A Legitimate Way to Get a Free Smartphone

Google Nexus 5

I feel like there has to be something I am missing, because I think I have figured out a way to get a free smartphone.  Like a free good smartphone, not a cheap, two-year old phone like I have as my current phone.  Not there are some caveats to this plan I have come up with; as my high school economics teacher repeatedly said, "There is no such thing as a free lunch."  Regardless, for me, and I think for many other people in the same situation, this is a good way to get a brand new, top-of-the-line Android smartphone.  If someone comes up with a reason why this plan will not work, speak up because if not there is a good chance I am going to do this.

My Plan to Get a Free Nexus 5

To start off, I am an AT&T customer, and I have gotten to the point where I qualify for a new phone at a discounted rate.  I am still weighing my choices, though I am likely going to wait a few more weeks as there are likely to be sales coming up as we enter the holiday season.  This means that I will be able to, with a two-year extension of my cell phone contract, get a smartphone that retails for around $600 for about $99.  As everyone in the United States is certainly aware, this discount always comes at a price.  In the case of AT&T and all the other major carriers, the price is an inflated monthly bill, which more than covers the discount I would receive on a new phone.  Not really a great deal, but as I am more than likely going to stay with my current carrier anyway, it doesn't really matter whether I get a discounted phone or not.  My monthly bill will still be the same.

One of the phones on the top on my shortening list of phones I am looking at is the not-yet-released Nexus 5, the phone designed by Google to be the spec Android smartphone that they want other carriers to use as a guideline to design the next generation Androids.  These phones are always nice, do not come with the normal bloatware that companies like Samsung tend to throw on their phones, and are dirt cheap relative to the actual manufacturing cost of the phone.  Last year's Nexus 4 started at $349 without a contract, and this year's Nexus 5 is looking like it will be released in two versions, a $299 model with 16 GB, and a $399 version with 32 GB.  This is higher than the $99 that I would likely pay for a new Motorola Moto X or Samsung Galaxy S4, but it does not require a two-year contract extension, meaning I can get the phone free and clear and leave AT&T whenever i want without having to pay penalties.

You may at this point have figured out where I am going with this, but if not, here is my plan.  I would start by purchasing a new smartphone, something with the largest price difference between the discounted price and full retail.  Once I got the phone, I would immediately sell it on Ebay or somewhere else, getting something less than retail for the phone, but far more than the discounted price.  To get the best price for the phone, I would likely have to unlock it so that it could be used on multiple carriers.  I don't know how to do this, but it seems fairly easy to do.  Once I got the money for the phone (I'd continue to use my old phone at this point), I would use the money to buy a new Nexus 5 (hopefully the $399 version).  In the end I would be hooked into my AT&T contract for another two years, though this is something I was planning on doing anyway, have a brand new Nexus 5, and would not have spent a penny.  Depending on how much I got for the first phone, I might actually make money on the deal.

This plan seems too good to be possible.  I mean, it isn't that simple, and does require some initial investment, but it isn't that complicated either.  If it means getting a new phone and not spending any money, I think I should do it.  It is hard to argue with free.  I just feel like I am missing some glaring hangup that makes this entire plan impossible.  If this really works, why the heck doesn't everyone do this?  Is it really too much work for the average person to deal with?  Maybe it is, and I just stumbled upon an awesome loophole in the system.  That is what I am hoping, because saving $100 around the holidays with an infant is always a good thing.