I don't know if this illegal, but at best, it's unethical.

[androidluvr2]

Just call me stupid........andoridluvr2 solved something for me in 2 seconds that I had been trying to solve for a month.

I wasn't trying to make you feel stupid and I apologize if I did. I should have worded my post differently.

 

[jdbii]

no offense taken androidlvr2..........you i didn't call me 'stupid.' i called myself 'stupid.' i laughed when i saw your post, and i sincerely appreciated you posting the links. thanks.

 

[Tall Mike 2145]

This thread is what you get when you don't bother to read through the other threads in this area. Walmart did "not sell out of" their stock to anybody, and nobody bought up all of Walmart's stock, either. What happened is that Straight Talk is no longer selling AT&T network SIM cards because they are having some kind of a contractual dispute or some other kind of a dispute with AT&T. If you Google "Straight Talk and AT&T" you will find a whole bunch of information and speculation on this very subject.

 

[darkoman4]

OP, just buy T-mobile prepaid SIM on their website for 30 dollars a month data and text unlimited and 100 minutes talk time. Their SIM is better then free. It is $.99 free shipping, but you get $3.49 in credits. Tell your GM not to talk much though.

 

[I_AM_THE_ENTIRE_INTERNET]

Not to be a jerk, but if ya snooze ya loose.

A lot of people had warning about this coming. The reports that Straight Talk was no longer offering the At&t SIMs appeared on several websites. The news was even mentioned on the website you're currently on. I seen the news and I immediately went to walmart.com and ordered enough of the SIMs for all the members of my family and a few spares. At that time, they were already sold out of the micro cards so I bought a cutter and paid $15 bucks each for the regular sized SIM cards. I'm waiting for the going price to reach $100 and then I'm selling my extras off so that I can cover the cost of the cards I'm using, the cutter and couple months worth of straight talk service.

If you're wanting one, let me know, I'll even cut it down to micro for free

No thank you. That would make this post seem like a plea to get free stuff. I will get the SIM, even if I have to pay $100, but I want people to know just how much crap this actually is. You can spew your Rand pseudo-intellectual nonsense about how "economics is void of emotion and life is nothing but a battle for resources," but any decent man would roll their eyes at an income earned like that. It requires someone dedicating significant time out of their days to tracking the supply of items and snatching all of them up with the sole purpose of gouging. How do you not see how sinister a person would have to be to order hundreds upon hundreds of something they didn't create, they don't need, and they have no connection to the business that actually owns the product?

How is this behavior glorified?

 

[Seronac]

Have you any proof that the scenario you propose is actually happening? It could be from entirely different reasons than you think. Sure, these guys are gouging, but if people weren't willing to pay their prices, then they would get nothing. Perhaps it is unethical, but as long as both parties are satisfied with the deal, then it's OK.
Why not just sign her up with T-Mob?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

 

[chestvrg]

*sigh* I'll have to bite the bullet I guess. Her phone is here and I want her to be able to use it... It's a damn shame she's paying almost a $100 extra bucks when I told her the original price. The phone: $299. The SIM: 14.95. And after those one-time purchases, 45 a month. Now its $299 for the phone, $100 for the SIM, and $45 a month. It pis ses me off so much because one of the ways I convinced her to try was the cheapness of the whole ordeal.

smh.

I have a net10 sim which pretty much runs on AT&T as well, I can sell it to u for $1.00+ shipping (another $1.00) how about that.

 

[I_AM_THE_ENTIRE_INTERNET]

I have a net10 sim which pretty much runs on AT&T as well, I can sell it to u for $1.00+ shipping (another $1.00) how about that.

Thank you for your generosity, but I didn't make this thread for handouts. I hate when online communities have subsets of users who use the forums as begging tools. I really do think this practice should be illegal. And I'm going to take as many actions as possible to make it so. Starting with ranting on the internet then, tomorrow, contacting ST and informing them of what's going on. Maybe Wal-Mart too.

 

[doug9000]

Whats with the school system these day are the not teaching the free market system? A good Grandson would have paid for the $90 sim and said enjoy your new phone Grandma.

 

[llamainmypocket]

In what way is this beneficial to the market? Looking at the big picture, surely a countries population paying more than they need, to an exceptionally tiny minority of people is taking money out of the system and putting it into the hands of the few. This leaves the majority with less disposable income which means they have less to spend in the round. Blatant profiteering can only be bad for the market imo.

No. It's a mechanical system where one thing leads to another and it cycles through phases. Higher prices directly lead to an increase in supply which then decreases prices. For various reasons it will cycle back and forth but the most note worthy thing is that it is efficiently balancing itself. Some of the smartest people on earth live, breath, dream, and obsess over making it more efficient. The one goal of a market is to achieve profit by increasing efficiency.

These profiteers as you like to call them are the grunts of this market that desires efficiency. Take the nexus 4 scalpers for example, they maintained the supply of the nexus 4 after Google ran out. That is beneficial to the nexus 4 market by protecting their availability. They achieved price discover by finding the amount people were willing to pay. Finally, that price discovery created an incentive for those with a nexus 4 to profit by selling them which increased the supply back to the market. This is what it lived on until availability from the manufacturer came back.

