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Buying handset up front

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Hey,

Okay, so I understand the sums that mean that buying a handset and then getting a sim only contract is cheaper most of the time. However, my OH gets a 20% discount with Vodafone, which means that the savings made with buying upfront are more or less wiped out.

So my question is, are there any other good reasons to buy your handset up front?

Additional info: we're after top-end android handsets (one each) and we'll probably be passing on our current handsets to our teenage children.

Comments

  • DCFC79
    DCFC79 Posts: 40,635 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    It all depends on what sim only contracts and phones you get. You can get this Moto G for £105 and couple it with a sim only plan from Tesco for £7.50.
  • DCFC79 wrote: »
    It all depends on what sim only contracts and phones you get. You can get this Moto G for £105 and couple it with a sim only plan from Tesco for £7.50.

    Thank you. I suspect the handsets will be top-end. Probably around the £400-500 mark
  • mobilejunkie
    mobilejunkie Posts: 8,460 Forumite
    I think there's an excellent reason. You can avoid being a Vodafone customer.
  • Rev
    Rev Posts: 3,171 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 29 January 2016 at 6:58PM
    I always look for a sim only that suits my needs and add that to the cost of buying the handset out right. I go for over 24 months as that'd the length of 99% of contracts.

    £10 can get you a lot sim only wise these days. So I generally add £240 to the price of whatever phone in after buying. I very rarely find a contract that matches it. Also I can change at any time if I see a cheaper deal. Or if my usage changes I can change to a tariff that suits my needs.

    Don't just assume it will be cheaper because of the discount. Actually do the math.

    If with the discount you can get a contract that is the same or cheaper then do that.
    Sigless
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