Cell Phone Gifting Tips and Tricks
The holidays are just around the corner and families and friends are running around trying to find the best deals they can find online and around their area. One of the huge sellers every holiday season are definitely cell phones. Many large stores like Best Buy, Target, and Walmart have deals every year on cell phones and other electronic devices. Unfortunately, most of these deals are locked to certain carriers, such as Walmart’s own family mobile. Here are few tips and tricks to save time and money while hunting the best deals on electronics this year.
Find a device that is compatible with your carrier.
Generally most of these holiday deals are not for unlocked devices. Carriers have devices on sale with the hope of retaining customers on their network exclusively. Even if you’re a customer already on their network, the deals may not apply to you. As harsh as it sounds, once a carrier has you on their network already, they don’t prioritize you among their deals. Instead, they focus on getting customers to leave their current service provider and join them instead.
Instead, look directly at the manufacturers for deals if you do not have interest in switching to a new provider. Google and Samsung list deals on their websites during the holiday season, as well as purchasing pre owned or refurbished devices on sites like Amazon or Ebay that offer warranties and returns if the device isn’t to your (or the recipients) liking.
Operating System (Or OS)
Many people nowadays already have a cell phone. More than likely, they’ve been on that same system for a while, such as Apple’s own iOS or Google’s Android OS. You want to be aware of the device they currently have and the system they run, as almost everyone would not like to have to learn a completely new system. Hell, even I shiver at the idea of having to switch everything I have set up on my Pixel device to iOS.
We advise asking yourself or the recipient likes their current system. Maybe some may venture into a new OS, but most will want to remain on their current one as they are already well accustomed to navigating their device and would not like to have to dive into a whole new world of cell phone headaches.
Budgets
It’s not a surprise that flag ship phones are only on the rise. Just a few short years ago, Apple broke the mainstream cell phone price barrier by announcing the iPhone X starting at a staggering $999. Since then, we have seen some flagships touching nearly $2000, just to be replaced with a newer, flashier model next year. It seems the price to performance ratio has been running very thin the last few years, and now you’d be hard pressed to notice any difference between an iPhone 12 Pro and the new iPhone 14 Pro in performance. Unless you are running your entire photo and video editing suite on your mobile device, it is simply not worth it to own the latest and greatest beyond bragging rights.
This is where shopping pre owned comes in handy. You can find last year’s or even this year’s models in fairly good shape for a pretty significant discount over buying new. Not only that, most shops will still negotiate on price or throw in a case or screen protector to help spice up the deal. You can also search on apps like Offerup, Facebook Marketplace, and Mercari for local deals, however, we always recommend meeting in a safe, public location for all transactions. Another tip is to have the seller meet at your carrier’s store in order to check and test the device properly before purchasing, just the make sure it is not reported as lost or stolen and not locked with any account.
Rave Repairs has a wide selection of cell phones, tablets, game consoles and more. If you have any interest in our devices, or just have any further questions, please feel free to contact us or visit us today! Having holiday hunting!
