| It
Matters Where you Buy
By Allan
Keiter
Many people are under the impression
that if they want to initially
subscribe or switch to a certain
carrier’s service, they
must deal directly with that
carrier when buying. Not only
is that a myth, but doing so
may cost you an additional $200
or more for your cell phone.
There
are thousands of places you
can sign up for new cell phone
service, including retail stores,
mall kiosks, or online. Regardless
of the location, you will either
be buying directly from the
carrier or from an independent
retailer acting as an authorized
agent on behalf of the carrier.
Additionally, no matter where
you make your purchase, it will
consist of a package containing
a rate plan and a cell phone.
Since
the carriers (e.g., Cingular)
provide the service, they are
the ones who set the terms and
conditions (e.g., the number
of anytime minutes) of their
rate plans. These terms will
the same regardless of where
you buy. Therefore, while it
is important to choose the right
calling plan to minimize your
monthly bill, there is no reason
to visit a lot of different
places to seek out different
calling plans for the same carrier.
This also means that there is
no advantage in buying directly
from the carrier, either from
one of their retail stores or
from their website.
In
fact, buying directly from the
carrier is usually a bad idea,
as they often charge the highest
prices for the cell phones.
On the other hand, independent
retailers set their own cell
phone prices individually, and
the differences can be quite
dramatic. Additionally you will
usually find that online retailers,
lacking the overhead of physical
stores, have the best prices
of all.
Why
does this price discrepancy
happen? There’s not enough
space to explain in full detail,
but it has to do with the way
wireless carriers compensate
their agents, and the fact that
most people, particularly when
searching on the Internet, are
shopping based on price. Since
the rate plans are the same,
the only real point of differentiation
for the retailer is the cell
phone price.
For
more information and to see
some current comparisons, visit
MyRatePlan.com
Allan
Keiter is president of MyRatePlan.com.
Founded in 1999, MyRatePlan
offers unbiased content,
filters and calculators
to help consumers make
more informed decisions
about the products and
services they research
and buy online.
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