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  1. #1
    bill..
    Guest
    I have been shopping for a GSM replacement to my 3 old AT&T phone.
    Current favorite is the Moto V551.

    After checking on-line pricing from various 3rd party vendors I was
    really surprised at the difference between their pricing and the
    stores.

    On-line average price was $0 with 2 year contract - best price was
    -$75 ( they pay me!!)
    Cingular store price $119 ( current "deal" with rebate)

    I understand that someone has to pay for bricks and mortar etc and I
    would be willing to pay more at the store for convenience of return,
    service etc - say $30
    But $120 to $185 more for the same boxed product is way too much for
    me to swallow.

    Maybe I'm missing something.
    Can anyone shed light why - or give me a sensible reason to do
    business at the Cingular store vs on-line?


    Bill





    See More: Why are phones so expensive at the stores?




  2. #2
    No Spam
    Guest

    Re: Why are phones so expensive at the stores?

    Did you check out Amazon? My T-Mo phone came from them. The T-Mo price
    back then was $250 after the rebate, the Amazon had 2 rebates that put
    the phone at just the shipping cost of $6. Same planes were available
    from Amazon that you could get at the T-Mo store.

    I think Cingular contracts with Amazon as well, check it out if you
    have'nt.

    bill.. wrote:
    > I have been shopping for a GSM replacement to my 3 old AT&T phone.
    > Current favorite is the Moto V551.
    >
    > After checking on-line pricing from various 3rd party vendors I was
    > really surprised at the difference between their pricing and the
    > stores.
    >
    > On-line average price was $0 with 2 year contract - best price was
    > -$75 ( they pay me!!)
    > Cingular store price $119 ( current "deal" with rebate)
    >
    > I understand that someone has to pay for bricks and mortar etc and I
    > would be willing to pay more at the store for convenience of return,
    > service etc - say $30
    > But $120 to $185 more for the same boxed product is way too much for
    > me to swallow.
    >
    > Maybe I'm missing something.
    > Can anyone shed light why - or give me a sensible reason to do
    > business at the Cingular store vs on-line?
    >
    >
    > Bill
    >
    >




  3. #3
    bill..
    Guest

    Re: Why are phones so expensive at the stores?

    Actually, there are lots of good deals out there.

    I am wondering why doesn't Cingular offer them themselves too?

    On Sun, 27 Feb 2005 10:16:05 -0700, No Spam <[email protected]>
    wrote:

    >Did you check out Amazon? My T-Mo phone came from them. The T-Mo price
    >back then was $250 after the rebate, the Amazon had 2 rebates that put
    >the phone at just the shipping cost of $6. Same planes were available
    >from Amazon that you could get at the T-Mo store.
    >
    >I think Cingular contracts with Amazon as well, check it out if you
    >have'nt.
    >




  4. #4
    MarkW
    Guest

    Re: Why are phones so expensive at the stores?

    I just signed up with Cingular and I was going to get a V551 and went
    to a store selling Cingular in a mall. THey tried to give me a free
    phone (Nokia) but I wanted the V551. Of cousre they started at $179
    and later went down to $159. I was getting a family plan with 2
    phones. They didnt' offer anything for a second phone except a Nokia
    as well for free or said they could unlock my TMobile V300 and use
    that. Well an hour later I was online and found a place I could get
    two V551's with this plan for free so you know which way I went.
    there's no way I could spend that when I could get it for free online.



  5. #5
    Jack Zwick
    Guest

    Re: Why are phones so expensive at the stores?

    In article <[email protected]>,
    bill.. <[email protected]> wrote:

    > I have been shopping for a GSM replacement to my 3 old AT&T phone.
    > Current favorite is the Moto V551.
    >
    > After checking on-line pricing from various 3rd party vendors I was
    > really surprised at the difference between their pricing and the
    > stores.
    >
    > On-line average price was $0 with 2 year contract - best price was
    > -$75 ( they pay me!!)
    > Cingular store price $119 ( current "deal" with rebate)
    >
    > I understand that someone has to pay for bricks and mortar etc and I
    > would be willing to pay more at the store for convenience of return,
    > service etc - say $30
    > But $120 to $185 more for the same boxed product is way too much for
    > me to swallow.
    >
    > Maybe I'm missing something.
    > Can anyone shed light why - or give me a sensible reason to do
    > business at the Cingular store vs on-line?


    If you get a DOA phone or a battery dies after 3 months, you'll rue the
    day you bought online when you're waiting days for your replacement,
    instead of instantaneous at the Cingular store. It's your choice.



  6. #6
    (Pete Cresswell)
    Guest

    Re: Why are phones so expensive at the stores?

