Nexus 4 Resale Value

[pespule]

I realized the downside of selling a device for so cheap and I'm sure others have too though I'm surprised there hasn't been a thread on this. I guess it's because the device JUST came out and everyone is anxiously awaiting/can't get enough of their new toy. But consider this, what are you going to do in a year or two when the device is outdated and it's time to sell? You're going to end up losing money on the device as opposed to other phones you buy on contract. Nearly every decent smartphone out of contract costs $600+ but that cost is subsidized due to carrier contracts so you're only paying $200. That's why then the 2 years are up, or even one year, you can resell the device at $200-300 without incurring a loss since it's true value is $600+. You don't view it as a loss because you only look at how much you paid up front for the phone since you're ignoring carrier fees as that is a monthly recurring bill with any phone you have. However, due to the Nexus' 4 extremely low sale price, once the time comes to sell the phone you're going to end up getting $100-200 (at most). The only way it's not a complete loss is if Google continues the trend of selling Nexus devices dirt cheap or if manufacturers starting moving toward selling phones free of carrier bloatware and out of contract (doubt it).

Sure, everyone's willing to pay $500+ for a Nexus for NOW, but not a year or two from now. So back when we paid for contracted phones and "turned a profit" when we resold the phone for a new one, now we're losing out with the Nexus 4.

Thoughts?

 

[life4eva]

You're thinking waaaaaaaaaaay to much. Show me a Smartphone from 2 years ago that people are paying 300+ for?

Also even if you get 100-200 back that's great. Stop worrying about tomorrow and live in the Now, who knows what will happen in a year let alone 6 months.......

 

[Burleson90]

I will keep it for a year then get the new nexus for 2013. If I can sell this phone for 100 or more I am happy that way if the pricing stays the same next year I can get a new unlocked phone for $300 after taxes instead of $400. We need to just focus on now and enjoy the nexus we have or will have soon.

 

[KwietStorm]

My thoughts are I don't think about anything like that. I don't buy something with the pre-conceived plan of selling it later, unless maybe its a car or a house. Not to say I've never sold a phone before, but I buy a phone when I want one, then buy a new one when I don't want or need it anymore. What I get for it is what I get.

 

[usualsuspect]

If u go on a prepaid plan you save 40-50 a month or about $500 a year. So by buying this phone you are up net 150 after a year.. Then turn around and sell it and u make more...

 

[gone down south]

Right, the difference in your monthly bill over 12 or 18 months should more than make up for whatever you would have netted selling a subsidized phone.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[PWC Realtor]

Or I have a feeling most Nexus users will just give the phone to a friend or family member once they go on to the next device. My mother will probably get my GNex once I finally go to the 4 or whatever comes after that (having the latest phone isn't a big deal to her she recently upgraded from an Optimus V to a Triumph)

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

 

[anon(847090)]

then buy the nexus 4 T-mobile for $200 with 2 year contract. This is exactly what all carriers are doing selling $300 phone for $600
you are actually getting fooled here. dont forget you pay more on contract than on prepaid. you save at least $400 in 2 years. sell the phone for 150 you got back $550

tbh, you are not thinking at all.

 

[pespule]

I said to exclude the cost of how much you pay the carrier because then there's absolutely no reason to get a phone on contract anyway. Sure, you pay less with prepaid, but if you're someone who is going to be with the same carrier for 2 years anyway, then there's no point going prepaid and you might as well take advantage of the device subsidy. I'm talking about how much you're paying out of your pocket up front for the device.

 

[cynicist]

This strategy works better with iphones since you are limited to one per year. There are far too many android phones coming out with ever improving specs for there to be good resale value on any particular one.

 

[usualsuspect]

Pes,

The entire way you need to look at this is the total cost of ownership over a two year period. There are many articles written by cnet, androidcentral, etc that discuss this. You can save over a 1000 over a two year period by going prepaid and the prepaid networks actually are att and tmobile in this case..

 

[Rbower]

I said to exclude the cost of how much you pay the carrier because then there's absolutely no reason to get a phone on contract anyway. Sure, you pay less with prepaid, but if you're someone who is going to be with the same carrier for 2 years anyway, then there's no point going prepaid and you might as well take advantage of the device subsidy. I'm talking about how much you're paying out of your pocket up front for the device.

And were talking about how much EXTRA your paying during the contract period. The point of prepaid is to lower your phone bill, if you can't afford 350 up front for a phone how can you afford the extra 40-50 every month?

 

[sduda210]

Search for the galaxy nexus and nexus s on eBay. They are still selling for 150-300 so if you keep your phone in good condition it should be the same for the nexus 4.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[natehoy]

I said to exclude the cost of how much you pay the carrier because then there's absolutely no reason to get a phone on contract anyway. Sure, you pay less with prepaid, but if you're someone who is going to be with the same carrier for 2 years anyway, then there's no point going prepaid and you might as well take advantage of the device subsidy. I'm talking about how much you're paying out of your pocket up front for the device.

If you want to exclude the numbers that make the math work for buying a phone outright, go ahead. But it makes no sense to do so.

If you intend to commit to a 2-year contract where you pay significantly more per month and are committed to pay that, then yes - take the subsidy. It's silly not to.

