Have you ever been watching TV and seen a commercial come on offering a buy one get one free iPhone deal? There are certain cellular service providers that have advertised such opportunities over the years. You might also have been looking at the website of one of the many providers out there and see that such a deal was available. For those who are curious, this article will cover which companies run such promotions, the criteria for you to be eligible, whether they’re really worth it, and more.
How Do “Buy One Get One” iPhone Deals Work?
A buy one gets one iPhone deal, or a BOGO, if you prefer, works pretty much the same regardless of which cellular service provider is offering it. In fact, they work much the same as any BOGO deal that you would get with just about any other product.
You must purchase a single qualifying device while the event is going on, and notify the entity running the program that you want a second device as well. That second device must be of equal or lesser value to the first.
Generally, these offers run for a limited time only, and only certain iPhone models apply. There may be additional stipulations or fine print. Be sure that you read over the rules and discuss them thoroughly on the offering entity’s website or with one of their employees at a brick-and-mortar location.
These deals work one of two ways. The first is a straightforward transaction where you’re paying for the iPhone in question outright when you become a customer of whichever service provider it happens to be. You can only do that, though, if you sign up with that provider for a long-term service plan.
If you sign up for a long-term plan, usually two years at a time, then rather than paying for the iPhone all at once, you could also pay for it in installments over those two years. At the end of that time, you either own the phone outright or else you pay a final lump sum, and it becomes yours. For that length of time, someone else, presumably a friend or family member, can use the second phone from the promotion for free.
If at some point during those two years you elect not to continue on with that provider, though, then you will have to return both phones. You will lose all of the equity that you had built up in those devices, and you’ll also likely have to pay a hefty early termination fee. As you can see, it’s helpful for you to be really sure that you want to commit to a particular provider for multiple years if you endeavor to accept one of these deals.
What About Four iPhones for the Price of Two?
Usually, cellular service providers have no problem with you doubling or tripling up on these deals. If you wish to sign up for a long-term contract, and you have four family members, then you can buy two iPhones and get two free while the promotion is going on. You can get three phones and get three free, and so forth. There are limitations in some cases, so again, be sure to check the fine print and speak to a customer service rep who can give you in simple language the answers to any questions you may have.
Which Companies Offer these Deals?
Probably the most prominent company that has offered the buy one get one iPhone deal is Verizon. They’re one of the more dominant service providers in the country, and they have the widest 4G LTE network coverage.
Verizon has offered this deal multiple times. The chances are high that you have seen it advertised as a commercial at some point. You may also have seen it elsewhere, like online through targeted ads or on a social media network like Facebook.
The BOGO promotions that they’ve run have included various iPhone models, and also Samsung Galaxies. Those are the two phone brands that are always competing with each other for market supremacy, so it makes sense that Verizon would offer them to consumers.
Verizon is not the only company that has offered these deals, though. Sprint has also run a promotion that is fundamentally the same. In fact, Sprint is in the midst of an aggressive ad campaign that revolves around trying to sign up new customers through BOGO deals on the latest iPhones and Galaxies.
AT&T has offered these deals off and on over the years as well, as has T-Mobile. That means that all of the so-called Big Four have tried some variation of this promotion at some point.
When do iPhone BOGO Deals Usually Come Around?
At this point, you might be wondering whether these deals are perpetually available from the major service providers, or whether it is a seasonal thing. All the information seems to indicate that cellular service providers don’t adhere to any kind of a strict schedule as to when they run such promotions. They’re not particularly associated with any holiday or time of the year.
Because of this, the best thing you can do at any time you’re looking for a BOGO is to check out the providers in your area. You can look on their websites; there are also sites run by third parties that compile information about which providers are running what promotions at what times. If you type something into a search engine like “which companies are running buy one get one iPhone deals,” then you’ll likely come up with several comprehensive lists.
Is It Worth It to Wait for a BOGO iPhone Deal?
