Free cell phone offers are found all over the internet. The ads will show up on thousands of sites. But are they a good deal? Can you really get a cell phone for free? The answer is, yes, they can be a very good deal, but there are some things you need to be aware of before jumping in.
1. Free cell phone offers require a commitment. Although you can get a very nice state of the art phone for free, there is a catch. Typically a free phone offer requires a 2 year commitment to a service plan. Most service plans with the major carriers start at around $40 per month and go up from there depending on how many minutes and what features you add to the plan. If you cancel early you will be billed a hefty cancellation charge. So even though the cell phone is free, the service is not.
2. There is typically an activation charge when you activate a new phone on a wireless network. The charges vary from carrier to carrier, but you can expect to pay $20-$40 to activate your phone in order to be able to use it. There are sometimes special promotions where a carrier will waive the activation fee. These usually only last for a couple of weeks and may only be offered once or twice a year.
3. The first cell phone bill is often a shock for new customers. You may have signed up for a basic $40 plan, but the first bill can be $100 or more. The reason for this is that the cell phone carriers bill you in advance. On the first bill you are paying for what remains in the current billing month, for the next month’s service, and for activation fees. Be aware that the first bill will be bigger (and sometimes much bigger) than your normal monthly bill.
Keeping these things in mind, free cell phone offers still can be a good deal. You need to pay for service anyway, so taking advantage of free cell phone offers can save you $100s on a new phone. The best offers on the best phones are usually found online since online merchants do not have the overhead that the brick and mortar stores do. Some online merchants will even express ship the phone to your address for free.
Free Cell Phone Mart has a large selection of free phones for all of the major wireless networks. Even many of the new (& expensive) touch screen smart phones are free with a 2 year commitment. They also offer free 2 day shipping by FedEx. Get all of the details at http://www.FreeCellPhoneMart.com.