"Elmo P. Shagnasty" <elmop@nastydesigns.com> wrote in message
news:elmop-D6B31F.16051107012008@nntp1.usenetserver.com...
> So explain why I picked up a couple Verizon InPulse Samsung A870 phones
> at Walmart for $50 each. I'm *sure* they're worth more than that.

The pay-as-you-go phones tend to make significantly more money on a "per
minute of usage" basis than "regular" (contract) phones, so the marketing idea
there is that it doesn't take nearly as long for the manufacturer to re-coop
the "discount" they gave you on the phone, so even if you lose or throw away
or otherwise stop using the phone (and go get another one for $50) there's a
decent chance they'll have already made some money off of you overall.

Also consider that those phones are usually a generation or so behind the
current "cutting edge" of technology, so they are cheaper to make in the first
place. That Samsung A870 might not cost more than $100 to make, for instance.

> Oh, but I do do business with PagePlus....at a rate of about
> $30/year.....so even if I do end up using the Verizon network, it's not
> for very much at all.

They're probably losing money on you. All carriers lose money on some
customers, but remember that their goal is to make the biggest return on
investments for their stockholders -- from that perspective it doesn't matter
if they lose money on you if they're making heaps and piles of money on enough
other people.

Smart consumers certainly can use knowledge to their advantage here...