Let's See Your SIM Card Collection: Post Pictures of Your New SIMs Here

StrayfireX on 04/05/2018 - 11:23
Last edited 04/05/2018 - 11:38

I'm curious to see how many SIMs fellow "SIM sluts" have. My roommates say I have a problem, but I get the feeling I'm part of the norm for OzB.

Here's my current stash of new SIMs.

I wonder who has the most new SIMs on OzB!

My Inventory:
2 Telstra $30 SIMs
12 Telstra $10 SIMs
2 Telstra $2 SIMs
1 Woolworths $30 SIM
2 Lyca $2 SIMs
13 Belong SIMs
6 Optus $10 SIMs
18 Kogan SIMs
3 Vodafone $50 SIMs
1 Vodafone $40 SIM
11 Vodafone $30 SIMs
1 Vodafone $10 SIM

NZ SIMs
1 Spark $19 SIM
1 2Degrees $19 SIM

Mobile SIM Card

Comments

  • Maglia Nera on 04/05/2018 - 11:26
    +1

    bikie ?

  • dasher86 on 04/05/2018 - 11:29
    +5

    which store did you rob?

    • StrayfireX on 04/05/2018 - 11:40
      +7

      All of them.

  • pantsparty on 04/05/2018 - 11:41
    +3

    Umm… why do you have so many?

  • 87percent on 04/05/2018 - 11:41
    +27

    you should be able to downvote threads

    • one man clan on 04/05/2018 - 13:52
      +6

      how to delete someone else's thread

  • [Deactivated] on 04/05/2018 - 11:48
    +1

    Why?

    • payton on 04/05/2018 - 11:59
      +1

      Fear of missing out?
      'Winter is coming' thus prepping?

      • matt3 on 04/05/2018 - 18:53
        +1

        Not prepping. If he was a doomsday prepper the photo would have had a pallet of waxed string and a skip full of empty tin cans.

  • payton on 04/05/2018 - 11:58

    Once you find a great postpaid plan, one with lots of data and calls what are you gonna do with all those prepaid packs :)

    • StrayfireX on 04/05/2018 - 12:11
      +7

      I was thinking of settling down with a Kogan 365 pack someday since I don't use too much data.

      My best mate sends me a lot of voicemail when I'm work and it drives me nuts to setup voicemail each time* I want to hear the msg, only to realise that he called, forgot to hang up or something and all I get for the effort is 15 minutes of ambient cat noises.

      *anything from a month to 7 days.

      • payton on 04/05/2018 - 12:15

        lol
        For me the hard part is explaining to workmates why my phone number keeps changing every month and i have to keep 2 phones with me. One with my permanent number

        And remembering to top up to perm no # so its not cancelled

        • StrayfireX on 04/05/2018 - 12:21
          +4

          I keep my large stock of SIMs because I only use one SIM at any given time.

          I use the rest of the SIMs as a backup so I can SIM hop between carriers so I keep the same phone number/one phone every day.

          Right now I'm on Telstra, porting to Vodafone, then Telstra, Optus, Telstra, Vodafone etc.

          https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/314290

          Might be helpful for you.

        • Randxyz123 on 04/05/2018 - 15:05
          +5

          That would drive me insane.

          How much do people who swap telcos every month actually save ? I doubt if it’s more than $200 a year…

        • nocure on 04/05/2018 - 15:31
          +6

          @knick007:

          Total monthly cost $1 :)

        • StrayfireX on 04/05/2018 - 18:21

          @knick007:

          Total monthly cost: Negative $10

          (basically a profit).

        • Autonomic on 04/05/2018 - 22:55
          +6

          @knick007: I sim hop. I've spent $30 total for a little more than 2 years.

        • Randxyz123 on 05/05/2018 - 16:08
          +3

          @Autonomic: alright but what are the gains ?

          I’ve worked in telecommunications and sim activations and transfers f*** Up every day. Peoples numbers get lost or the other carrier does something or the carrier you’re posting to does something too soon and then you’re with out a phone.

          $30 in 2 years wouldn’t get you much data right ?

