Prepaid cellphones, pt 2 - Guide to buy

Link to Prepaid cellphones, pt 1

Where to buy pre-paid cell phones

Unlike a contract phone where the most important factor for buying is the features of a particular cell phone, prepaid cell phones require a more sensible approach. The most important factor is probably cost. Since the phone is likely to be a one-time purchase (unless it breaks and sometimes it's free with a promotion), then it is best to compare the price per minute of the phone cards. Of course, this may change over time, but you gotta start somewhere.

Available vendors.

	Lowest Card (USD)	Minutes	$$$/Min	Service Date
Net10	$30	300	$0.10	60 days
TracFone	$19.99	60	$0.33	90 days
Cingular	$15	60	$0.25	30 days
Boost Mobile	$20	varies-day, eve minutes	$0.10 - $0.20	monthly service
US Cellular	$25	100	$0.25	monthly service
Amp'd Mobile	$20	200	$0.20	60 days

Things to consider

1) Not all cellphone plan carrier serves every area. As an example, US Cellular is not one of my options because they don't cover Southern California as of this date.

2) You have to buy the cellphone upfront. Unlike contract plans where the cost of the phone can be buried in the service agreement for payment over time, prepaid phones will cost you anywhere from $50.00 and up for the phone.

3) Be sure to add minutes to your phone before the expiration of the service dates. In prepaid phones, you're leasing the phone number that's assigned to you. If you let it expire, that phone number can be assigned to someone else; you can re-subscribe, but you'll get a different number. Adding minutes before the service date expires keeps the phone number in your name.

Suggestions

Reviewing the above options for cell phone vendors, the most widely available carrier seems to be TracFone. Their 90 days service date also makes a lot of sense for me since I do not intend to use the cell phone a lot. At $0.33/minute, TracFone seems to be the most expensive of all the vendors above. However, if I purchase 120 min for $29.99, the rate drops to $0.25/min. Additionally, there's also an option for 400 min for 1 year. Tracfone also runs a promotion from time to time. Currently they have buy a 1 Year Card and get 50 bonus minutes and a FREE phone.

Technorati Tags: cellphone, cell phone, Cingular, Net 10, TracFone, Boost Mobile, US Cellular, Amp'd Mobile, prepaid cellphone

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Guide to buying a cell phone

eBay has a great condensed guide on how to buy cell phones. In short, they broke it down to 4 steps:

1) Select a cell phone provider and plans

Factors to consider:

• Cellphone compatibility between service providers because you might want to change services later while keeping the phone.
• Pre-paid service or conventional contract
  
• Area of coverage
• Keep your cell phone number or not?

I would add the following:

• family plan coverage
• minutes
• details on Internet access
• fees on texting (mostly if you have teenagers or if you're a teenager)

2) Evaluate cell phone features

• Plan to use outside your local area or not? Mostly for local or nationwide business use. The answer impacts if you get a standard phone or one with a Global System.
• Use of Internet and e-mail?
• Size and weight of the cellphone.
  

3) Find cell phone on eBay (of course)

• Browse the cell phone categories, OR
• Search via keywords

4) Buy with confidence (note eBay's safety precaution)

• "Ask seller a question"
• note seller's feedbacks
• buy through Paypal
• if necessary, there's the Security & Resolution Center

Read eBay's guide in details.

Additional notes on getting deals on cell phones

Before concluding, in step 3, you might be able to save more money from other online resources. Places such as LetsTalk.com and service providers offer some form of rebates whenever you buy a cell phone with a new plan. Such rebates are no different from what you can get from retail locations, i.e. you pay for the phone upfront, activate the service, mail-in the rebate form and get the rebate check later on. In the end, depending on the amount of the rebate, you may be able to get the cellphone for free.

A better online source, because of less hassle, is Amazon.com. They give instant credit for some cellphones so that you don't have to send out for the rebates - your final price is simply $0.01.

Nevertheless, eBay remains as one of the better sources to buy "unlocked" cellphones.

Happy hunting!

Technorati Tags: cellphone, cell phone, Guide to buy a cellphone, How to buy a cell phone, Tips on buying a cell phone

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