most cost-effective upgrade from TMo Note8?

[Gary02468]

I have a fully-paid T-Mobile Note8 in excellent condition (no scratches on the front, a few small hard-to-see scratches on the back). I want to upgrade to a 128GB Note9 and stay with T-Mobile.

It looks like I can buy a T-Mobile or universal-unlocked Note9 from Samsung, trade in my Note8 for $400, and also get a $500 refund from Samsung a year from now if I upgrade to a Note10 at that time. Is there any way to do better than that?

I could go through Best Buy (unlocked option only) and get $450 back for the trade-in instead of $400, but it would only be in the form of Best Buy credit (which I would guess has an expiration date).

I could sell on eBay instead of doing a trade-in, but after eBay/PayPal seller fees, I would still net only around $400 (or less if the price comes down as the supply goes up abruptly now). Plus selling on eBay may be riskier or more work than the Samsung trade-in (although I've seen abuses reported either way).

So I'm leaning toward the Samsung trade-in, but if there's anything I'm missing or getting wrong, I'd appreciate any information about it.

 

[Gary02468]

I misread the fine print about the Samsung upgrade offer. If I buy a Note9 under upgrade-financing, then if I upgrade to a Samsung phone again a year from now, I can get a 50% discount on the financed part of the Note9 purchased price, not on the entire price. That is, the second year's installment payments will be canceled.

So if I also trade in my Note8 now for $400, I'll only get a $300 discount if I upgrade again in a year and trade in my Note9 then--much less than the used Note9 will be worth at that time. But if I skip the Note8 trade-in now (and sell it on eBay instead), I can get a $500 discount if I upgrade again in a year.

In sum, there doesn't seem to be any real pre-order discount for this upgrade--nothing that's much better than just selling the old phone privately. The only apparent pre-order benefit (aside from getting the new phone soon) is the freebie (headset or game).