• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

How exactly do phone monthly payments work on T-Mobile?

andyacecandy

andyacecandy

Well-Known Member
I'm trying to understand what the catch is... I've never done a monthly payment system before.

So, I pay like $30/month for a new phone... and let's say I want a newer phone in a year. Do I just trade this phone in and continue making the $30/month payment on the new phone?

Rinse and repeat forever? What's the catch? I have to be losing out somewhere, right?
 
That's my understanding, but I'm on prepaid so can't speak from experience.

Of course, the JUMP (anytime upgrade) program tacks an additional $10/mo onto your bill - that's in addition to whatever phone payment is already on there - though, as T-Mobile mentions on that page, JUMP is essentially built-in insurance (previously $8/mo) and also includes Lookout Premium ($4/mo) so it's not really like you're getting ripped off.

The only "gotcha" that I see aside from that is that " T-Mobile will pay off your remaining device payments, up to half of your device cost." So I assume that if you haven't made enough payments to cover half the device cost, you may have to pay the difference before you upgrade.
 
codesplice said:
That's my understanding, but I'm on prepaid so can't speak from experience.

Of course, the JUMP (anytime upgrade) program tacks an additional $10/mo onto your bill - that's in addition to whatever phone payment is already on there - though, as T-Mobile mentions on that page, JUMP is essentially built-in insurance (previously $8/mo) and also includes Lookout Premium ($4/mo) so it's not really like you're getting ripped off.

The only "gotcha" that I see aside from that is that " T-Mobile will pay off your remaining device payments, up to half of your device cost." So I assume that if you haven't made enough payments to cover half the device cost, you may have to pay the difference before you upgrade.
Click to expand...


Yeah, you have to have half the phone paid off now... which essentially means 1 year of payments. Which is fine. Upgrading once a year sounds good to me.


So let's say a phone costs $648 total retail.

On the Jump plan, you would pay $27/month for 24 months to pay it off completely. If you choose to stop after 12 months, you will have paid a total of $324... which is half the retail price. However, you will also have paid $120 in Jump costs ($10 x 12 months). Bringing your total to $444

You then trade the phone back into T-Mobile. This is what I'm not sure of. I don't know how much T-Mobile would give for a good condition 1 year old phone. I'm ASSUMING at least half the retail price. So, I'm assuming they'd give you $324 for the trade-in... so you'd be all paid off.


Lots of assumptions in there lol. I need to talk to a T-Mobile rep or something
 
andyacecandy said:
You then trade the phone back into T-Mobile. This is what I'm not sure of. I don't know how much T-Mobile would give for a good condition 1 year old phone. I'm ASSUMING at least half the retail price. So, I'm assuming they'd give you $324 for the trade-in... so you'd be all paid off.
Click to expand...

As I read it, they don't "give you" anything for the trade-in. Trading in the device when you're ready for something new essentially terminates your current Equipment Installment Plan (EIP) and starts a new one.

So you've paid your $324 (as in your example) (+$120 JUMP fee) and you trade in your phone. T-Mobile essentially writes off the additional $324 that you owe on the phone, and lets you start paying $27/mo (or whatever) on the new phone. :thumbup:
 
codesplice said:
As I read it, they don't "give you" anything for the trade-in. Trading in the device when you're ready for something new essentially terminates your current Equipment Installment Plan (EIP) and starts a new one.

So you've paid your $324 (as in your example) (+$120 JUMP fee) and you trade in your phone. T-Mobile essentially writes off the additional $324 that you owe on the phone, and lets you start paying $27/mo (or whatever) on the new phone. :thumbup:
Click to expand...


Gotcha gotcha. So essentially, you're just paying the $120 JUMP fee which isn't all that bad considering it also covers insurance... however limited that may be.

So $444 every year out of pocket and you get a new phone annually.


Now on the other hand, you could just buy the phone outright for $648... OWN it for a year and probably sell it on Craigslist or eBay for $400.
Then, you use that $400 to buy the next coolest phone out for $648 again. Total out of pocket annually is $248... not bad.

