPhone for $200 from AT&T

Step 2: Sell it unopened on Ebay/Swappa/etc for $600 ($50 less than Apple sells it for)

Step 3: Buy an unlocked HTC One for $575 (no tax and free shipping!), and you just got yourself an unlocked, unbranded One for $175, almost $50 cheaper than you would end up paying for AT&T?s crapware laden version after tax.

I have always wondered How do you sell unopened? My understanding is that new phone will ship with a sim tied to your account. So I thought that you will have to open the package activate and factory restore before selling. How do you prevent the person receiving the new phone from activating using your account...

 

[scorpiodsu]

Ummmmm there are fees with selling on eBay and swapp. Swappa fees aren't as much but still fees. And honestly, why would anyone buy an AT&T model on eBay for the same price they can walk into an AT&T store or order online and they also have the option of ordering the HTC unlocked one? Too much trouble for little or no savings.

 

[EverNap]

Ummmmm there are fees with selling on eBay and swapp. Swappa fees aren't as much but still fees. And honestly, why would anyone buy an AT&T model on eBay for the same price they can walk into an AT&T store or order online and they also have the option of ordering the HTC unlocked one? Too much trouble for little or no savings.

I think the point of the OP is to suggest a way to get an 'unlocked HTC One' for $175. I don't think it's as much about saving money as it is about getting an 'unlocked' phone over an AT&T-locked one.

If you sell your $200 iPhone for $600, and then get the HTC One (from ebay/swappa) from HTC for $575, you essentially have an unlocked phone even for the 'subsidized price'. If you go through the process, although you will be bound to an AT&T contract, you're basically getting an 'unlocked' HTC One instead of an AT&T-locked one.

 

[scorpiodsu]

I think the point of the OP is to suggest a way to get an 'unlocked HTC One' for $175. I don't think it's as much about saving money as it is about getting an 'unlocked' phone over an AT&T-locked one.

If you sell your $200 iPhone for $600, and then get the HTC One (from ebay/swappa) from HTC for $575, you essentially have an unlocked phone even for the 'subsidized price'. If you go through the process, although you will be bound to an AT&T contract, you're basically getting an 'unlocked' HTC One instead of an AT&T-locked one.

I understand what they are saying but they are also suggesting that you will save money in the #3 item of their post. And that's not the case all the time because of the fees for reselling on either of those sites. But I know what they are saying as this is something I suggested in the developer model thread aka "flipping your phone". And I agree with that method if a perosn wants an unlocked model but doesn't want to pay the price but I wouldn't suggest it for saving money, but for getting the device you want. So I know what they are saying. Yes I will end up with the device I want but I'm not saving any money.

 

[EverNap]

^^ Yup. I agree that the cost benefit is too minimal for me to go through all the trouble. If I were looking to get an unlocked version on contract though, this would work fine.

 

[Jaymil]

Considering it takes all of 5 minutes to unlock the bootloader on the ATT version I don't think it's worth it. Also either way you've going to be stuck in another 2yr contract. If you decide to bail on that ATT will unlock the sim for you anyway as long as you pay up what you owe.

 

[aokusman1]

Note: This only works if you have an upgrade available.

Step 1: Buy an iPhone for $200 from AT&T

Step 2: Sell it unopened on Ebay/Swappa/etc for $600 ($50 less than Apple sells it for)

Step 3: Buy an unlocked HTC One for $575 (no tax and free shipping!), and you just got yourself an unlocked, unbranded One for $175, almost $50 cheaper than you would end up paying for AT&T?s crapware laden version after tax.

Sell it on eBay for $600 minus eBay and PayPal fees (12%), minus shipping cost with $600 insurance, minus Att activation fee.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

 

[swebb]

I think the point of the OP is to suggest a way to get an 'unlocked HTC One' for $175. I don't think it's as much about saving money as it is about getting an 'unlocked' phone over an AT&T-locked one.

Second this. This is not so much about saving money, but how to get a factory sim unlocked phone for around or less than a subsidized locked phone. This is totally different from an unlocked bootloader mentioned earlier. You probably would have to break into the box to retrieve your sim but that will not detract much from the selling price of the iphone.

 

[poncewattle]

Step 2: Sell it unopened on Ebay/Swappa/etc for $600 ($50 less than Apple sells it for)

Why would someone buy a locked iPhone on ebay/swappa for $600? Just curious. People do that? For what reason? To turn around and ship overseas?

 

[tewest86]

On swappa, iphone 5's go for around $450-500 for 16gb in new or mint condition. I rarely see them go for $600 unless they are above 32gb and unlocked.