Samsung Galaxy S9 US Pricing (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint)

[SpookDroid]

Re: Are The Carriers Playing Chicken Prior to the S9 Launch?

Problem is slower updates. Samsung updates their unlocked devices last.

Not necessarily. S7 saw a mixed bag in the US, and Note 7, albeit shortly lived, saw its couple updates on the unlocked versions first. But yeah, track record, at least on the US, is that even if Samsung has released an update to international versions, sometimes it takes its sweet time to roll out in the US, sometimes even after carriers are well underway.

 

[Jaycemiskel]

Re: Are The Carriers Playing Chicken Prior to the S9 Launch?

Not necessarily. S7 saw a mixed bag in the US, and Note 7, albeit shortly lived, saw its couple updates on the unlocked versions first. But yeah, track record, at least on the US, is that even if Samsung has released an update to international versions, sometimes it takes its sweet time to roll out in the US, sometimes even after carriers are well underway.

Right, so going on the US track record, you're going to get your updates more slowly. I'm not sure if it's still this way or not but I know you used to not be able to use wifi calling on unlocked Samsung phones on Verizon. All I see is drawbacks, especially since Best Buy is lowering the price of the device by 100 making it on par with the unlocked.

 

[gregdigi]

Buying S9 from Samsung direct may the best deal!!

Samsung is not only offering the S9 at it's MSRP price of $719.99, but it's also offering the $350 trade-up credit on qualified trade-ins. All the carriers with the exception of T-Mobile have up-charged the phone ( Verizon by $80, ATT, Sprint by lesser amounts ) so your trade-up is worth less - if you even have one that qualifies. Best Buy is offering $100 off the phone, but the up to $350 trade-in credit - again if qualified - comes in the form of a Best Buy gift card, so you'd have to spend it with ... Best Buy. Samsung however, is selling the phone for $719.99 and will discount the phone up the $350 with a qualifying trade-in and so sounds like the best deal. Samsung is only offering the trade-up credits because customers are no longer automatically upgrading to the latest/greatest smartphone version. So, why are carriers charging a premium???

 

[songbae]

Since when did carrier versions get priced more than unlocked?? I bought my Sprint versions of the Note 5, S7 Edge, Note 7, S8+, and Note 8 all at the pricing set by Samsung (msrp?). I never paid more than the pricing announced at release.

Now, TMobile is the only carrier that keeps the pricing in line with the manufacturer.

Is this the beginning of another bad trend??

 

[doggy2965]

Anyone know the official release date for Verizon

 

[gregdigi]

Samsung S9 Pre-Order MSRP Up-charge Pricing

Just my personal experience, and it's all been a challenge. Looked at three deals; Samsung, Best Buy, Verizon. Hopefully, I have the details right. All S9/S9+ pre-orders had to be completed by 12:00AM 03/02/2018. Samsung was offering a S9 MSRP of $719.99 and up to a a $350 trade-in allowance. Best Buy up-charged to $792, then offered a $100 discount BUT the $350 trade-in allowance was only offered as a Best Buy gift card which means you could only spend it at Best Buy. Since you'd would spend at retail, Best Buy would make their usual gross profit margin so, more $ for them. Frankly, I couldn't understand the Samsung deal T&C's so I passed. Since I'm a long term Verizon customer - for better or worse - I defaulted to Verizon, although ATT, Sprint, T-Mobile have similar spins. My reward for being a 25+ year, 3 device Verizon customer was their $80 S9 up-charge but at least the $300 - $350 trade-in doesn't have to be spent with Verizon. That said, shame on the US carriers - general retail practice to to discount NOT up-charge MSRP pricing.

 

[CKwik240]

Just an FYI, you can order major carrier branded phones on Samsung's website. I pre-ordered my T-Mobile version through Samsung. Turned out to be slightly cheaper as Samsung applied the tax after discounting for the trade-in despite giving $10 less on the trade than T-Mobile. It worked out to about $22 less at a tax rate of 8.75%. And I'm not going to have to get locked in for 2 years on bill credits as with T-Mobile to get it all back. Its applied up front.

 

[gregdigi]

Verizon Upcharges S9 $80 over Samsung MSRP

After contacting Verizon Wireless @VZWSupport or @VZWNow (can't really remember), noting that I was a long-term Verizon customer with 3 registered devices and talking to 6 customer service reps for almost 2 Hrs about why VZ was upcharging the Galaxy S9 $80 vs. Samsung's $719.99 MSRP, the answer was "OK, if you want to save $, I would say purchase it from Samsung"! Really?

 

[illdini]

Re: Verizon Upcharges S9 $80 over Samsung MSRP

Sprint is upcharging $110 over the Samsung price for the S9 & S9+. I pre-ordered from Best Buy on Friday, got $100 off. I may buy out the lease on my S8+ & trade it in for $350 off the S9+ (I still need to do the math to see how much I save).

 

[Ry]

Re: Verizon Upcharges S9 $80 over Samsung MSRP

After contacting Verizon Wireless @VZWSupport or @VZWNow (can't really remember), noting that I was a long-term Verizon customer with 3 registered devices and talking to 6 customer service reps for almost 2 Hrs about why VZ was upcharging the Galaxy S9 $80 vs. Samsung's $719.99 MSRP, the answer was "OK, if you want to save $, I would say purchase it from Samsung"! Really?

Were you expecting to pay less than the price that Verizon is listing because of how long you've been a Verizon customer?

 

[TMavC5]

Re: Verizon Upcharges S9 $80 over Samsung MSRP

After contacting Verizon Wireless @VZWSupport or @VZWNow (can't really remember), noting that I was a long-term Verizon customer with 3 registered devices and talking to 6 customer service reps for almost 2 Hrs about why VZ was upcharging the Galaxy S9 $80 vs. Samsung's $719.99 MSRP, the answer was "OK, if you want to save $, I would say purchase it from Samsung"! Really?

Verizon has been doing this for years.

 

[gregdigi]

Re: Verizon Upcharges S9 $80 over Samsung MSRP

As noted in the thread, other carriers are guilty of the same but "yes" naive as it might be I feel that customer loyalty should be worth something. So evidently lacking that, since carriers offer $ incentives to switch, thinking that might be my best move.

 

[Almeuit]

Re: Verizon Upcharges S9 $80 over Samsung MSRP

As noted in the thread, other carriers are guilty of the same but "yes" naive as it might be I feel that customer loyalty should be worth something. So evidently lacking that, since carriers offer $ incentives to switch, thinking that might be my best move.

Loyalty was out the window w/ carriers like .. 2+ years ago. You don't get anything special for being loyal.

 

[Kilroy672]

I'm on T-Mobile and have the Jump program. Not saying I'm going to take advantage of the $360 off my Note 8. I understand that its 24 bill credits after the $360. Does that mean I still can't use my jump?

 

[louzer]

I ended up buying a Sprint variant outright from Samsung. It was 912.00 less 300.00 that I'll get for trading in my S7 Edge. The price ended up being 612.00 after the trade in discount. Samsung only taxed me on the 612.00 and Sprint would have taxed me on the full price of the phone. Also, Samsung has free shipping.

As far as loyalty goes, I've been with Sprint for a long time. Because of that, they agreed to waive the 30.00 upgrade fee as well.

I went with the Sprint version because a) their bloatware is only the MySprint app, Visual Voicemail, spam identification in caller ID, and Wifi calling - all of which I use. and b) As soon as I activate the phone, they'll unlock it.