The fact that there are so many service providers makes it likely that at just about any time you’re looking for one, there will probably be an iPhone BOGO deal out there. A problem might arise, though, if you want to sign up for a long-term deal with a particular service provider, but that one isn’t running such a deal at that moment.
If you think that all cellular service providers are created equal, think again. Some of them have better 4G LTE network coverage. You can get better perks with some than others, apart from BOGO offers. Some providers are also developing a 5G network much faster than their competitors.
With this in mind, you might decide to wait till there’s a BOGO deal if you’re intent on signing up with one particular provider. On the other hand, it might not necessarily be worth it to you. Let’s say that you want to sign up with AT&T, for instance, but they’re not running the BOGO deal that you want right then. The chances are high that they’ll still be running some other promotion that’s enough to entice you to sign up with them.
In other words, while iPhone buys one get one deal are great, that might not be the one factor that determines your actions in this area. How much you want that BOGO deal with one specific company is going to be a personal decision that we can’t make for you.
Are There Other Ways to Save Money on iPhones Besides BOGO Deals?
This leads to the question of whether there are other ways to save money on iPhones, or some other popular device of your choice, other than a BOGO deal. There are definitely ways to do it. You could buy yourself a used or refurbished iPhone from a trusted entity like an Apple Store. You could also purchase an older model of iPhone if you’re don’t feel that you need the latest one.
If you’re savvy, you can also carefully scout the deals being offered by the cellular service providers in your area. For instance, some providers will give you a generous discount on a new cell phone if you buy it through them, or they will even give you the phone “for free.” Much like the BOGO deals, though, these promotions are contingent on you signing up for a long-term contract with that provider.
Service providers came to a realization some years ago. This was that many people are resentful of having to sign up for long-term contracts. They would much rather have the freedom to stop their service at any time without having to pay any penalties. These companies, of course, would like to lock you into a long-term contract because of this all but guarantees customer loyalty. If you try to back out of that contract, you’ll have to pay a cancellation fee.
It is because of this dynamic between customer and service provider that so many of these deals are offered to individuals shopping for new phones. Service providers feel that it’s worth it to provide a free phone or a rebate of several hundred dollars on one if that’s what it takes to get you to sign up for a multiple-year contract. In many cases, you can’t take advantage of “free” phone deals, or extremely discounted devices, unless you agree to an unlimited data plan where you are paying a large monthly fee.
Are These Sorts of Deals Worth It?
For some customers, this is worth it. You can get a phone “for free” if you don’t mind being locked into a multiple-year contract with a provider. It’s a way to potentially save some money versus buying the phone on your own.
Whether you opt for a “free” phone deal, though, one where you get a rebate of hundreds of dollars, or you sign up for a BOGO promotion, the same rules apply. You need to take into account things like how much money you have to spend, both up-front and each month going forward. You should see what additional perks each provider offers. You should also do a deep dive by looking at online message boards and customer feedback sites to see what kind of comments each provider gets. If one company has lots of consumers complaining about poor customer service or other issues, then that might be enough to convince you to go with someone else.
Ultimately, a BOGO iPhone deal might be what convinces you to sign a long-term contract with a particular company. You might also wait until that provider offers such a deal if you feel strongly about signing up with them, and they don’t happen to be running a BOGO promotion at that moment.
It seems likely, though, that if the timing doesn’t work out with a buy one get one iPhone deal and the cellular service provider that you’d prefer, you will still be able to find a satisfactory promotion through that company. They will probably have some other promo going that offers comparable savings if you take the time to crunch the numbers.
iPhone BOGO promotions can be great, but in most cases, you won’t want to wait multiple months till Verizon, AT&T, or whichever other company you’d prefer runs one again. If you are shopping for a new phone, then it’s likely that you won’t want to delay that long till you get one. There are probably going to be other promotions going on that are just as good. You could also go with a different company that is running a BOGO deal at that time if that’s an acceptable solution for you.
