AT&T Has Been Promoting Free Samsung S23 Phones With A Galaxy Trade-In.....

[global1]

As I know that there is no such thing as a free lunch - what's the catch or gimmick with this AT&T trade in offer?

Has anyone here inquired about this offer and is it legit? OR How is AT&T just using this as a come-on to get in my wallet somehow?

Any info would be appreciated.

[progree]

1. I dunno. ConsumerCellular has been pushing it too /nt

[Tomconroy]

2. Giving away the razor so they can sell the blades every month?

[ItsjustMe]

3. You can find some good deals on smartphones.

On the slick deals website.

https://slickdeals.net/f/16423051-moto-g-5g-6-5-max-vision-fhd-tracfone-with-1500-min-text-data-89-99-after-coupon-code-hsn-free-shipping

https://slickdeals.net/newsearch.php?q=Smartphone&searcharea=deals&searchin=first&isUserSearch=1

[Tetrachloride]

4. I am hardcore "Never Android."

Security reasons. Therefore, my view is any Android has regrettable aspects.

[ItsjustMe]

7. Apple Exploit Found

From a year ago

[Tetrachloride]

8. All true. however i stay with my procedures

[Freethinker65]

5. Sounds pretty typical.

You trade in a listed phone and ATT will "give" you a phone for "free". The phone you are given has to be on an ATT plan and might have an activation fee. After that you will be charged the monthly rate for period of months (usually 24 to 30). As long as you stay with ATT, that monthly installment amount will be offset by an equal credit, thus you are paying nothing for the phone.
If you leave ATT before you have paid your phone off (remaining months of 24-30 month contract), you must pay off the balance owed for the phone.

Still not a bad deal if that is the phone you desire for the next 24-30 months, you already have a qualifying trade in (or are willing to buy a used working qualifying phone on a site like Swappa), and feel you will be staying with ATT for the entire contract time (until the phone is paid off).


Competing carriers will often counter and offer to pay off your existing balance for the phone if you switch to them sometime before your contract is up.

[Phentex]

9. I know two people who tried this...

but they had to send the original phone off for trade in evaluation. One of them had the phone get lost in the mail and so it was a battle to get a value. The other had the trade in value be much lower than expected.

[Freethinker65]

10. Really? A year ago I "bought" two new Apple phones at Costco on new ATT plan, paid nothing upfront.

I was currently on a really old ATT plan, with old phones too old for any trade in value (including one not smart phone). I bought qualifying phones from Swappa (for around $220 each) to trade in and turned them into an ATT store within 30 days as required. ATT immediately credited the trade in phones towards rebating my monthly fee.

So while the new phones were not free, they only end up costing the price paid for the Swappa phones if I stay with the ATT contract for somewhere between 24 and 36 months.

Look, I understand many don't want to be using a three year old phone and be tied to a contract, but I was still using an IPhone 6 Plus when they introduced the 13 and honestly would have kept using it if it didn't require a costly repair.

I also received a $50/phone Costco card...which means I ended up paying about $170 each for my new phones. At the time, there might have been even better deals around, but I still feel pretty good about it.

[Phentex]

11. That's a great deal!

This was Verizon.

Also, why does it feel like buying a car? Like there's a better offer in there somewhere, lol.

I'm with Verizon and I got a good family plan many years ago. They keep offering me upgrades but only if I change the plan which would cost more. Why would I do that? Also, I am shocked they haven't found a way to end this plan I'm on and force me onto something else.

[Timewas]

6. this

Ltd time. Requires trade-in of Galaxy Note, S, or Z series. Req's elig. installment plan and elig. unlimited plan (AT&T may temporarily slow data speeds if the network is busy). Up to $1,000 off after 36 mo credits. Other terms apply. See offer details