        • Lysander on 05/05/2018 - 19:13

          @knick007:

          I do hop like that as well and keep one permanent number. I have never had less than 5gb month and cannot use that up. Most was 23gb.

        • payton on 05/05/2018 - 20:25

          @knick007:
          Yea my perma number is linked to a lot things i'm not game enough to keep porting it every month.

          Too much work if something goes wrong

        • DaveD on 06/05/2018 - 12:26

          Why dont you get dual sim phone, make it bit easier to carry…one phone

        • payton on 06/05/2018 - 13:25

          @DaveD:
          true
          really wanted a local note8 so didnt think about buying dual sim phones at the time

        • ThadtheChad on 06/05/2018 - 13:51

          @StrayfireX:

          Do you save a bit of money?

          A: Absolutely.

          Do you always get the best deal for pre-paid?

          A: More often than not.

          Would you be better off actually spending the time on other pursuits (inc making more money/capability)?

          A: Truth level: axiomatic.

      • Quantumcat on 04/05/2018 - 18:58
        +1

        Lol ambient cat noises. Does he call when he has his kitty on his lap and it purrs into the phone :-)

        • StrayfireX on 08/05/2018 - 10:45

          Well he actually calls me with speakerphone on. He often forgets he's called me.

          Thankfully he has unlimited calls, since he's been known to leave his phone on making a voicemail for hours.

  • angelkulit025 on 04/05/2018 - 12:07
    +10

    Op you should watch out for simcards that have an expiry date.

    • payton on 04/05/2018 - 12:17

      I had 3 Telstra packs that expired a week before quoted expiry. One store was kind enough to swap them for me

  • NotJustChickenDinner on 04/05/2018 - 13:37

    can i buy a belong sim off you? :) thinking of jumping on the $10 plan for the wife and would be good to get a data boost straight off the bat!

    • StrayfireX on 04/05/2018 - 16:09

      I'm not sure if any of them have any credit on them. Got them from the "free Belong SIM promo" website, but not sure if any of the SIMs have credit from said promo. It seems not all the online ones do.

      I did get an email about one of them having $40 credit.

      If you live in Sydney I'd be happy to give you all 13.

      • DemocracyManifest on 06/05/2018 - 15:34

        Yeah the belong ones should activate with free data or 5gb of data and calls

  • nocure on 04/05/2018 - 13:38
    +2

    https://imgur.com/ix5FVpt

    • StrayfireX on 04/05/2018 - 16:43
      +1

      Where did you get all the Woolies ones from?

      • mysterytal on 04/05/2018 - 16:47
        +1

        Woolworths?

        Have a look at https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/366187

        For more info. It was reduced from $30 to $10 and also gave 2,000 points which could be used for $10 worth of Woolworths groceries which effectively made the SIM free if you would have normally purchased groceries from Woolworths.

        • StrayfireX on 04/05/2018 - 18:14

          I have one from that promo. It was limited to one per rewards card, right?

          More importantly, how many everyday rewards cards do you have?

        • StrayfireX on 04/05/2018 - 18:15

          Ah I used up all of mine from then. Wouldn't yours be expired by now? Mine said 12/2017.

        • nocure on 04/05/2018 - 18:26
          +2

          @StrayfireX:
          They still activate after the expiry.

  • pformag on 04/05/2018 - 14:29
    +12

    I have a Dim Sum, does that count?

    • MishyMoo on 04/05/2018 - 17:28

      Maybe not, but a sense of humour gets my vote 😊

  • Clear on 04/05/2018 - 15:02
    +1

    Thought this was gonna be a show off your international sim post. Disappointing.

    • StrayfireX on 04/05/2018 - 16:42

      Do you have a lot of international SIMs? Show us plz <3.

      I have 2 NZ SIMs and 2 Indonesian SIMs, that's all.

  • snappy1234 on 04/05/2018 - 16:05
    +3

    I grabbed a ton of telstra $2 sims a few years back.

    When activated they gave $30 credit 😂

    Was a series that has now well and truly
    expired.

