Want a Droid on the cheap? Let's start a club!

If you walked into a store to buy a jacket and had to keep it for two years, you might wonder just how much you felt like paying. This is where companies such as H&M have shown a superior understanding of humanity by pricing well-designed clothes for a naturally short life.

Yet when you buy a new cell phone, even an allegedly well-designed cell phone like the iPhone-assaulting Droid, you have to commit to it for a couple of years, or at least to considerable penalties should you and it have a difficult relationship and decide on a divorce.

Blogging masterperson Jeff Jarvis believes that taking on a Droid would cost him $2,600. Which is why he was stricken with the idea of a Gadget of the Month Club.

In a blog post on his own Buzz Machine site, Jarvis laid out the idea.

He said: "It's worth it for the phone and device companies because they just might seduce me into buying. They'd get more press from the folks who matter - early adopters. They'd sell more gadgets and service plans. They could even use it to try out new gadgets (who wouldn't pay to be a beta tester for the coolest gadgets?)."

Jarvis would like Best Buy or some other enticingly sensitive entrepreneur to bankroll this interesting operation.

How much is it really worth?

(Credit: CC All About George/Flickr)

"Obviously, it won't work if we all expect to get the Droid as soon as it's out without paying full freight," he said. "So charge more for that privilege. Every month, the one-month fee for a particular device goes down. I'm willing to pay a premium to try the Droid the first month or a Chrome-powered netbook. But I'll wait three or four months for to get my hands on a Nokia N900."

Jarvis even suggested that the premium to get your hands around a Droid could be bid up by the market and everyone would pay a membership fee to be a part of this exclusive club.

But why limit the trial of cell phones to freaks? What if every manufacturer offered its products, as does every clothes retailer, on a 30-day trial? Just as with clothes, people tend to take extra care of anything new they buy.

Some might damage their phones before they give them back, but those people should then be made to pay for them. Many might be just respectful enough to keep their new babies in fine condition.

Many more might be so happy with the phones that they would keep them. At least that ought to be the expectation with a phone that is supposed to be as revolutionary as the Droid.

The phones that failed in this constant trial would, presumably, be the phones that would fail anyway. So this 30-day idea would accelerate the natural selection that is at the heart of our happy way of life.

We would have more choice and the best products would prove themselves in the best arena--that of the instant mass market. And it would also open a new source of inventory and income for the sweet-natured second-hand cell phone salesman.

New cell phones seem to be coming to market with ever-increasing speed and an ever-increasing array of advances that prove to be temporary, so why should manufacturers force people to stick with them for two years or pay increasing penalties?

Why not allow consumers to select in the most natural way possible? Isn't that what one should do with all fashion accessories?

[mrcjacobs]

I like this idea. I'd definitely pay a fee to join.

[MMcCubbing]

Sounds like an interesting idea. I wouldn't mind seeing a few manufacturers or retailers testing a system like this.

[raulmot]

I always find it ridiculous that people lump the cost of the monthly plan into the cost of a mobile phone. Like this article $2600 for a Droid. You could buy it out right for $599 with no contract. But what good is a phone without service. If you intend on having cell service regardless of the device, then the cost of the service is just dumb to associate the cost of the service with a particular phone. Sure you'll pay more for a data plan on a smartphone than a regular phone, but why even look at smartphones if you're not going to get always on data which is core to the functionality of today's smartphone devices.

[danielj1987]

amen, this would be a big tech boom, people would be able to advertise the "coming soon" products, seriously, beta testing to the masses!!!

[asmodyus]

I think the biggest issue is value and what the consumer is willing to pay right now people are willing to pay 200+ for new Phones and not 500+ for not contract phones. So what this says is that the average value of a Cell phone is really 200 or less. Or better yet that average person wants those phones will sign anything to get that phone at around 200. If a consumer really stop and realized that they were actually paying, and stop buying those products companies would have to change. But until we the consumer become smart about what we buy will always have to pay.

[bsharkey]

I agree, these costs are too high. it makes sense for some businesses to front these costs, per user, but for an individual to be paying $1200 - 1500 per year for cell phone service (sans up front cost of phone, let's say additional $200, or $100 per year if you amortize it), that's an AVERAGE of about $1450 per year before taxes, per person who uses a smart phone for personal use. too much, especially in this economy!

