Regretting that three-year contact? Trade it away
We've all done it. The temptation of that latest-and-greatest smartphone being offered by (Verizon / Sprint / T-Mobile / Cingular) is just too great; we cave, signing our life away for one, two, or (gulp) three years in exchange for a killer price. Problem is, if you're anything like us -- as scary a thought as that might be -- the next gotta-have-it phone is going to drop well before your contract is up. Of course, most carriers offer the possibility of transferring your contract to another unsuspecting victim, but tracking that lucky individual down is the tricky part. A start-up going by "Celltradeusa" looks to help facilitate that search, charging $20 to pair up folks looking for a deal with other folks looking to slide out from under their contract. Going through the motions of getting the new owner's paperwork filled out (credit approval, etc.) is still left to the buyer and seller to work out themselves, but they've at least taken the guesswork out of finding one another in the first place.[Via SmartMoney]
Filed under: Misc
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
CingularOwnsMe @ Sep 24th 2006 7:55PM
I bet it is the easiest thing to find a seller than it is to find a buyer. I wouldn't understand a person would want to do a TOS (transfer of service) unless it is family or friend that you talk them into doing.
Donald @ Sep 24th 2006 8:51PM
Ironically, I've only seen the 3yr contract in Canada yet the site doesn't support the Canadian carriers.
I could have used them when I had to eat a $360 ETF about a year and a half ago (in a related story, Aliant can bite my shiny metal ass).
CLShortFuse @ Sep 24th 2006 9:12PM
The organization of trading of cellphone numbers is old, since the days of AT&T. Verizon Wireless offered the V3m for $79 with 3 year contract when it came out. The transfer of service thing is news to me. My girl is stuck with crappy Verizon and can't wait to get out. Funny that working for VZW (and seeing how anti-consumer they REALLY are) and getting the Chocolate phone made her want to leave VZW even more. More info on TOS?
Brian @ Sep 24th 2006 9:17PM
If you're looking to transfer carriers this makes sense, but if you just want the contract price on a new phone with the same carrier, you can simply extend your contract two years and get that same price. I've done it countless times.
flamer's grill @ Sep 24th 2006 9:25PM
Not quite, Brian. You have to be eligible to upgrade, and eligibility requirements differ between carriers. Some require you to wait 22 months since intitial service agreement/last upgrade date, while others require you to have the same exact handset for either one or two years before you become eligible for any sort of discount.
And even then, many times the upgrade price is not as good as the new customer price.
Brian @ Sep 24th 2006 10:51PM
Well I've been on ATT/Cingular for several years now, and everytime I've wanted a new phone at the new customer price, all I've had to do was agree to two more years and I got that price. So maybe policy is a little different than practice, who knows. I just know for a fact I've done it four or five times, even just the other week.
Joey Nablatano @ Sep 25th 2006 12:23AM
Forget about transferring service, these guys just buy out your term charges and they sign you up for new service and a new phone at the discounted price. And it's $50 bucks. Saved me, I will use these guys every time.
mattyg253 @ Sep 25th 2006 3:53AM
I would never sign a three year deal. Especially not with t-mobile.
Kristen @ Sep 25th 2006 8:40AM
Someone should take over my Cellular One service. Verizon is the only thing that works at my boyfriend's house. I still have another year left on Cellular One.
tom @ Aug 19th 2008 2:14PM
Get a new boyfriend, or do you have a contract with him too :)
TB @ Sep 25th 2006 12:06PM
How is this different from http://www.resellular.com ? Resellular has been around for a while (I think), while this start up is, well, a start up.
And no, I don't work for resellular.
Marc @ Sep 25th 2006 4:24PM
It was celltradeusa.com that developed the world's first online community that gets dissatisfied cell phone customers out of their service contract. Since they started in 2003 a few copy cats/poachers popped up in 2005/06. These sites have no activity/listings and have very little traffic. I work in retention & we have been facilitating these types of trades for years...
Brian @ Sep 25th 2006 8:58PM
Most of you here sound clueless. Dobson allows discounted purchases with 6 months or less remaining on their contract and even than you can be denied (example: you have poor payment history, your Active Past due, or possible even 30 Days Past due). If you can't afford the phone you want straight out of your own pocket than do yourself a favor and don't buy it. You could also consider signing a one year extension over a two year extension as well, but keep in mind you most likely will spend more on the handset.
jackie @ Mar 17th 2008 7:17PM
I have a tmobile phone the contract began i believe october 5 2007 and its a 2 year contract looking for someone to take it off my hand ... "change in responsibility!!"