    Picked them up at Dick Smith and Post offices. (they must have got this series shipped to them from Telstra)

    Guy on Whirlpool alerted me to this "deal"

    ah those were the days…

  • lawyerz on 05/05/2018 - 07:46

    I have about 10 but man, yours seems excessive.

  • hitman47 on 05/05/2018 - 08:27
    +8

    I use a new sim everyday, but destroy after each phone call. It is a job requirement.

    • poohduck on 05/05/2018 - 09:51
      +2

      I was pondering the nature of your employment, then saw your handle :)

  • supercheapguy on 05/05/2018 - 09:21

    this guy is ready for zombie apocalypse thats for sure

    • idonotknowwhy on 05/05/2018 - 10:05

      Nah, too large an ego. He's going to go around showing off his stash to hungry people and get killed for it.

      • supercheapguy on 08/05/2018 - 09:28

        yeh he would be the first one that get killed lol

  • poohduck on 05/05/2018 - 09:49
    +1

    He's a slut

  • Danthemanz on 05/05/2018 - 10:12

    Ive done a lot of overseas travel and being a tech head i always got a local sim where i went as a language and technical challenge (Only during the more recent smartphone years though).
    I saved them from alot of different countries. If only smart phones had been a thing when i started id have 30-40+ overseas sims, likely only have about a dozen.
    Mainly from South American countries, but i do have some from Iran, China and a few other places.

  • realfancyman on 05/05/2018 - 10:56
    +4

    My SIM collection has gone down in size significantly since Telstra disabled Google Play, I used to get the $30 kits and spend the credit on my own app, turning it into cash. Can't do that anymore…

    • Mr Shooty on 05/05/2018 - 22:39

      Isn't that like… illegal?

      • nickj on 06/05/2018 - 14:59
        +1

        Why would that be illegal? Telstra allowed their credit to use in this way, but they don't allow it any more. At worst it was perhaps a violation of Telstra's T&Cs (can't be bothered to check since it's moot now because it's ended), but odds of them detecting this or caring seem remote. You could always have used rebatr (which is what I did, and got 55% back instead of the 70% that realfancyman would have).

        • Mr Shooty on 06/05/2018 - 15:51

          I meant the part where he bought his own app for profit using the telstra sim cards.

        • nickj on 08/05/2018 - 21:59

          @Mr Shooty: pretty sure it would be an in-app purchase. It could be for anything (subscription, new skin, ad removal for a month, etc), Google probably don't care as long as nobody complains, and it probably costs Telstra the same whichever app you make an in-app purchase in so they probably don't care either. It's not even morally wrong (e.g. it's not too dissimilar to someone buying something from their own shop then getting a cashback on that purchase).

    • Splashtash on 07/05/2018 - 21:19

      same with me ey…

  • andyhui01 on 05/05/2018 - 11:04

    I thought sim hopping was for cheap UberEats and Uber rides $2 for $10+$10 off on Uber and UberEats. Didn't realise there were other purposes.

  • cdaddy on 05/05/2018 - 12:09

    Mine got thrown out but it was an empty small coke bottle (600ml?) filled most way. They were from back in the good old days when the Telstra $30 sim packs went to $5 atleast once a month. You could also get them off eBay in bulk packs like 5 x $30 packs for $20.

  • ozzpete on 05/05/2018 - 16:15
    -1

    Im sim-promiscuous , but I do discriminate. Optus all the way (unless other companies have free/almost free) . I have the old $2 day unlimited everything including unlimited data, so would be stupid for me to change.
    Because I have so many extra $30/$40 optus starter packs laying round, they are the go-to sim for me atm. ie. Needed an extra number to use on gumtree (grabbed $30 sim, 1 month unlimited calls/text, cost me $5) .
    Was wanting to give a $30 sim to family member to use for roaming, while overseas on holiday, didn't get chance to give it to them, so have an extra sim myself atm. Only cost me $5, so Im not fussed.
    3 phone numbers right now (all plenty of credit) .
    1 main number (optus unlimited everything).
    1 gumtree use number (or anything else where I dont want to give out my main/personal number) .
    1 surplus number.
    Used all sims for Uber($20), Uber eats($10).
    Have 1 or 2 of the free (or $5) sims laying round, I think from kogan deal. They were giving away unlimited calls/text plus 30gb of data not long ago.

