With all the major telcos purchasing a phone plan + plus the phone has in almost every case become more expensive than purchasing the same plan without phone, and then purchasing that phone in retail (grey import or not).
I compel thee, fair maidens of OzBargain, to show me a telco phone plan that is a cheaper (give or take with contract flexibility), than buying a BYO plan and phone separate.
Renting a galaxy s7 through mr rental and 8gb data unlimited everything else: $65 total per month.
Galaxy s7 on plan (Optus): $72 a month with unlimited calls/texts and 1gb data.
Seems renting + BYO is the best thing to do.
EDIT: It's $30 a week for the phone on renting. Oops.
Did you consider that at the end of the Optus plan you can sell the phone as you own it. Can't sell the rental phone. This will alter the value considerably…
Lol…
Does anyone else purposely not get the latest and greatest to try and limit their usage?
I bought an iphone 5c refurb last month - partly because I want to limit my use of it when out and about / not glued to a screen - and also because I can't justify spending more than a couple of hundred on a phone.
I don't upgrade simply because I'm too lazy to resell the old + an oldie works just fine. Still on my Galaxy S2.
I bought my lg g3 from Kogan last year during during one of those eBay 20% off things, got the 3gb/32gb for $400. About a month later I could have got the g4 for about the same. :(
A phone and phone plan acts like a loan these days. Not everyone can pay for the phone outright even when it's cheaper.
Think of it this way, there are probably other less essential things you waste money on every month.
For me, I blow a few hundred on food every month at gourmet restaurants. If I was to cook at home for 1 week I would save about $70.
Either we have very different ideas around the concept of gourmet or your idea of home cooking involves buying the most expensive ingredients and never ever trying to substitute or skimp on one ingredient so you don't have to pay a tenner for some minor thing you won't get anywhere near close to using up before it spoils
EDIT just noticed you said a few hundred a MONTH and then talked about savings per WEEK so maybe it adds up
Restaurants in the cities are expensive and sometimes I don't get a choice where I eat. Boss or coworker decides.
I have always had the opposite experience to the OP. Regardless of who I have gone with Amway, Woolworths or a long time ago Telstra. I found before I switched to plans when I was on prepaid I was spending 30-45 a month.
In order of use (Oldest First):
Telstra $24 x24mths, paid $60 /phone (RRP$240) 3x Call Value Total Cost Per Month 26.50, Savings $7.50 Min /Month
Amway $30 x 24 Months, $0/phone (RRP$400) 5x Call Val Total Cost per month 30, Savings $16.66 Min /M
Woolworths $30x24, $196/phone (Ozb $397) 30x Call Val Total Cost per Month $38, Savings $8.54 Min /M
Al these figures are versus my min prepaid spent of $30 if I hit $45 you can +$15 to to the savings per month.
These where all on at least 3G Telstra Networks with Telstra 4G for Amway and recently Woolworths.
Being on contract I could get a replacement phone should my phone need repairing.
Disclaimers:
I do not use a huge amount of DATA and when I did go over I used up my excess call value.
These figures do not include any commissions or other benfits from Amway the saving on amway comes from the retail vallue of the phone divided by 24 months.
I used an obargain deal as the value of the S5 on Woolworths had I used its retail at that time it would have been a higher saving per month.
Conclusion:
If you use your phone moderately or heavily per month even in 2016 Contracts can still represent significant value. If you are a low user or buying retail flagship phones don't expect a bargain on a contract.
has anyone else noticed how a lot of prepaid deals now have 30 day expiry?
if you have $40 in prepaid credit and it expires in 30 days guess what you're on a $40 a month plan!!
Some of them have 28 day expiry. There's 13 of those in a year.
I think it's because about a decade ago we had a lot of possibly unhealthy competition between telcos; remembering that a couple providers (OneTel) crashed from fraud and 3 basically ran itself out of business trying to sell phone plans so cheap to get you onto their network.
I'm not sure if regulation tightened up but that doesn't seem to happen anymore. Anecdotally prices seem to be higher.
You've just got to remember that not everyone who buys a phone needs more than around a $30 or $40 phone plan. When these mobile phone deals work out to costing you upwards of $50 per month for the phone plan, completely separate from repayment of the phone, you're not ahead.
