Buying a phone off contract?

[legend8887]

People buy phones off contract and then go to AT&T or someone like that to get service. They do that because they're not stuck in a contract. However, they're still using AT&T or whatever so aren't they still kind of in a contract?

[Mao_Zedong]

No, because you can cancel your service whenever you want. Being on contract means you can't cancel in the first two years unless you pay a huge fee.

[Aytex]

An unlocked phone? is just I guess less expensive in some cases. buuying the contract sometimes costs more than a a phone over the months or years

[Guest]

Depends... Pay monthly or pay as you go, usually isn't on a contract basis no. However, sim-only contract deals are. It's usually pretty clear whether or not it will be a contract, as it will say '12 month contract', '24 month contract' etc. 

[nuttysandwich]

People buy phones off contract and then go to AT&T or someone like that to get service. They do that because they're not stuck in a contract. However, they're still using AT&T or whatever so aren't they still kind of in a contract?

It depends on what you mean by off contract. If you buy an unlocked phone that means you can use that phone with any carrier but it's going to cost alot. If you buy a phone that is AT&T supported but you're not buying a new contract, usually you have to be an existing customer to get the phone at $200 or something, in  which case it would be considered upgrade.

[Aniallation]

People buy phones off contract and then go to AT&T or someone like that to get service. They do that because they're not stuck in a contract. However, they're still using AT&T or whatever so aren't they still kind of in a contract?

No, they're only using the carrier for their service. No physical contract was signed, and there is no cancellation fee to leave.

[ShiftHitTheFan]

I did this for virgin mobile. It's called bring your own phone. Usually good plans, that give same features as contract phones, but for less. It's also usually less than pay as you go plans too. My payg plan was 45$\month for unlimited text, 300mb data, and 200min talk. My new byop plan is also $45/month, but unlimited everything, and 2gb of data.

[Touché! Good Sir]

Nope you can leave the carrier and switch without any fees whenever you want