But with all the cheaper prepaid plans out there, the point of buying an unlocked phone without subsidy is to save money each month by using a prepaid plan.

Let's assume you are going to go with a GSM plan (because we're talking the Nexus 4). You could buy the Nexus 4 at $350, let's call it $400 with taxes and shipping. Or let's say you could get a free carrier-locked phone on subsidy from, say, AT&T. Assume that phone would get the same level of support and updates from AT&T that your Nexus 4 would from Google (which it won't). Let's also say you are a very light data user and can get away with 200MB a month of data on your AT&T line, and you don't use text messaging at all (both would be included in the prepaid plan).

Nexus 4: $400
24 Months Service at $45 a month through Straight Talk on an AT&T SIM, Unlimited Talk, Text, Data: $1,080.
Phone with unlimited everything service for 2 years: $1,480. (data is probably limited to about 2GB a month, voice and text have "reasonable usage" clauses)

Free AT&T phone: $0
24 Months Service for 450 Rollover Voice Plan: $960
24 Months Service for 300MB/Month Data Plan: $480
Phone with NO text, 300MB Data, and 450 minutes voice a month for 2 years: $1,440

For $40 over two years, you get:
- A top-notch phone that will get the latest firmware updates every few months for about 2 years.
- No overage charges, charges for texts, or micromanagement of data to stay under 300MB a month.
- The freedom to tell Straight Talk to go pound sand a month from now if something better comes along, no ETF required.

And, remember, I've made unreasonable assumptions in AT&T's favor here. AT&T doesn't have any good phones that you'd want to haul around for two years for free. The latest phones are going in the $200-300 range. 300MB ain't gonna cut it, and a 3GB plan is $10 a month or $240 more over two years. If you carry a smartphone, you're almost certainly going to want texts and those will cost you $20/month or $480 over two years. To get an EQUIVALENT plan to Straight Talk, you'd be out $2,160, which is almost $700 more for the AT&T postpaid service, even assuming the phone was free.

Even if the Nexus 4 was $900, it would still be a better deal than a $200 subsidized phone over two years with a reasonable plan, and you'll have a phone that won't feel obsolete a year from now when it's 18 months behind in software updates.

At $400 with shipping and tax, I'd be saving so much money buying the Nexus 4 that I simply would not care about resale value in two years. I could donate it with 4 months of prepaid Straight Talk credit to a battered women's shelter and STILL be coming out hundreds and hundreds of dollars ahead.

 

[celliott96]

With the subsidy that the carrier provides, the actual cost of the phone ends up right around the out-of-contract MSRP price. For example, my previous phone (Motorola Atrix 2) I paid $30 for it last march, but I was locked in to a two-year contract with a $20 charge for data added on. So 20x24=$480 just for the lowest data plan of 300MB (I hardly used data, barely going over 100MB a month, but it was a nice little luxury to be able to check facebook whenever I was bored and didn't have wifi). Mind you that wireless data costs the carriers next to nothing to provide (other than maintaining radio towers etc.). So basically once my two year contract would be done, I would have paid $510 for the Atrix 2. And I got it on managers special, the Atrix 2 was normally $100 at the time I purchased it. I'm glad I dumped that phone, canceled my data plan, and got the MUCH better Nexus 4 (while saving about $200).
So in summary, I'm extremely glad I got the Nexus 4, and if it can last me a year and a half then I won't care if I get diddly squat for it since I only really paid $100 (because I saved $200 by switching from the Atrix and getting rid of my data plan).

 

[natehoy]

With the subsidy that the carrier provides, the actual cost of the phone ends up right around the out-of-contract MSRP price. For example, my previous phone (Motorola Atrix 2) I paid $30 for it last march, but I was locked in to a two-year contract with a $20 charge for data added on. So 20x24=$480 just for the lowest data plan of 300MB (I hardly used data, barely going over 100MB a month, but it was a nice little luxury to be able to check facebook whenever I was bored and didn't have wifi). Mind you that wireless data costs the carriers next to nothing to provide (other than maintaining radio towers etc.). So basically once my two year contract would be done, I would have paid $510 for the Atrix 2. And I got it on managers special, the Atrix 2 was normally $100 at the time I purchased it. I'm glad I dumped that phone, canceled my data plan, and got the MUCH better Nexus 4 (while saving about $200).
So in summary, I'm extremely glad I got the Nexus 4, and if it can last me a year and a half then I won't care if I get diddly squat for it since I only really paid $100 (because I saved $200 by switching from the Atrix and getting rid of my data plan).

I will warn you that, if AT&T notices you are using a smartphone on a postpaid/contract-locked plan, they will automatically add a data plan right back on to your monthly service. If they do that, it might be worth paying whatever the Early Termination Fee (ETF) is to get out of your contract, then getting a Straight Talk plan and an AT&T SIM. That will give you very reasonable amounts of voice + data + SMS/MMS for $45 a month with no contract commitments.

 

[DNicolasL]

You're thinking waaaaaaaaaaay to much. Show me a Smartphone from 2 years ago that people are paying 300+ for?

Also even if you get 100-200 back that's great. Stop worrying about tomorrow and live in the Now, who knows what will happen in a year let alone 6 months.......

The iPhone 4