Why do people buy mobile phones?

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When they come free with a contract?

Wondered this for awhile.

Cuz i dont want to be shafted by a phone company.

DH said is my phone due an upgrade. I might be if he is that stupid.

I don't get it, they're not free, the price is hiked into the monthly repayments! I usually buy the phone outright. Same with cars. The crazy interest people pay on those, it is far cheaper to buy them outright.

Mine cost me £40 second hand and then £15 a month pay as you go. Much cheaper.

I paid £500 for my phone 4 years ago and have it on a sim only £20pcm contract. At the time I could have had a contract for the same phone including the handset for £45pcm.

Buying outright was the best option.

I have since seen that I can buy second hand phones from amazon for a fraction of that price so next time I need one will be heading there first.

Of course I don’t strictly need an iPhone. I could get by with a basic phone to text and make calls...but it’s a want thing.

I used to be on a contract until I did the sums and realised I would be much better off buying a phone outright and now have a £10pm PAYG.

What was worse was that when the contract ended, I always continued to pay for quite a few months, sometimes a year before 'upgrading' when, really, the monthly amount should have dropped when I had 'paid off' the phone. A right rip off.

As everyone else has said, the contract is two halves so to speak, half is the cost of your allowances and the other half is the cost of the phone spread over the duration of the contract.
Hence why when your original contract is over and the phone is technically paid for, your contract price should half as you're are only paying for your allowances not the cost of the phone as well. But you have to contact your company to change it.
I'd buy the phone outright if I could have afforded to.

What's a faff is that we're currently waiting until my spouse's contract ends later this year so we can switch to a better family mobile deal as he can't really do anything until then, whereas the rest of us have bought outright sim-free phones so are free to switch.

His end of contract date is on our calendar and the phone is going to have to be unlocked from our current provider, but what was a good deal for him when he started the contract when only he had a need for one has become really expensive with the prices constantly rising with 'benefits' we don't use and these 'benefits' have made it really expensive to get our kids sim only deals so they're on PAYG until we switch later this year. Literally the day he's out of contract, the comparison shopping and haggling will begin, I'm probably too excited for him to be out of this faffing contract.

I have found one mobile provider where I am which takes 2 direct debits from you a month. One for the handset. And one the contact. Once the handset is paid off this is cancelled so you are left with just the contract bit. Sadly the phone coverage with them isn’t great...

Besides the total cost, getting a contract with a phone included is equivalent to borrowing money to pay for the phone. I'm not in the habit of borrowing when I don't need to.

And if my income drops, I can choose to use and top up less on a PAYG phone. With a contract I could be "locked in" to a bill I can no longer afford.

And a friend got a huge bill on contract, as in hundreds of pounds. Had no idea until the bill came and then had to pay it. That can't happen on PAYG.

My contract is £10.11 a month for unlimited calls, SMS and more data than I have ever managed to use.

The same contract with a handset would be 3 or 4 x that. So about £500 more over 24 months.