If you're a heavy user, then this might be the best and most affordable way to buy a new phone. If you're not, and are likely to hold on to the phone for 3-4 years, it's much more sensible financially to buy the phone outright and put it on a BYO plan at a price that matches your usual usage.
To be fair, alot of people want the latest and greatest but can't see the value in forking out alot of $$$$. They know they are paying more yet are happy to do so for the sake of only having to pay a small amount per month. I used to be there, but not anymore.
I am on a $1 per month plan with TPG for a number of years now. I think it was intended for Apple tablets. But I have never used a tablet, just various Android phones. In any case it's 10 cents per minute for outgoing calls and $0.02 per megabyte of data.
So a plan of $20 or more per month with a call rate of $1 per minute just sounds ridiculous!
My Virgin iPhone 6 64gb plan just ended.
$67 a month for $450 calls, 2.5 data. $40 plan.
Phone cost $27x 24 = $648
Plan 40x 24 = $960
Total cost = $1608 over 24 months
iPhone 6 64gb up front $900.
1608-900= 708
708/24 = $30 a month for a sim plan.
Realistically at the time it wouldn't have made much difference to me which way I went 👌🏼
People have wised up and can now do basic arithmetic to know the number from a plan over 24 months is bigger than the number of the phone out right plus a similar plan only over 24months.
The big issue is data is dirt cheap where as in the past it was expensive as helll and could be used to pad out the cost of the phone. Not any more. Data is chrap. The figures expose the reality that telcos buy the phone for you and you pay it off. It's only good if u can't afford the phone then again if u can't prob shouldn't be getting it on a contract either. But Facebook friends pressures kick in and the teen making $16 a hours does the deal.
all i know is i use TPG and it gets shi**er every day.
Depends on what plan you get! I wanted a Note 7, and I was getting my daughter an ipad pro. So here's where I ended up. Note 7 through optus on a $71 plan with 1gb of data. Added in a 9.7" ipad pro wifi+cellular for $62 with 25gb of data. So $133 gives me a tablet, a phone and 26gb of data. Mind you theres a note 7 plan with 20gb of data for $120(terrible plan)
So.. $133x24=3192
3192-(1349+1049retail costings)=$794
$794/24=$33 pm with 26gb of data…
Compare that with optus sim only plans and you're currently $40 for 10gb.
So while yes you can probably save $150 on the ipad, maybe $200, and $150 on the note 7 through discounts, % off gift cards etc.. whatever it may be. Im paying $7 a month more for 16gb of data extra. And leaving $2398 on my mortgage saves $7.60 a year ;)
That should say saving $7.60 a month not year*
I hate plans! 12 months are bad enough but 24 months NO WAY! Thanks god Pre paid deals are getting better
Depends what you're comparing. If you look at Telstra Prepaid vs SIM Only (12 month contract) vs Plan (24 month contract), and 32GB Pixel ($1,029 RRP):
Total: $2,329 ($2,229 depending on how you recharge) (~$92 a month)
Total: $1,869 over 12 months ($2,709 over 24 months)
Total: $2,376 (without taking advantage of the new phone feeling)
You save $47 going on Prepaid over 24 months, but you have to pay $1,029 upfront, get less data, no Apple music and can't upgrade your phone after 12 months, if you wanted to.
I've used this as an example, because I'm looking at a Pixel on a Telstra plan. It's slightly less economical on the 128 GB version, but I think the contract is better value for less than $2 a month extra.
Plus you could probably knock that 24 month plan one down a bit using the telstra AMWAY offers
You have came up with an example so let me come up with another.
If I am on a $30 plan and find a discount for the same phone for $929. The total over 24 months would be $1,649. So that's a saving of $727.
Sure, but I was not comparing to a $30 prepaid service or plan. I tried to take like for like, and compare. OP saying that there is no value in contracts is not entirely correct IMO. There's a whole bunch of factors to consider.
This is based on the assumption that the inclusions of the $50 prepaid offer won't change in the 2 years period, which is quite unlikely the case. Telstra also tends to sweeten their postpaid offers for new sign ups every year, e.g. the $95 plan now includes a 2GB bonus data per month as comparing to last year, and you may or may not convince the chat agent to switch your plan over for free.