    Per Jack Zwick:
    >If you get a DOA phone or a battery dies after 3 months, you'll rue the
    >day you bought online when you're waiting days for your replacement,
    >instead of instantaneous at the Cingular store. It's your choice.


    Which Cingular store? In the Philly area, they used to have a walk-in repair
    facility in Trooper..but they closed it some years back.f

    Now I've got a couple of phones whose keypads are going and I'd *really* like to
    get them fixed without being offline for a couple days while devices are in the
    mail. Somebody mentioned a mail-in service, but I can't figure out how I
    could get uninterrupted service using it.
    --
    PeteCresswell



  7. #7
    scott14661
    scott14661 is offline
    Sr. Member

    Location
    Maryland
    Posts
    122 - liked 4 times

    Quote Originally Posted by bill..
    I have been shopping for a GSM replacement to my 3 old AT&T phone.
    Current favorite is the Moto V551.

    After checking on-line pricing from various 3rd party vendors I was
    really surprised at the difference between their pricing and the
    stores.

    On-line average price was $0 with 2 year contract - best price was
    -$75 ( they pay me!!)
    Cingular store price $119 ( current "deal" with rebate)

    I understand that someone has to pay for bricks and mortar etc and I
    would be willing to pay more at the store for convenience of return,
    service etc - say $30
    But $120 to $185 more for the same boxed product is way too much for
    me to swallow.

    Maybe I'm missing something.
    Can anyone shed light why - or give me a sensible reason to do
    business at the Cingular store vs on-line?


    Bill
    I work for an authorized agent of Cingular Wireless, and I can tell you that there is no way for us to match an internet deal. My owner would lose money if he matched the online prices or Amazon's prices. It all depends on what Cingular pays them for a new customer. The more Cingular pays my owner, the better the deal we can offer a customer. Cingular may be offering a really special deal to certain online dealers. I can't tell you for sure.

    What I can tell you is Cingular.com will offer you a better deal than purchasing the phone from inside a store. They can do that because they don't have to pay the middle man which would be the dealer, or pay out commission to a sales rep.
    Scott
    Send me an E-mail at [email protected]



  8. #8
    Dave C.
    Guest

    Re: Why are phones so expensive at the stores?

    >
    > Which Cingular store? In the Philly area, they used to have a walk-in

    repair
    > facility in Trooper..but they closed it some years back.f
    >
    > Now I've got a couple of phones whose keypads are going and I'd *really*

    like to
    > get them fixed without being offline for a couple days while devices are

    in the
    > mail. Somebody mentioned a mail-in service, but I can't figure out how

    I
    > could get uninterrupted service using it.
    > --
    > PeteCresswell


    We've had cell phones for long enough now that we have spares . . . and yes,
    they work OK on Cingular GSM. If one of our T720s had a problem (unlikely),
    we've got a Nokia 3595 that works just fine. Just pop out the sim and put
    it in the nokia. Done!

    Don't know why you couldn't buy the cheapest Cingular (or unlocked) GSM
    phone you can find (new or used, as long as it works) off of ebay and pop
    your SIM into it so that you can send one of your current phones in for
    repair. I'm sure Cingular can service the phone without the SIM in
    t. -Dave





  9. #9
    bill..
    Guest

    Re: Why are phones so expensive at the stores?

    On Sun, 27 Feb 2005 16:38:24 -0600, scott14661
    <[email protected]> wrote:


    >What I can tell you is Cingular.com will offer you a better deal than
    >purchasing the phone from inside a store. They can do that because
    >they don't have to pay the middle man which would be the dealer, or pay
    >out commission to a sales rep.



    Good point - that makes this whole pricing comparison even wierder.
    Forget the stores and compare the Internet deals to Cingular.com

    Right now for my zip code, Amazon.com is $195 cheaper than
    Cingular.com for the same phone/contract.

    Bill




  10. #10
    (Pete Cresswell)
    Guest

    Re: Why are phones so expensive at the stores?

    Per Dave C.:
    >Don't know why you couldn't buy the cheapest Cingular (or unlocked) GSM
    >phone you can find (new or used, as long as it works) off of ebay and pop
    >your SIM into it so that you can send one of your current phones in for
    >repair. I'm sure Cingular can service the phone without the SIM in


    Phone fungability is probably the primary attraction of GSM for me.

    But I'm on TDMA. Some "family plan" that they've stopped supporting, but still
    is about forty bucks a month less than I'd have to pay to get the same service
    with a GSM account.


    --
    PeteCresswell



  11. #11
    Jiu Jitsuperfly
    Guest

    Re: Why are phones so expensive at the stores?


