I wrote a blog post a few weeks ago titled Verizon Storm 2 Question. The post was about how I used the upgrade on my line to get my girlfriend a Storm 2 on her line (we’re on a family share plan). When I did this I asked the sales guy about the buy one, get one free offer. He said it would only work if I got a new line since the other line on my share plan was not eligible for an upgrade. I won’t go into my the whole story as it’s in the previous post but I wanted to let you know what I ended up doing.
What I decided to do
I added another line to my family plan in order to get a free Storm 2. This means that I signed a new 2-year contract. I was required to activate the Storm 2 on my new line and as soon as I did I then took it off that line. I then put my girlfriend’s old phone onto that line. This allowed me to sell the Storm 2. Also when you activate the Storm 2 Verizon requires you to add a data plan to that line. Once I took the Storm 2 off of my line I was able to immediately drop the data plan. I am also required to keep the line for 30 days. If I cancel it before 30 days I’m required to return the Storm 2.
The costs
The Storm 2 costs $279.99 with a 2-year contracts. I also had a $100 credit from Verizon for my new every two. Then the Storm 2 also came with a $100 mail-in rebate, which I sent out right away. The cost of adding another line is $9.99. I just received my first bill a few days ago and it included “Verizon wireless surcharges and other charges” equaling $27.95. This included activation. Now I was told activation was free and looking at another part of my bill I was credited $27.24. Then I also had “Taxes, governmental surcharges and fees” totaling $4.01. So my grand total for the first month is $14.71.
My ebay experience
I then took the Storm 2 to ebay. They were running a promotion so the listing was free. Actually I paid $0.50 for the listing because I included a sub-title. All I did for the listing was pretty much copy a recently finished listing. The final offer for my phone $485. I was hoping to get close to $500 since the retail price of the Storm 2 is $539.99 without a contract. I was pretty happy with the price and was paid through paypal. I included free shipping on ebay so that cost me $6.67. Then after paypal fees I was able to withdraw $465.78.
Total experience
So let’s look at this in total. When I look at my receipt, the total came to $213.53 which included a case and screen cover. In return I got another Storm 2 in which I was able to put $459.11 in my pocket right now. I also have $100 mail-in rebate that I should receive in a couple of weeks. The downfall is that I have to deal with my other line. I can do one of two things, 1. I can cancel the line and pay the $175 cancellation fee and be done with it or 2. I can continue to pay the $9.99 per month plus taxes and fees for 2 years. I have another week and a half to decide if there is any reason to keep this extra line?
If I follow my original plan and cancel the line as soon as I can Verizon will have paid me $155.87 to get my girlfriend a brand new Storm 2 with a case and screen cover. That’s not too shabby. I do have let you know that I’ve read recently that Verizon is raising their early termination fee on ‘advanced devices’. Sounds like this is prevent what I just did. Good thing it’s a little late.
Related posts:
{ 1 trackback }
{ 0 comments… add one now }