    • finbar on 06/05/2018 - 11:31
      +2

      sim-promiscuous ?

      shouldn't that be proSIMcuous lol

  • iDroid on 05/05/2018 - 17:00

    Norm?

  • Franconian on 05/05/2018 - 17:15
    +1

    Most sim cards expire after a year, even the ones without expiry date on it and expiry date which is not due. I had massive issues with Amaysim, Boost and Vodafone…

    • lgacb08 on 05/05/2018 - 18:27

      Nah, I got Voda sim bought from HN 2 years ago and it got printed promo expired way before that time, had no issue activating them last month.

    • nocure on 05/05/2018 - 19:29
      +3

      I'm still activating 2012 VF sims

      • nickj on 06/05/2018 - 15:03

        Wow! I've got 8 Vodafone SIMs from 2014 left ($50 kits bought for $1 each during a Coles Express special) and they worked fine last time I activated one, thought that I was pushing it, but 2012 is impressive :-)

        • nocure on 06/05/2018 - 15:24

          They came out of the Coles $9 USB 3g modems with 16GB included.

        • snappy1234 on 08/05/2018 - 15:56
          +1

          @nocure:

          Pleased to hear I have some old ones like that.

          Was a Harvey Norman "deal"
          posted on Oz bargain.

    • Franconian on 05/05/2018 - 23:43

      I had 2 Vodafone $30 starter packs bought 2016, both cannot be activated. Called customer service and was told that all sims expire automatically after 12 months. Apparently they re-activated the sims, but still not working…I may be able to get them activated, but lot of hassle…

  • Ryk on 05/05/2018 - 17:20
    +1

    I have lots of Kogan sims, maybe a dozen. every time I buy a voucher they send a sim pack, and often two packs.

  • Emerald Owl on 05/05/2018 - 23:57
    -4

    I am interested to know if you are Asian or on welfare?

    • ronnknee on 14/05/2018 - 08:27

      What does that have to do with anything?

  • SpaceNinja on 06/05/2018 - 00:15
    +2

    Sims like a huge collection.

    • T1OOO on 06/05/2018 - 01:07

      Give up ur day job imidiatly. The comedy world needs you!!!

  • T1OOO on 06/05/2018 - 01:06
    -1

    A good was to save 13 cents a month over the more reliable providers.

  • SteveBuscemi on 06/05/2018 - 01:23
    +3

    Listen to your roommates.

    • ThadtheChad on 06/05/2018 - 13:56

      Agreed.

      At this point, OP doesn't realise the value of their time. Cocked up number porting, issues with activation etc requires a substantial commitment, time better spent actually doing a real job.

      This almost reminds me of the chump who showered with dish-washing liquid.

      • nocure on 06/05/2018 - 15:18
        +3

        Time spent porting in/out: 60 seconds
        ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

        • ThadtheChad on 06/05/2018 - 16:35
          +2

          That's also a downtime of a few hours, factor in botched porting a few times and time taken to resolve it.

        • nocure on 06/05/2018 - 16:43

          @gearhead:
          Never had a problem, port out to Telstra free $2 SIM and back in to Woolies every month (total cost $1) no downtime, using dual SIM :)

        • ThadtheChad on 06/05/2018 - 18:55

          @nocure:

          That's actually quite unexpected. Personally seen quite a few cocked up ports when we have new starters at work and they port their number over to their work connection.

          That said, if it works for you, more power to you.

  • Jared17 on 06/05/2018 - 04:32

    Wow that's impressive. I got a bunch of telstra, Optus, Voda prepaid Sims that were on sale from Coles or Woolies but my max was only about 15-20 in total. Voda are great cuz the dun expire, i had a few Optus expire on me cuz I neglectrf to check the Expiry dates

  • [Deactivated] on 06/05/2018 - 09:02

    Are you Shane Warne?

  • DemocracyManifest on 06/05/2018 - 15:37

    I have like 40 lyca and at least 50 kogan, and a handful of others I got on the cheap. Used to use them heaps for free uber rides but it got harder as time went on.

