How to Save Tons of Money When Buying a Cell Phone

Buying a cell phone from your local wireless carrier's store—AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile or Sprint—is easy. Just walk in, pick out your phone, setup your plan and go.

But you can save a lot of money on the exact same phone with the exact same plan by buying online instead—as much as $200, for some of the hottest new smartphones.

Who are these fly-by-night online retailers? How about AmazonWireless and Walmart. And also, Wirefly, the largest online cell phone retailer (which operates Radio Shack's online store, as well).

As you can see from the price comparison, the amount you save will vary by carrier and model, but it's often considerable. And, you even get free shipping (2-day with AmazonWireless) and phone activation promotions not available through the carriers.

And it gets even better. Buy a cell phone from one of the carriers' stores and you'll need to mail in a physical rebate form to get the full discount—what decade are these guys in? The online retailers bake it all into the price—no extra steps necessary.

And there's really no catch. You're buying a brand new phone with the same calling and data plans available through the carrier. Of course, you'll also have the same contract restrictions, early terminations fees, etc.

Okay, there's one catch. You won't get help transferring your data from your old cell phone to your new one if you buy online. Most of the carriers' brick-and-mortar stores will transfer your contacts and other basic information if you buy from them. Though, if you're already syncing your contacts with your computer or a web service (e.g., GMail), resyncing to your new cell phone is a breeze.

(UPDATE 9/28/10: Corrected to show that Sprint phones are available through Amazon. Since pricing was posted yesterday, the Samsung Vibrant and Droid 2 have both dropped to $49.99 on AmazonWireless.)

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