My current phone, a 4 year old Samsung A5, is on its last legs, so I've known for months I'd have to get a new one soon. I had already done my research, and since the Samsung S10s are out, the S9s are on promotion everywhere. I did the math to compare upfront costs and increased plan costs to see which saved me the most money, and decided on the S9, since if I paid $150 up front I could get it on a plan that was only $7 a month more than my current plan, which meant a total cost for the phone of $318. I would be locked in for two years, but I couldn't find a comparable phone anywhere for less than $318 that would let me keep my current plan, so I figured it was worth it and already a good deal.
However, last night I went to Costco's website and saw that they had a deal where if you purchase the phone through them, you can get $150 in Costco gift cards. I went there this morning and did that. I was even able to use those gift cards on the price of the phone itself, which meant that the phone cost me nothing upfront, and my plan is still only going to go up by $7 a month. Retail value of the Samsung S9: $1019 (CAD). My cost? $168, spread over 2 years.
It pays to do the math and shop around.
March 17, 2019 at 12:43PM