    "scott14661" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]...
    >
    > bill.. Wrote:
    >> I have been shopping for a GSM replacement to my 3 old AT&T phone.
    >> Current favorite is the Moto V551.
    >>
    >> After checking on-line pricing from various 3rd party vendors I was
    >> really surprised at the difference between their pricing and the
    >> stores.
    >>
    >> On-line average price was $0 with 2 year contract - best price was
    >> -$75 ( they pay me!!)
    >> Cingular store price $119 ( current "deal" with rebate)
    >>
    >> I understand that someone has to pay for bricks and mortar etc and I
    >> would be willing to pay more at the store for convenience of return,
    >> service etc - say $30
    >> But $120 to $185 more for the same boxed product is way too much for
    >> me to swallow.
    >>
    >> Maybe I'm missing something.
    >> Can anyone shed light why - or give me a sensible reason to do
    >> business at the Cingular store vs on-line?
    >>
    >>
    >> Bill

    >
    > I work for an authorized agent of Cingular Wireless, and I can tell you
    > that there is no way for us to match an internet deal. My owner would
    > lose money if he matched the online prices or Amazon's prices. It all
    > depends on what Cingular pays them for a new customer. The more
    > Cingular pays my owner, the better the deal we can offer a customer.
    > Cingular may be offering a really special deal to certain online
    > dealers. I can't tell you for sure.
    >
    > What I can tell you is Cingular.com will offer you a better deal than
    > purchasing the phone from inside a store. They can do that because
    > they don't have to pay the middle man which would be the dealer, or pay
    > out commission to a sales rep.


    It never ceases to amaze me when people bring their messed up phones from
    second party sources and want us to fix and/or warranty them.

    If you buy a phone online you will recieve ZERO assistance from Cingular if
    something should go wrong with your phone.

    If you buy from an authorized dealer you will recieve ZERO assistance from
    Cingular if something should go wrong with your phone.

    These business' make their own deals regarding phone pricing through their
    distributors or the manufacturers.

    Have fun saving money though!

    --
    JJ





  12. #12
    Lisa Drake
    Guest

    Re: Why are phones so expensive at the stores?

    In article <[email protected]>,
    "Jiu Jitsuperfly" <[email protected]> wrote:


    > It never ceases to amaze me when people bring their messed up phones from
    > second party sources and want us to fix and/or warranty them.
    >
    > If you buy a phone online you will recieve ZERO assistance from Cingular if
    > something should go wrong with your phone.
    >
    > If you buy from an authorized dealer you will recieve ZERO assistance from
    > Cingular if something should go wrong with your phone.
    >
    > These business' make their own deals regarding phone pricing through their
    > distributors or the manufacturers.
    >
    > Have fun saving money though!


    I'm sorry, if I buy a phone from Cingular online, why WOULDN'T a
    Cingular B&M store fix it??? You can't use the brand name if you're not
    willing to stand behind it.



  13. #13
    Tony Clark
    Guest

    Re: Why are phones so expensive at the stores?


    "Jiu Jitsuperfly" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]...
    >

    SNIP

    > It never ceases to amaze me when people bring their messed up phones from
    > second party sources and want us to fix and/or warranty them.
    >
    > If you buy a phone online you will recieve ZERO assistance from Cingular
    > if something should go wrong with your phone.
    >
    > If you buy from an authorized dealer you will recieve ZERO assistance from
    > Cingular if something should go wrong with your phone.
    >


    If you buy from Cingular they will replace the phone in the first 30 days,
    after that it has to be sent in for repair. Don't try and make Cingular out
    to be some good smaratin in the phone business. You may also not know that
    some retailers and online sellers will give you just as good a warranty
    service as Cingular and in some cases better.

    > These business' make their own deals regarding phone pricing through their
    > distributors or the manufacturers.
    >
    > Have fun saving money though!
    >

    This is somewhat misleading. Yes, the dealers make their own deals for the
    cost of the phones but if they are reselling Cingular service they usually
    recieve a comission or fee for signing up new customers. For example, a
    phone like a Moto V551 might cost say $300 US to the dealer. Cingular may
    pay $350 for a new customer. The dealer may pass on part of that rebate to
    the customer and only charge $50 for the phone so in the end they still make
    $100 on the deal (minus whatever they pay the sales person).

    TC





  14. #14
    Jack Zwick
    Guest

    Re: Why are phones so expensive at the stores?

