AT&T iPhone 6 for Half the Price

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As I mentioned yesterday, we are hoping for Plenti points for adding a new line to our AT&T plan.  My middle school aged daughter only wanted an iPhone 6 for her birthday.  I am not one to spend a lot of money at all.  Most would call me cheap. 

We've been talking about adding her to our AT&T plan for quite a while because her current cell phone service had limited capabilities and we felt like we might even save money by moving her.   When I saw the offer on Plenti for getting 5000 points for adding a line, it got me thinking.  I looked up phones and she could have a nice used upgrade from what she already had.   When I approached her about it for her birthday, she was firm in only wanting an iPhone 6.  I finally told her that if having a current phone would mean that she would no long need an upgrade all the time, I'd get it if I could find one on eBay for $350 or less.

The problem with purchasing one on eBay for $350 was that it because a lot more expensive very quickly.  I would need to add insurance in case it did not work when it arrived which would be another $100.  Then sometimes they just don't work quite right since they've usually been dropped a lot and then refurbished.

Then I noticed a deal at AT&T.  I could trade in any old smart phone that had over a $10 value and get a $200 credit on the phone as long as she signed up for the AT&T Next plan which requires us to make payments on the phone.  In addition, we'd get a $100 credit for addding the line and keeping it in good standing for 45 days.  If we add the $50 worth of plenti points we'd get, then it is like getting a $650 phone for $300.  This phone included the Apple warranty and was new instead of used. 

I found an old Samsung S4 Active that I had lying around the house that fit the bill. The offer really seemed too good to be true so I told my daughter to say some prayers as we could only do this if all worked out. 

I had the sales agent verify first that he would take my used phone.  Then I verified that we qualified for the deal.  We did.

So here is a summary of what we got:

$650 iPhone 6
-$200 phone trade in credit for a phone that was not worth $200 and was sitting around unused.
-$100 credit for porting her number in from a different company.
-$50 when plenti points are awarded.

We did have to pay sales tax on the new phone that we would not have had to pay on eBay, so that's something to consider as well.  She officially has a much nicer phone than I do.