Deals: The cheap new Nokia cell phone post.
I’m hoping that today’s blog might actually be of some use to people looking to get a new Nokia cell phone for the best possible price.
We’ll take a look at cheap prepaid phone deals, retail stores, ebay, and even Chinatown.
PhoneMatchup
A project of mine, PhoneMatchup reads daily lists of mobile phone auctions from ebay, puts it through a nice filter, and returns the results. This is great for weeding out the junk that comes with finding phones on the auction site as well as providing some good deals on Buy It Now auctions. And last but not least, you can use the Phone Finder to pick out cell phones with features that you’d like to see.
The Recurring Nokia 6010 cell phone deal (prepaid)
There’s always a thread on the fatwallet forums with a great deal on this phone. Currently this phone is $39.95 at Target, but you can pricematch to Staples and get the extra 10% discount. Then check out tmobilerebates.com for a $30 rebate. Total cost: $5.99 after rebate! Not only do you get the included prepaid minutes, you can also use any sim card on this phone which makes it a great deal for a backup phone.
The phone isn’t anything great – it’s probably average or slightly below average then your typical nokia phone. But it is 850/1900 so you can use it on Tmobile, Cingular, etc.
Cingular/Tmobile Retail Stores (re-edited 4/17/07)
Retail stores may very well be an excellent place to get a good phone deal. See related entry “An insider look at getting some hot cell phone carrier deals” for more information on squeezing out every last drop from the store reps.
Cingular/Tmobile Customer Retention Deals
I’m not sure how it is with Tmobile, but with Cingular, when thinking about closing your account you have some leverage that you can use to deal. If you say, “Tmobile is offering x minutes at $x.xx per month” Cingular will usually match or beat it. and throw in some free phones. Remember, you’re the customer, so you can bargain (especially if you’ve been with your provider for a long time). I don’t think it’d be any different with Tmobile. The best thing, if the deal you get isn’t worth it you can still go to…
Chinatown
The Chinatown that I’m referring to is the one in New York City, but it should be relatively the same everywhere else. In NYC, E. Broadway (around the Market St. area) is your best bet as there are a ton of cell phone shops in a small area. Nearly all stores have no problem communicating in English, and you should check all the stores since prices can vary from 10-200 bucks. I personally recommend the cell phone store off E. Broadway right before Market St. (on the same side as the library) with the Western Union inside the building. The people there are definitely more knowledgeable than most of the other stores.
The best prices can be had with Tmobile, but unfortunately Tmobile isn’t the greatest service around.
If you’re looking to get a family plan, you have the option of getting 2 different lines and combining them after 7 months into a family plan or just getting the family plan. Getting 2 lines is cheaper upfront for phones but you’ll be paying more for the first 7 months before you can combine the plans. One thing to note – all transactions are done in cash! So if you’re looking to buy a Nokia N90 phone then you’d better bring 500 bucks cash with you. I’m serious.
If you don’t want to bring that much money, or you don’t like the prices, you should probably get a RAZR or some other free cell phone with high resale value and put it up on fleabay.
eBay
Ebay is still probably the best place to get cell phones without a plan. If you watch auctions for a certain cell phone long enough, you’ll should always be able to snag one for less than the average price. I got my Nokia N90 for 415 vs the average of ~530 just by watching the auctions like a hawk.