    In article <[email protected]>,
    "Jiu Jitsuperfly" <[email protected]> wrote:

    > "scott14661" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > >
    > > bill.. Wrote:
    > >> I have been shopping for a GSM replacement to my 3 old AT&T phone.
    > >> Current favorite is the Moto V551.
    > >>
    > >> After checking on-line pricing from various 3rd party vendors I was
    > >> really surprised at the difference between their pricing and the
    > >> stores.
    > >>
    > >> On-line average price was $0 with 2 year contract - best price was
    > >> -$75 ( they pay me!!)
    > >> Cingular store price $119 ( current "deal" with rebate)
    > >>
    > >> I understand that someone has to pay for bricks and mortar etc and I
    > >> would be willing to pay more at the store for convenience of return,
    > >> service etc - say $30
    > >> But $120 to $185 more for the same boxed product is way too much for
    > >> me to swallow.
    > >>
    > >> Maybe I'm missing something.
    > >> Can anyone shed light why - or give me a sensible reason to do
    > >> business at the Cingular store vs on-line?
    > >>
    > >>
    > >> Bill

    > >
    > > I work for an authorized agent of Cingular Wireless, and I can tell you
    > > that there is no way for us to match an internet deal. My owner would
    > > lose money if he matched the online prices or Amazon's prices. It all
    > > depends on what Cingular pays them for a new customer. The more
    > > Cingular pays my owner, the better the deal we can offer a customer.
    > > Cingular may be offering a really special deal to certain online
    > > dealers. I can't tell you for sure.
    > >
    > > What I can tell you is Cingular.com will offer you a better deal than
    > > purchasing the phone from inside a store. They can do that because
    > > they don't have to pay the middle man which would be the dealer, or pay
    > > out commission to a sales rep.

    >
    > It never ceases to amaze me when people bring their messed up phones from
    > second party sources and want us to fix and/or warranty them.
    >
    > If you buy a phone online you will recieve ZERO assistance from Cingular if
    > something should go wrong with your phone.


    Doesn't matter if the phone says Cingular on it and came in a Cingular
    Box and was bought from a Cingular authorized Dealer. Then you wonder
    why Cingular has a poor reputation for Customer Service. It never ceases
    to amaze me the arrogance of Cingular employees and agents.

    You can take an Apple Computer bought at any authorized Apple Dealer
    into any Apple owned store, and get service under warranty.


    >
    > If you buy from an authorized dealer you will recieve ZERO assistance from
    > Cingular if something should go wrong with your phone.
    >
    > These business' make their own deals regarding phone pricing through their
    > distributors or the manufacturers.
    >
    > Have fun saving money though!
    >
    > --
    > JJ




  15. #15
    scott14661
    scott14661 is offline
    Sr. Member

    Location
    Maryland
    Posts
    122 - liked 4 times

    Quote Originally Posted by Jiu Jitsuperfly
    "scott14661" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]...
    >
    > bill.. Wrote:
    >> I have been shopping for a GSM replacement to my 3 old AT&T phone.
    >> Current favorite is the Moto V551.
    >>
    >> After checking on-line pricing from various 3rd party vendors I was
    >> really surprised at the difference between their pricing and the
    >> stores.
    >>
    >> On-line average price was $0 with 2 year contract - best price was
    >> -$75 ( they pay me!!)
    >> Cingular store price $119 ( current "deal" with rebate)
    >>
    >> I understand that someone has to pay for bricks and mortar etc and I
    >> would be willing to pay more at the store for convenience of return,
    >> service etc - say $30
    >> But $120 to $185 more for the same boxed product is way too much for
    >> me to swallow.
    >>
    >> Maybe I'm missing something.
    >> Can anyone shed light why - or give me a sensible reason to do
    >> business at the Cingular store vs on-line?
    >>
    >>
    >> Bill

    >
    > I work for an authorized agent of Cingular Wireless, and I can tell you
    > that there is no way for us to match an internet deal. My owner would
    > lose money if he matched the online prices or Amazon's prices. It all
    > depends on what Cingular pays them for a new customer. The more
    > Cingular pays my owner, the better the deal we can offer a customer.
    > Cingular may be offering a really special deal to certain online
    > dealers. I can't tell you for sure.
    >
    > What I can tell you is Cingular.com will offer you a better deal than
    > purchasing the phone from inside a store. They can do that because
    > they don't have to pay the middle man which would be the dealer, or pay
    > out commission to a sales rep.


    It never ceases to amaze me when people bring their messed up phones from
    second party sources and want us to fix and/or warranty them.

    If you buy a phone online you will recieve ZERO assistance from Cingular if
    something should go wrong with your phone.

    If you buy from an authorized dealer you will recieve ZERO assistance from
    Cingular if something should go wrong with your phone.

    These business' make their own deals regarding phone pricing through their
    distributors or the manufacturers.

    Have fun saving money though!

    --
    JJ
    Not completely correct. If you buy a Cingular phone from a Cingular "authorized" dealer, it is covered under the same warranty as buying from a Cingular company owned store. Cingular has to assist you with any problems that arise as a result of the phone.
    Scott
    Send me an E-mail at [email protected]



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