Owning is always better than renting, I guess.
 
Or you could take the codesplice approach and buy a Nexus for ~$350 every two years ;)

But if you go the "owning" route and experience some manner of tragic accident, you may end up having to buy a new device ahead of schedule. *shrug* Individual needs and situations will vary, and those will determine which option is best for you. :)
 
codesplice said:
Or you could take the codesplice approach and buy a Nexus for ~$350 every two years ;)

But if you go the "owning" route and experience some manner of tragic accident, you may end up having to buy a new device ahead of schedule. *shrug* Individual needs and situations will vary, and those will determine which option is best for you. :)
Click to expand...

True, if you buy a phone for $648 and break/lose it... then you are SCREWED haha

I think the T-mobile JUMP plan is convenient enough to where I may consider it. I hate dealing with Craigslist. Too many scam artists out there.
 
Good discussion here.

1. I change to a new phone once a year.

2. I take care of my phone.

Should I just pay it all off and sell on ebay after 1 year -OR- do this T-mobile 24 month thing + $10 jump per month?

I cant decide.
 
chong67 said:
Good discussion here.

1. I change to a new phone once a year.

2. I take care of my phone.

Should I just pay it all off and sell on ebay after 1 year -OR- do this T-mobile 24 month thing + $10 jump per month?

I cant decide.
Click to expand...

The JUMP route will probably be easier (less effort on your part), but I would guess that a properly-cared-for device should sell on eBay/Craigslist/Swappa for more than half the purchase price. You may come out ahead financially doing it on your own.
 
Be smart! Never get a phone from a carrier (maybe an iPhone is fine since no bloatware). You can finance the new Moto X straight through Motorola.
 
To be able to sell a proper taken care phone for more than its price, you have to time it properly RIGHT before the next device comes out.

For example, I got my HTC One M7 new for $652.69. If I have sell it right before the M8 came out, I might get it around $300-$350. Thats almost at half the price.

Now M8 is out a few months, I can get it sold for $250.

Yes, it is less work to do the JUMP route. Its like trade in your car(less work, but less money) vs selling the car yourself which you get more.

I still cant decide. :-(
 
Ok..... I've asked multiple T-Mobile reps and get the same response from them all......

THIS IS HOW JUMP WORKS.....
Start with a plan of your choice and also add jump to it for $10 a month, plus the monthly payment of your new phone. Just for example well use the following amounts....
Phone plan $60
Jump $10
Phone's monthly payment $25
Fees and taxes $13

So with a plan using jump you'll be paying $108 a month.

In order to use jump you have to pay off half the phones full sale price and have paid for 6 consecutive months in good standings.

Once you meet those requirements you can use jump.

If you choose to use jump at this time the following occurs.....
The purchase of the new phone is the same process as the current phone you have.

WHAT HAPPENS WITH THE OLD ONE YOU ASK?
Well this is where they get you.....
The remaining balance of the old phone has to be paid off by you, the customer.
They roll the old phones balance onto the new phones balance .

You can however lower your old phones balance by trading in the old phone. In return that would lower the amount T-Mobile rolls on to the new phones balance.

So in all.... By using jump.... You could end up with a balance of $1,400 bucks for phones you don't own anymore, but are still obligated to pay off.

On the good note.... You could own a new phone every 6 months.
 
sreum said:
You can however lower your old phones balance by trading in the old phone. In return that would lower the amount T-Mobile rolls on to the new phones balance.

So in all.... By using jump.... You could end up with a balance of $1,400 bucks for phones you don't own anymore, but are still obligated to pay off.
Click to expand...

I thought when you traded a phone in your remaining balance on it was wiped out. They said you could trade in a phone and still owe money on it? :confused:
 
The terms of the JUMP program explicitly state Trade-in of an eligible device in good working order required.

Also, from the PR release when the JUMP program was announced:
Whenever you’re ready to upgrade, trade in your device and T-Mobile will pay your remaining device payments up to 50% of the device cost. There is no more waiting period or limit to the number of times you can upgrade per year.
Click to expand...