[avitous]

T-Mobile (who does not offer the Droid at this time, but does have the Cliq) seems to be up front about offering an option to pay full price for the phone up front, with what looks like a serious discount on plans, about $40/mo less than the equivalent service with the discounted phone and 2 year contract obligation. I'm not on T-Mobile right now, so can't comment on service quality or whether there are any "gotchas". Verizon is pushing what look like usurious plan charges; I don't want a Droid badly enough to put up with those.

[bsharkey]

yes they all should, T-mobile's service is terrible but their options are one step closer to the way it should work.

[dracoaffectus]

Verizon's plans are insane compared to T-mobile.

I actually switched from Verizon to T-mobile recently, I can tell you I've had excellent service, except for the outage on Tuesday.

I remember when I had Verizon, I had difficulty getting reception inside my apartment. With T-mobile, I had great reception in my apartment always. I also had terrible service inside my mom's house with Verizon, and get great service in the same house with T-mobile. Considering those two facts, it's no surprise I'm vouching for T-mobile's service over Verizon.

But I suppose you should keep in mind that I live in a major metropolitan area (Los Angeles), and I have a G1(smartphone) now compared to the Verizon Blitz(dumbphone) before.


I think Verizon is not worth the price difference.

[avitous]

Yes, certainly T-Mobile seems the sanest of the available carriers (I'm in the SF Bay Area). Coverage can't be any worse than Sprint at my house in Concord.

The Droid looks interesting, but T-M has the G1 and the Cliq, either of which would be wiser choices right now with their "Even More Plus" plans (full retail for phone, discounted rates, no contract.) Total cost of ownership over 2 years would be under $2K, well under the TCO with either Verizon or AT&T (for iPhone).

[sharmajunior]

If the whole world can do it, so can the US.

C'mon phone companies, let us buy our phones at our cost and then choose you for what you really offer. Then that's gonna be some competition, instead of horing {I don't know if the actual word would be filtered} a single phone around so that everyone can come to you. This happend with the Moto Razr and now with Apple iPhone. Anyone think of any other phones that were ***** around?

[bsharkey]

how about you just go in the store and try it out... or go to say, a Verizon, ATT, whatever store and ask them their return policy and if you don't like it after say, 30 days, trade it in for a different phone under the same contract. am I the only one that sees it this way? hmm. I like the idea of the declining price though.

I've also heard of people trading via the web out of lease deals on their car. this is pretty similar, so maybe a trading marketplace is something that could suffice.

[RMarino]

Yeah, about a month ago my friend switched to AT&T and got the iPhone, loved the phone but hated the service, returned it for an almost full refund (10% restocking fee) after 2 weeks and went back to his old phone on Verizon, and now has the Droid. If two weeks from now he hates it, I'm pretty sure he can return it with the same kind of deal.

So even switching contracts was fine, although it might have involved a bit more paperwork, but there is no reason you can't do this. Returns works with all other electronics you buy, phones don't seem to be any different.

[gomer43]

"But why limit the trial of cell phones to freaks? What if every manufacturer offered its products, as does every clothes retailer, on a 30-day trial? Just as with clothes, people tend to take extra care of anything new they buy.
Some might damage their phones before they give them back, but those people should then be made to pay for them. Many might be just respectful enough to keep their new babies in fine condition."

This is called a "return policy", and with cell phones, it's the norm. Nice try.

[dracoaffectus]

The real solution I see is a no-contract option from carriers. I'm researching cell phone carrier plans. I found that there are options that do not require a contract, at least with T-mobile and AT&T. Of course that means you would have to pay full price for your phone.