I agree wholeheartedly with the OP. I cannot believe how expensive phone plans have become in the last two years. Currently I have a Galaxy S5 on Virgin. I was paying $20 a month for the phone and $30 a month for the plan with 2.5gb of data. My contract is now up on this phone but I can't really justify getting a new phone at the moment as all the plans for the latest phones (as my S5 was at the time I got it) are stupidly expensive. The telcos are charging more the plans and offering less data plus are charging more for the phones themselves. I'm happy to be paying slightly more each month, I do understand inflation happens and prices go up over time but I don't understand how the telcos can justify charging $20-$50 more each month for nothing extra than I'm getting now on my current plan.
56.50 per month Galaxy S7.
7 gb data unlimited calls.
only $6.50 more than what you paid.
What network? And did you buy outright or are you on a BYO plan?
Optus on a plan.
10% student discount then $20 off per month promo.
@dasher86: Pity it's expired, it's back to $85 and I wouldn't qualify for the student discount anyway… But given that you got it on a promo (and with a further discount not everyone can get), it doesn't disprove my point. The usual price for that phone on the same plan is $85 which is $35 more that what I've been paying for the equivalent phone for the past two years. $35 is a very dramatic price increase in two years. Good on you for getting such a good deal though, I hope I can get something similar! =)
Agreed. I use to sign up to a new phone contract every 2yrs, even if I didn't want a new phone, as I could just sell it as it works out a better deal.
Now when my contract was up this year, I just got on a 12mth SIM only plan. The premium on the phone included contract plans did not justify it, especially when the inclusions (mainly data) was nothing like the inclusions on a SIM only plan.
Well if u buy a phone as part of a plan u can deduct the phone from your tax.
If you buy the phone outright then u can't claim as tax deduction
why not? you just need to make the correct nexus between phone and work. if anything you might be able to deduct it in one tax period not two.
Standalone Phones are not tax deductible as per ato guidelines (as a worker employee) but phone plans are. So trick is to get a phone plan with whatever phone u want then claim percentage of the value as work related.
Computers and laptops are tax deductible
Really? Where does it say that? I use my phone for testing work products (mobile apps). Why can't I claim a percentage of outright phone cost as a business expense if I use it at work for work testing purposes?
@lainey13: Business expense yes, work (as an employed employee) no. Can u get away with it ? Yes, as ATO mostly don't check.
google on their website you'll see that standalone phones are not tax deductible themselves as an employee even if work related (unless ur running a business /contractor with ABN)
the problem with vodafone is that now it wants to join the ranks of telstra, offering service with limited international countries, where as I beleive they were better off and were having good chunk of consumers for their international minutes to all countries, now with limiting international countries like optus its pretty much the same no point in having Voda with issues when u travel to the bush, get a sim-only telstra plan and enjoy coverage as nowadays everything is on Data, Whatsapp calls Skype.etc
Agree, especially if you hold out roughly a year and pick up the previous model, there is far more saving to be had. I very rarely buy the latest version. I just bought a Black S6 64GB for $320 off eBay with 6 months warranty, 7 day change of mind - it seems a great fair deal. This is to replace my S4. Next year i'll pick up the S7 and give the S6 to my wife. No way i'm i going near a contract again - those were the days of 2000 to 2008 for me.
What if you didn't have money to buy a phone outright but still wanted to carry a fancy phone? Going on a plan is just an option available. Some people buy cars with cash and save themselves the wasted interest repayments, while some people get it financed because they can't afford to pay cash for it or the opportunity cost out weighs the cost of interest.
Bought my OnePlus One for $350~ a year or so ago. Pay $29.99 per month for "3GB, Unlimited Text and Calls" from TPG.
Let's break this down to a 24 month calculation
Phone: $350
Prepaid Plan: $29.99 x 24 = $719.76
Total over 24 months $1,069.00
= $44.57 per month over 24 months.
And to make things even sweeter, work provides me with a $40 per month mobile phone allowance…
So I effectively pay $4.57 a month for my phone and calls.
Yeah no kidding!
I was staggered when Google announced their new phone the other day and it starts at $1000. $1000! And they weren't the first…
Hm… With my full time wages this week, I could pay for my food, shelter, and warmth, or I could buy a hunk of plastic, glass and silicon that I will use to
communicate with peoplewatch videos of cats and argue with strangers.The irony of me posting this from my phone is not lost on me, but at least I didn't have to take out a mortgage to buy it!