  • InfamousCalf on 06/05/2018 - 16:03

    About 5 Optus, 1 Amaysim and 2 Vodafone.
    Been sim hopping the last two years and would've averaged around $10 per month for the usual $30 plans.
    Don't want to horde too much since expiration dates and newer/cheaper deals are always around the corner.

    Someone should make a wiki page with all the freebies you can get with a new number e.g. Uber, GYG, etc.

  • Levathian on 06/05/2018 - 19:11

    74 SIMs? Jesus

  • Splashtash on 07/05/2018 - 21:18

    If anyone has boost sims from groupon sale in 2017 see my post here ———> https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/376927

  • nickj on 10/05/2018 - 13:34

    Stash pic: https://imgur.com/a/6CMheD6
    * Top half is SIMs with no credit, i.e. $2 SIMs, from memory they were all gotten for free. I'll try to avoid using all these if possible, as porting from one SIM with credit to another SIM with credit is quicker and easier and more error-free. Plus the Optus $2 packs have become a liability since Optus started requiring recharges on those before activation.
    * Bottom half has credit. There's only about 15 months of SIMs there, plus 2 data SIMs. Not many Telstra SIMs since they stopped going on sale, plus I used the last few up before the google play credit function was closed. Since that was closed, SIM hopping has gone from a low-profit activity (making around $50/year on my mobile service) into a low-cost activity (costing around $36/year). Most of the packs that remain were bought for $1 (Vodafone) or $5 (Optus). As a general rule, I'll buy kits if it's $5 or less for a pack with $30 or more of credit. In future, I'll try to keep it around 9 months inventory, so I'm happy to run the stash down a bit. That level gives plenty of time and flexibility to take advantage of specials or freebies, but prevents problems with packs expiring, which became an issue when I previously had a larger stash before (with around 28 months of inventory).
    * Another reason for running down the stash: If there was a plan for $20/month with 5 GB of data + unlimited calls & texts, then I'd probably go for that, after using up the stash, so as to avoid the hassle of porting each month. I can see the potential to get to that level in a year or two (we're currently at around 2.5 GB of data for $20/month on some plans).

  • AlienC on 15/05/2018 - 23:45

    Why you need so many don't they like expire in a month?

    • nocure on 16/05/2018 - 09:48

      VF & Woolies don't expire and I regularly order free $2 Telstra sims for porting.

  • [Deactivated] on 17/05/2018 - 19:59

    I've got sims from about 5 different countries. :)

    Best ever deals can be found in the UK on 3.

  • loginid on 07/02/2019 - 09:07

    I admire your tenacity, good show!

  • StrayfireX on 13/07/2020 - 18:05
    +2

    July 2020 Update:
    I'm on the Boost $150 plan now, so I'm not porting between carriers anymore. My whole family is on the Boost $150 plan now, so there's simply no need for more SIMs. I picked up a lot of NZ SIMs in my last trip because they don't expire. I'm thinking of another trip to NZ with my mates soon if we get the Trans-Tasman bubble going. Thinking about moving there too in the long run.

    Usable AU SIMs:
    1 $2 Boost SIM
    1 $5 ALDI SIM
    Total: 2

    Dead/Expired (but unused) AU SIMs
    7 Vodafone $30 SIMs
    1 Vodafone $50 SIM
    2 Kogan SIMs
    (I will try to get them exchanged for new starter kits from Voda, but I don't get coverage from Vodafone/Kogan where I moved anyway so waiting on actual coverage before I try. Don't think I'll ever have a large stash ever again because of expiry being added now)
    Total: 10

    Usable NZ SIMs
    1 $19 2Degrees SIM
    2 $29 2Degrees SIM
    1 $0 2Degrees Travel SIM
    2 $1 (with $5 credit) Warehouse Mobile SIMs
    2 $2 Skinny SIMs (Cheapies free Skinny SIM deal)
    Total: 6

    1 Unlimited USA travel SIM

    Grand total: 21, but 11 if you only count activatable SIMs down from a total of 74 in 2018, lol.

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