Of course, AT&T's plans are a bit more expensive. http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/cell-phone-plans/pyp-cell-phone-plans.jsp?wtSlotClick=1-002E4Q-0-2

With AT&T the plans start at $29.99 for 200 minutes, and no nights and weekends, no mobile-mobile. And they cap off at $69.99 for 650 minutes, unlimited nights and weekends, and unlimited mobile-mobile. The plans in between include a cap on nights and weekend minutes, but do all include unlimited mobile-mobile. Adding unlimited text will cost you an extra $20, unlimited data is not available, but the 100MB package is an extra $20. Final cost for plan that gives you the most of everything (650 mins, unl text, 100MB data), $109.99/month (plus 11 cents/min over 650, 1 cent per KB over 100MB)


But with T-mobile's newly released rate plans, you can get a much lower price. http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/Cell-Phone-Plans.aspx?catgroup=EvenMorePlus&WT.z_shop_plansLP=EvenMorePlus

Like AT&T, the cheapest plan is $29.99/month, but you get 500 minutes, unlimited nights and weekends, and unlimited mobile-mobile. Then the unlimited minutes plan is only $49.99. Add unlimited text for $10 more, and then add unlimited data for another $20. Making an unlimited everything plan only $79.99.

Sprint does not offer no-contract plans.

Verizon seems to only offer pay-as-you go plans which either charge a lot for minutes (up to 25 cents/min), or ridiculous access fees (up to $3.99/day for unlimited minutes).


Seems like T-mobile has taken the lead here with those "Even More Plus" plans they just released, let's hope the other carriers catch up.

[Michael too]

I'm not sure you can dismiss the Sprint plan so quickly. The biggest negative is that they require 2 yr contracts, but on the other hand, consider this:

I'm looking at a family plan with four Android phones, and it looks like Tmobile will cost me at least $1.800 more than Sprint over two years.
- Sprint unlimited web/data plus 1600 minutes (ERP plan) for $139. This includes 7p nights+weekends and unlimited calling to any mobile.
- The closest T-mobile alternative is $179. It doesn't include myfaves anymore, and I think (couldn't find specifics on Tmobile site) it has later (worse) hours on nights/weekends. This means that the 1,500 minutes will not go near as far as with Sprint. This means an extra cost of $40 times 24 or $960 for Tmobile for a less attractive plan.
- In addition, the Sprint phones are $179 apiece (admittedly does require a contract) whereas Tmobile's run $399. For four phones this runs $880.
- Sprint also has a premium customer plan that would allow me to change out one of the phones at a discounted price (e.g. $179) after only one year.

T-mobile does have the 'no-contract' advantage, but the costs are quite high, and Verizon and AT&T are even worse.

[dracoaffectus]

@Michael

I should have mentioned I was looking specifically at Individual plans, and also looking for no-contract plans, since the main point of this article was about how 2 years is too long to commit to using a certain phone when you consider how quickly new more advanced phones come out.


That being said, I only dismissed Sprint so quickly because they offer absolutely no contract-free options.

Also, I'd like to correct a few points you mentioned. Looking at the cost of an android phone with Sprint, you would actually pay upfront $279/phone, and get $100/phone back as a mail-in rebate. Whereas, a similar android phone with T-mobile costs $199/phone upfront (with the contract), but no mail-in rebates. So once you get your rebate, you'd save $80, but you had to spend an extra $320 out of pocket. It helps to read the fine print ;)

The Sprint plan for 1500 minutes (I didn't see a 1600 minute plan on the site) actually costs $170/month when you have four phones, that gets you 1500 shared minutes, and unlimited text+data.

BUT the T-mobile plan for 1500 minutes actually comes out to $260/month when you add the unlimited text+data for each phone.

So it seems like between these two carriers, Sprint offers significantly better family plans, and T-mobile needs to seriously revamp their family plans for smartphones. But if you're a single guy(or gal) who doesn't want a contract, T-mobile is the way to go.

[gerrrg]

Your analogy ***********. Technology changes faster than the style of your jacket, unless you're a fashion-chaser.

[nhl.le]

Why fighting for a cheaper Droid or Milestone or iphone ?

We should demand a data plan revolution, meaning $29.99 for all in one voice / data plan that includes the cellular service, free unlimited texting, and no hidden fees or hidden cancellation fees. The carriers can make their money off the distribution of apps and sign up for online advertisements etc...

I guess that'll happen when A. Apple lands Iphone with Verizon or when B. Pigs fly.

I love this idea. I think it would work well with all the up coming Android devices.