Shopping for a new cell phone? - 4 tips that will help you get your time and money’s worth

Jul 22nd, 2007 by David Murphy-Colonna | Scroll down for comments

Recently I went to the mall with my mother to help her upgrade her cell phone and pick a new service plan since her two year contract was up. For many people this could be a hassle and costly, but if you know what you are doing, and understand the cell phone service industry, you will be able to get the most for your money and get a pretty good deal. There are certain things you can do to minimize your costs in the future and also get the most for your money and time at most cell phone stores. Here are a few tips that will help you save the most cash:

In terms of services and contracts, know exactly what you are looking for. Before you go to the cell phone store and start dealing with hounding sales people throwing all types of lingo at you as well as offering you all the “great” features, do some research on the types of plan and phone you want to buy ahead of time, that way you can go in a basically serve yourself. This will expediate the shopping process and make it easier to negotiate for some discounts later on

Look at your previous bills to determine what type of minutes, data plan, and features you may need this time around. Many people, including myself at times, have way too many minutes available and can usually cut at least $5.00-$10.00 off of their bill just buy adjusting their minutes. Yes, you can usually change your minutes, data plans, and features after you buy the phone, but try to cut your cost early on. So take a few minutes to do some research and you will already be saving yourself time and money in the future.

Side Note: Don’t just brainlessly pay your cellphone bill every month, especially after you buy into a new contract. Sometimes there are bizzare charges that appear out of nowhere that the cell phone companies throw on your bills either by mistake or dare I say to trick you. So just take a look at your monthly bill carefully each month, I have saved myself plenty of money in the past by catching mistakes my wireless provider has made. One time I even caught an erroneous charge for $50.00!

Know that service and data plans as well as contract prices and lengths cannot be negotiated. Do not try to cut costs by asking for 1000 minutes for $50.00 when it really costs $60.00, the sale rep has no control over the prices of service plans, the wireless provider does. You can negotiate the price over other things, which leads me too my last tip.

Negotiate for discounts or freebies on merchandise such a cases, chargers, headsets etc. Sales reps work on commission, but like I said do not have the ability to change service prices. However, they can give you deals on others items such as cases, chargers, and sometimes phones. In order to complete their phone and services sales many sales reps will be happy to give you discounts on free add ons because it will ensure the sale and their commission. A lot of these items are marked up anyway so when a case says it is $20.00 ask if you can get it for free at first and if not, ask again, and if not ask for $10.00. Play hard when trying to get this biggest bang for your buck, remember they want to get that final sale of the phone and services, thats where they make their money. So don’t be afraid to be a little pushy when trying to get some free or discounted items, it will usually work, and if not there is no loss, its not like the sales rep is your neighbor that you see everyday.

So thats it. These are 4 great ways to save you time and money when shopping for a cell phone. The most important things to do is research and to remember that sales reps work on commission and will be willing to give you many discounts on other merchandise.

Do you have any other tips that can save money when shopping for a cell phone? We would love to hear them. Leave a comment! Leave some of your own personal experiences.

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David Murphy-Colonna posted this article under Personal Finance on Sunday, July 22nd, 2007 at 8:39 pm You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment or trackback from your own site. View Technorati Linkbacks.