Anywhere you find a market you will see it striving to create efficiency. In an oil shortage, price would sky rocket, consumption would drop, availability would be protected, and incentive would be created to increase the supply. Its how markets work. You almost have to beat them to death to stop them from being in love with efficiency.

Wealth is not a pie to be divided fairly. That is a great lie told by con men like Stalin and Mao.

 

[chestvrg]

Strange how capitalism works right. And the stranges thing is how many people are willing, willing to pay for something that expensive.

The other day I was looking for a very nice laptop bag for my 13" Sony Viao S series and saw a nice inCase velvet bag at Best Buy for like $50 (not including taxes), then went on Amazon and bought the same exact bag for $29.99 (including shipping). So these price gauging occurs the other way around I have seen. There are a lot of ways of cutting through the middle man and buying things cheaper.

The other day, I went across my house to a kiosk to inquire about Net10 service and the attendant there wanted to charge me $25 for the SIM, $35 activation fee (she told me there was a one time activation fee applicable), and my first month service $60=$120. Went online and bought a couple of these SIM for $.99 each. And I was only going to profit $.01 if I sold one to the OP for $1.00

 

[rtshoff]

Do we know for sure that this is just a supply issue or is ATT getting out of the MNVO contract with Straight Talk?

 

[androidluvr2]

Do we know for sure that this is just a supply issue or is ATT getting out of the MNVO contract with Straight Talk?

Contract issues between ATT and ST. ST has decided not to issue any more ATT SIMs but will continue service for those who already have one.

 

[rtshoff]

I was using ST sim with a Pre3 and finally jumped onto the N4 when it became available. I cut down the SIM and popped it into the N4....set up the APN and have been happy ever since. When I recently checked to see if i could get a proper micro SIM from ST...I discovered this whole issue. (I don't keep up with everything on these forums...but I'm very glad they are here when needed) So basically we are all screwed regarding getting new ATT sims from ST...its never going to happen again. Am I correct in this line of thought?

 

[gnr_2]

And she's willing to try. A 60 year old farmer is willing to try and I can't even get it working for because of greedy holes....

I want her to master this tech before she goes. It will give her a better picture of the world she lives in, compared to the world she grew up in.

She's not that old. Hell she's not even eligible for social security yet. :banghead:

Sent from my totally awesome Sprint Galaxy Nexus, even if I don't know all its secrets yet.

 

[rtshoff]

Contract issues between ATT and ST. ST has decided not to issue any more ATT SIMs but will continue service for those who already have one.

Does anyone know anything about PureTalk?
Pure TalkUSA :: Find No-Contract Cell Phone Plans & Affordable Cell Phone Service

 

[rtshoff]

Perhaps what will eventually happen, is that ATT and the other carriers will stop gouging the S$%# out of us with contracts and ridiculous pay for use items like navigation. If Straight Talk goes stops being able to offer ATT service...or at least new SIMs...then NET 10 will become the next MVNO we all flock over to. And the cycle will continue.

 

[Tall Mike 2145]

One of the things that needs to happen, in my opinion, is that the FTC needs to STOP allowing all these stupid mergers between companies. If one merger every ten years was allowed, that would probably still be, in most cases, one merger too many. It seems in this country like we have very short memories, and it's all the more ironic here particularly because the subject of this discussion is AT&T.

I have no issues with a company becoming a monopoly if it's because they're the only one making a particular product, or they're making the best iteration of that product which then causes "everyone" to want to do business with them on that basis. But I have a real problem with this whole "Oh, we can save this other company / jobs / the economy if you'll just let us become a more powerful, more massive, competition-destroying monopoly."

Succeed or fail on your own merits. Grow larger or stay the same size using your own resources and assets.

 

[androidluvr2]

She's not that old. Hell she's not even eligible for social security yet. :banghead:

And not only that, these advances in technology that the OP wants to attribute to his generation were in fact made by her generation.

 

[androidluvr2]

One of the things that needs to happen, in my opinion, is that the FTC needs to STOP allowing all these stupid mergers between companies. If one merger every ten years was allowed, that would probably still be, in most cases, one merger too many. It seems in this country like we have very short memories, and it's all the more ironic here particularly because the subject of this discussion is AT&T.

I hear you and I agree that these mergers are not a good thing for consumers but ultimately the issue falls on Congress to enact legislation. The FCC's authority stems only from the laws enacted by Congress. They can't just prevent mergers if there is no legal authority to do so. I know there is some Sherman Act case law involving the wireless carriers, but it is the DOJ who enforces that not the FCC.

Anyhow, at the end of the day, we the people elect our congresspersons and it is up to Congress to legislate on these issues. So write your congressperson and urge them to act.

As for the DOJ, they are in the executive branch, so if there are Sherman Act issues, write the Obama administration to get them to act through the DOJ.