Because depending on the plan, the user will pay much less or have more perks over current plans. This justifying the high initial cost.
I have an unlimited data plan with VZW and that is really valuable to those who want it because if you use more than 2GB a month, it will save you a lot of money.
A number of factors make the grandfathered plans valuable
1. $10 a month savings, $120 over 2 years.
2. Exclusivity due to a finite number of $25 plans, no new plans at this rate can be created but only destroyed by people unsubscribing.
3. Novelty of having a grandfathered plan. When a cellphone related topic comes up with your friends and family you can play your "$25 unlimited data and text grandfathered virgin mobile plan" card. I've been around people that like to brag about grandfathered plans.
Risks from investing
1. Plans from competitors. the $30 tmobile prepaid plan and the $20 republic wireless are both good values and may be better depending on what you need. There are also other plans that may come out.
2. VM forcing a price increase. Even though they have set precedence by grandfathering that doesn't mean they will keep doing it. I'm predicting a very high amount of inflation over the next few years due to bank bailouts and our recent bailout of Europe to keep it from collapsing. This could lead to things like $10 loaves of bread and high prices on everything due to the dollars purchasing power being looted. I doubt vm will keep the price the same if $25 today is worth $7 in a couple of years.
A number of factors make the grandfathered plans valuable
I'm predicting a very high amount of inflation over the next few years do to bank bailouts and our recent bailout of Europe to keep it from collapsing. This could lead to things like $10 loaves of bread and high prices on everything due to the dollars purchasing power being looted. I doubt vm will keep the price the same if $25 today is worth $7 in a couple of years.
Scary but true, We here in America have no idea how much food costs / gas costs in real value without "future contracts and subsidies", which is also why Wt. House is scrambling for "alternative energies".
Anywho back to point - the "Grandfathered" plans are worthless for "real consumers" because When I port my number out - it is dead. OTOH there is an opportunistic subgroup that does not care for loosing number and may sell that off, that's where the value lies.
Thanks for correcting, that makes it worth it if you plan on keeping it for years, assuming something better doesn't come out. How easy is it to transfer the plan? I'm guessing it would require losing your number. Can you transfer outside numbers in without losing the grandfathering? otherwise buyers will be stuck with the area code.
Thanks for correcting, that makes it worth it if you plan on keeping it for years, assuming something better doesn't come out. How easy is it to transfer the plan? I'm guessing it would require losing your number. Can you transfer outside numbers in without losing the grandfathering? otherwise buyers will be stuck with the area code.
Well, I'm not an expert on it, but here is an opinion. If you actually wanted to give the plan to someone else, you would first have to disassociate your credit card. They would have to use top up cards, because then the name on the account would not match and I don't think that you can change the name although you can probably change the address (may be wrong here, but people do move). You can change your phone number on the plan (possible $10 fee) with out losing the grandfathering, but I'm pretty sure that you cannot port in a new number, that is just for new accounts. They might be stuck with the area code, but if you chance the address, then get a new number and tell them that you moved, maybe that would work.
Google Voice is the best option for these grandfathered plans that somebody might purchase. I switched our phone numbers to Google and then we have the freedom to use whatever cellphone provider we want to forward calls to. About the only issue they're still working on is MMS from Verizon and AT&T. Sprint works fine on MMS. The phone you use really needs to be an Android as you need to run the Google Voice App to make it all work correctly.
We still have our $25 plan, but I gave it to my wife as the coverage wasn't working for me. She didn't have to switch numbers and my new Straight Talk on ATT still has the same number to all of my contacts. And there wasn't any porting.
Well, I'm not an expert on it, but here is an opinion. If you actually wanted to give the plan to someone else, you would first have to disassociate your credit card. They would have to use top up cards, because then the name on the account would not match and I don't think that you can change the name although you can probably change the address (may be wrong here, but people do move). You can change your phone number on the plan (possible $10 fee) with out losing the grandfathering, but I'm pretty sure that you cannot port in a new number, that is just for new accounts. They might be stuck with the area code, but if you chance the address, then get a new number and tell them that you moved, maybe that would work.
Some people don't care about the phone service and just want the "unlimited" mobile internet/tethering capability. $25 plan is half the cost of the VM MIFI plan. I think the throttle cap is 5G on the $25 plan as well.
I've been thinking about switching to the T-mobile $30 plan and I plan to port out my phone number if/when I do switch. I understand porting will terminate my grandfathered $25 VM service. Is there a way to sell my grandfathered plan and still be able to keep my current phone number and port it to T-mo?
Not sure if this would work, but maybe I could request a number change from VM, thereby releasing my old number. And then I could activate service with T-mobile and request my old number? I don't know if T-mobile lets you pick your own number though, or even if my old number would be available to pick from. Does anyone have any experience with this?
Gold? Maybe some tiny pieces worth $10-$100. I don't know where you got the $150-$300 from but if you check like eBay completed listings at the high maybe $100. $110 for one with a Optimus V which has a retail price of $130 alone.
I have seen some go for like $15 too. Friend got one for $40 with a phone on Craigslist as well.
If you can find some that SOLD for $150-$300 I would really like to see. That's a 30 month commitment to the plan before it pays off...
But it's worth $10x#of amounts you want to stay with virgin, at the least.
Assuming they will grandfather them for a long time to come...
I am leaving Virgin and we have a lot of these plans. I am tempted to sell them but I don't want to give virgin/boost/sprint any amount of money or contribute to future revenues. They lost me forever.
So what's better... donating/selling my $25 accounts to prevent someone from paying $35 vs letting them expire/porting the #s out? Or would they rather go to T-Mobile to pay $30 than paying VM $35? Hmm...
Home ISP, RR-Turbo WiFi, $80/mo | Verizon 4G, $30/mo Unlimited
School, $5,000/semester | Work
I am leaving Virgin and we have a lot of these plans. I am tempted to sell them but I don't want to give virgin/boost/sprint any amount of money or contribute to future revenues. They lost me forever.
So what's better... donating/selling my $25 accounts to prevent someone from paying $35 vs letting them expire/porting the #s out? Or would they rather go to T-Mobile to pay $30 than paying VM $35? Hmm...
Virgin Evolution:Kyocera X-TC {167ppi}-> Rumor Touch {155ppi}-> Samsung Intercept {146ppi}-> LG Optimus V {180ppi}-> Motorola Triumph {228ppi}-> LG Optimus V {180ppi}-> Motorola Triumph {228ppi}-> ??? My next phone: Huawei Ascend D quad XL {326ppi}
My fiance's phone is in her name, but all the billing info is in mine.
You can change ALL your info in your VM account, including both the NAME and ADDRESS. In other words. it's very easy to just give your account (and number) to someone else. But I'm not if I'd want a friend to have my old number .
I just started a new job and I'm getting a corp phone (Motorola Atrix 4G) on AT&T. I hate AT&T, but it'll all be free and if I leave the job at any point, I get to keep the phone. So I can't complain. I could've gotten an iPhone, but I'm slowly becoming anti-Apple as I hear more about their lame policies and politics.
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Originally Posted by rocke86
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