So no, you don't still owe on a phone after you've paid for at least 50% of its purchase price and then trade it in on a new one.

If the reps tell you something different from the published policies/terms, those reps are probably confused and/or misinformed.
 
Until 50% is paid off ... Isnt that held onto the phone for 1 year? Not 6 months as you said.

I still dont see the advantage for me who take care of my phone and want to get a new phone every year.

The only advantage I see is that the $10 for JUMP include insurance. You already paying $7 for insurance. Now thats a good deal that I see.
 
chong67 said:
Until 50% is paid off ... Isnt that held onto the phone for 1 year? Not 6 months as you said.
Click to expand...

I think that the initial JUMP announcement allowed you to upgrade every six months, though I'm having trouble finding the exact wording of that.

When they updated the program in February, they took out the time requirement and replaced it with the "50% paid" requirement. So if you buy a phone and pay for 50% of it in the first three months before deciding you need the "Plus!" version that was just released, you can use JUMP to make that happen.
 
I've been considering switching to T-Mobile, and have come to the conclusion that much of the "uncarrier" business is just advertising hype, unless you already have a phone you're bringing to T-Mobil. But if you're starting from scratch:

Yes, you're not paying for a subsidized phone in your monthly bill. But you're paying 1/24th of the price of the phone in your bill every month for the first two years. Comparing total monthly payments, Sprint subsidized plan to T-Mobile, the total monthly charges were pretty much the same.

Yes, you don't have a two year contract, but if you're buying the phone on a payment plan, and cancel your service, you need to pay off the balance of the phone. If you cancel in the first year, on a high-priced phone, that's going to be as much or more than Sprint's ETF.

Yes, you can upgrade early. Essentially a year early based on the 50% of price policy. But you've already paid $120 over that year, plus half the cost of the phone. As an example take a $650 phone: Over the first year, you pay $375 in payments, plus $120 in fees, for a total of $495. And you need to give T-Mobile your old phone as a trade-in when you "jump". On Sprint, you'd have to pay full price for a new phone, another $650. But you can then sell the old phone, probably for a couple of hundred bucks, making your total cost only $450. It's CHEAPER to upgrade every year on a Sprint subsidized plan than a T-Mobile jump plan.

The only way this plan saves you any real money is if you keep your phone longer than 2 years, not shorter. It's a great marketing scheme, but it's not saving you any money or letting you do anything you can't do on other carriers.
 
JUMP also includes the T-Mobile version of Device Insurance, and Lookout Premium. I was lucky, got in on Day 1 - so I get my phones 2x a year - and the $20 for Unlimited 4G LTE Data.
 
When its all said and done, you will still have a high $100+ bill for just one line on T-Mobile postpaid once you factor in EIP, JUMP!, taxes and fees. If you have a flagship device on the unlimited LTE plan, the bill gets even more ridiculous

I'd rather just buy phones outright, own it right away and stick to prepaid.
 
312city said:
When its all said and done, you will still have a high $100+ bill for just one line on T-Mobile postpaid once you factor in EIP, JUMP!, taxes and fees. If you have a flagship device on the unlimited LTE plan, the bill gets even more ridiculous

I'd rather just buy phones outright, own it right away and stick to prepaid.
Click to expand...

Yes...... Probably around $135 or so with one line. But you would have unlimited 4G LTE. No other carrier offers that.
 
There's no free lunch here.
The JUMP program was designed for those who want the latest & greatest.
Most people realize there's a premium for being able to switch up, you pay to play, no different than opting to lease a car vs buying. There's the same pros & cons of either option.

However, if you do hang on to the phone until it's paid off, it's still not a bad deal, as the monthly JUMP fee is basically the same cost as most phone insurance programs, but, has the trade-in option.

I'm in the JUMP program for that very reason, I like to try out the new hardware.

However, if I were looking to keep a phone long-term, I'd self-insure, keep the money set aside each month instead of giving it to T-MOBILE.
Admittedly, that's a bit of a gamble when a phone is fairly new, but, if you tend to take good care of your device, you'd save over $200 on fees over the term of payments.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom