El Karacho1647545492 Posted March 22, 2015 Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 I'm hoping someone can shed some light on this for me. For those that may not know, Verizon Edge is basically a phone financing plan where instead of paying up front for your device, you roll in monthly payments with your bill. I want to discuss the pros and cons and see if my math works out. A couple good friends (who I consider to be intelligent, thoughtful people not prone to the pitfalls of the small print) recently enrolled in Verizon Edge to upgrade their phones. For instance, one of them bought a phone that, with the subsidized contract upgrade price, was approx. $250 pre tax. However, instead of paying $250 up front, he enrolled in the Verizon Edge plan which allows him to "finance" the phone over the course of the newly signed contract, at $27 per month. $27 * 24 months = $648, or right about the exact non-contract retail price of the phone. However, Verizon also offered him a 24-month $25/month credit on his statement for enrolling. So essentially, his monthly net cost is $2/month, making the total price paid $48. And he allegedly owns the phone at the end of the contract and doesn't have to turn it in or pay a balloon payment (this is the part I'm most skeptical of). I'm looking for the catch in this. I subscribe to the "if it seems too good to be true, it is" doctrine, but everything they've told me seems to be above board. My theory is that if everything flushes out the way they say it does, the main purpose of this is to prevent defections to T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T who are offering aggressive unlimited plans AND offering to pay off any contact cancellation fees WITH THE TRADE-IN OF A QUALIFYING PHONE. By locking customers into a payment plan, they do not own their phone until the contract is up and thus any breach of the contract would not just incur the contract cancellation fee (usually around $180 I think) but would also force the customer to pay off the full retail balance of the phone itself, likely around $600, making it very difficult for the poacher companies to justify their buyout offer to the bean counters. I'm just looking forward towards my own phone purchase and I want to make sure I know as much about this plan as possible in advance so if it really is as good as they say that I can take advantage of it. I'm looking at getting a Galaxy S6, and considering how happy I've been with my GS4, I don't think I'll want out of my contract before 2 years is up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractor Posted March 22, 2015 Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 I hope its as good as it sounds, wife and I switched a few months ago. We looked around at all the options and it was the best deal around at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowflake Posted March 22, 2015 Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 People finance phones these days? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STEVE-O Posted March 22, 2015 Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 I even asked Verizon if at the end you have to pay what would be the difference of the upgrade and essentially no you won't because Verizon was offering the $25 bill credit each month. That is the part they usually are not offering in the edge plan but currently ( I don't know for how long) are running. All your doing is taking the kino sum payment and they are letting you spread it out across your 2 year contract bill instead of up front for the upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radio Flyer1647545514 Posted March 22, 2015 Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 Most people will end up trading the phone back in or trying to. They'll trade in and get the new phone, Verizon will refurbish it and sell it again. Or it won't be in good enough condition and they won't accept it and he'll have to wait til his 2 yrs is up in which case they'll get the 200 he would've spent to upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Karacho1647545492 Posted March 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 People finance phones these days? It would seem so. I'm trying to figure out a way this doesn't make sense to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg1647545532 Posted March 22, 2015 Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 It would seem so. I'm trying to figure out a way this doesn't make sense to do. The $25 discount requires a data plan of at least 6GB (per the FAQ, various internet sites say 8GB or 10GB, I dunno). I've got a 10GB plan so I can't see how this isn't a $200 savings over buying a new phone every 2 years on contract, which is what I do now. Seems like a no-brainer. You can even stack the discounts, so when my wife switches to Edge the math still works in our favor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Karacho1647545492 Posted March 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 The $25 discount requires a data plan of at least 6GB (per the FAQ, various internet sites say 8GB or 10GB, I dunno). I've got a 10GB plan so I can't see how this isn't a $200 savings over buying a new phone every 2 years on contract, which is what I do now. Seems like a no-brainer. You can even stack the discounts, so when my wife switches to Edge the math still works in our favor. We're on a 6GB plan and every month we're at about 90% usage, so even if I have to upgrade the plan the math still may work in my favor. I'm hoping this deal is around when the GS6 arrives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draco-REX Posted March 22, 2015 Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 The old contract deals essentially had the remainder of the phone's cost worked into it. So a $700 phone that's $250 up front means $18.75 of your monthly bill went to the cost of the phone (Possibly more). If you pay for your phone entirely up front, that $18.75 is free money in Verizon's pocket. This is exactly how T-Mobile does it, except that now you're told up front and you don't have to pay it once the phone is paid for. So now they have Edge. You get to pay the portion of your bill slated to pay off your phone, PLUS the $25/mo. So now that $700 phone costs you $1150. But here comes Verizon playing the hero who says, "Hey, we're good guys, so here's $25/mo just for signing your name here. Your phone is basically free!" But it's not. $25/mo for 24 months is $600. So from that $1150, you're still paying $550 for that phone, which is probably still a good amount over what that phone actually costs Verizon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acklac7 Posted March 22, 2015 Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 People finance phones these days? With Sprint you have too (for the full purchase price). The days of discounted phones are long, long gone (at least with Sprint). Thankfully our family is "grandfathered-in" to the old-school plan where we get to upgrade to a new phone every year or so at some stoopid discounted price. Sprint tries to get us to switch plans every fucking time we're in the store, last time dude tried to con me into it, realized what he was trying to do and lit him up right before he was about to close the deal, even asked him "does the new plan offer any benefits over my existing plan?" he just looked at me with a blank face and said nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Versluis Posted March 22, 2015 Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 I have the edge plan and I have had it for a year now. The edge plan gave me unlimited talk and text with 3GB for the price I wanted and was cheaper than if I went into a two year contract. I got the iPhone 5S and half of the phone is paid for after a year and I will have the phone paid off this year. For some edge plan people you can upgrade to a new phone at half way through and you do not need to pay the rest of the phone off. That was sent out to certain plan holders that enrolled in a specific date range (dont know off the top of my head). I looked into switching to AT&T with them being able to lower my bill and possibility paying out my contract, but those deals only apply to people in 2 year contracts not the edge plan. AT&T will not pay off the remaining balance of my phone to get me out. Just some things that I learned while being on the edge plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not Brian Posted March 22, 2015 Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 I use the 10GB plan and receive a credit for almost the monthly price of my phone payment.. so it's nearly free for me to use the Edge plan. Had I stuck with my 6GB plan and paid cash for the phone I would have lost a few bills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg1647545532 Posted March 22, 2015 Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 People finance phones these days? When a phone is $650+ and it costs less to finance it than purchase it outright... yup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffro Posted March 22, 2015 Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 Or, buy a1 generation old used phone off cl or ebay and get the best of both worlds. A cheap phone that should still last you several years and give you a lower payment. Related; my gfs payment went up 20$ after her phone was paid off. Fuckin crooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radio Flyer1647545514 Posted March 22, 2015 Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 Related; my gfs payment went up 20$ after her phone was paid off. Fuckin crooks. Most plans give you a 20 dollar credit for being under contract. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87GT Posted March 23, 2015 Report Share Posted March 23, 2015 If you play to upgrade to a new phone right after you pay it off it might be worth it. Otherwise you lose your monthly "discount". I looked into it and my 4GB data plan only gives me $10 back a month. I don't think it is worth it unless you already have a 6GB plan or higher. You might as well sign up for a new 2 year plan and pay the $200 or $250 up front. The edge plan is even more confusing when you have employee discount like me. I don't like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Karacho1647545492 Posted March 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2015 The old contract deals essentially had the remainder of the phone's cost worked into it. So a $700 phone that's $250 up front means $18.75 of your monthly bill went to the cost of the phone (Possibly more). If you pay for your phone entirely up front, that $18.75 is free money in Verizon's pocket. This is exactly how T-Mobile does it, except that now you're told up front and you don't have to pay it once the phone is paid for. So now they have Edge. You get to pay the portion of your bill slated to pay off your phone, PLUS the $25/mo. So now that $700 phone costs you $1150. But here comes Verizon playing the hero who says, "Hey, we're good guys, so here's $25/mo just for signing your name here. Your phone is basically free!" But it's not. $25/mo for 24 months is $600. So from that $1150, you're still paying $550 for that phone, which is probably still a good amount over what that phone actually costs Verizon. If you play to upgrade to a new phone right after you pay it off it might be worth it. Otherwise you lose your monthly "discount". I looked into it and my 4GB data plan only gives me $10 back a month. I don't think it is worth it unless you already have a 6GB plan or higher. You might as well sign up for a new 2 year plan and pay the $200 or $250 up front. The edge plan is even more confusing when you have employee discount like me. I don't like it. Aye, there's the rub. Thank you both for the insight. I tend not to be an immediate upgrader, and I plan to keep my GS4 until it totally craps out which, given my experience so far with this device, could be a little while. Or at least until Lollipop comes along and overburdens it. Seems like given my particular situation (not always needing the latest and greatest) that Edge is a lateral move for me in the long run, I'll probably just wait for initial GS6 price drop and get it then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87GT Posted March 23, 2015 Report Share Posted March 23, 2015 Aye, there's the rub. Thank you both for the insight. I tend not to be an immediate upgrader, and I plan to keep my GS4 until it totally craps out which, given my experience so far with this device, could be a little while. Or at least until Lollipop comes along and overburdens it. Seems like given my particular situation (not always needing the latest and greatest) that Edge is a lateral move for me in the long run, I'll probably just wait for initial GS6 price drop and get it then. Yeah you will end up still paying for a phone you already paid off. It would be cheaper to buy your phone with a credit card and pay the interest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractor Posted March 23, 2015 Report Share Posted March 23, 2015 Seems like it works great for higher data users or families. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallard Posted March 23, 2015 Report Share Posted March 23, 2015 I just got on the Loyalty Plan. Unlimited Talk and Text, 2GB, $60/month and was told I still get phone upgrades at my usual time. Not sure if it's still available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramsey Posted March 23, 2015 Report Share Posted March 23, 2015 I signed up with verizon edge thru best buy and paid like like 250 for the new note 4 but received a 100 bb gift card to use that day for signing up. My bill is 67.15 for the 1 gig plan. luckily im always on wifi. Looking at my bill, i pay 17.50 a month for the phone and owe another 332.50 on it. yikes, what did i do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sully Posted March 23, 2015 Report Share Posted March 23, 2015 I left the evil Verizon in February and went to Sprint. We (wife & I) had the 4GB share plan, so 2GB each, and I was paying $154 a month for both lines. Switching to Sprint prepaid, we purchased our phones outright. I am on the 1GB plan for $35 per month and she is on the 3GB place for $45 per month. I'm only paying $80 per month now. We keep our phones for a long time, so we're not concerned with upgrading anytime soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airwg2189 Posted March 23, 2015 Report Share Posted March 23, 2015 I just got on the Loyalty Plan. Unlimited Talk and Text, 2GB, $60/month and was told I still get phone upgrades at my usual time. Not sure if it's still available. This ^ is the best bang for the buck from I've seen for a single line. Gotta discipline yourself with data use, but with wifi everywhere it's not hard. I won't be changing from the loyalty plan anytime soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Karacho1647545492 Posted March 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2015 VZW is the only carrier that gets service in any of my or my gf's family's houses so switching providers is out of the question unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwashmycar Posted March 23, 2015 Report Share Posted March 23, 2015 Its hard to beat VZW service. The Sprint cut your bill in half thing is pretty intriguing, but at what cost (service wise). We pay ~156/mo for my iPhone, wifes S4, and 10Gigs to share at VZW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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