Walmart is certainly a destination that a lot of people who are looking for a prepaid phone look into. It’s a smart idea without a doubt. Since when getting a prepaid phone at Walmart you’re going to be able to look at rates offered by different service providers. Now that Walmart has created its own virtual marketplace to rival Amazon that also opens up a lot of possibilities for buyers. Getting a prepaid phone at Walmart isn’t just something that you’re going to be able to do at the store itself. Is Walmart though is still a good place to be able to buy a prepaid phone? That’s something that we’re going to explore in this article!
Do you have a particular service provider that you want to get service from? If so then it would be a good idea to look into that service provider before you commit to buying a prepaid phone at Walmart. This is because you need to check device compatibility with the network that you’re trying to get coverage from. A common mistake that we see from people who get a prepaid phone at Walmart is that they gravitate towards the cheap devices. When it comes down to it though, they end up getting a device that limits the coverage that they’re getting from their network. That’s certainly something that we want to make sure doesn’t happen to you! Here are the topics that we are going to cover in this article.
- Prepaid Phone at Walmart What You Can Find
- Why Are There Different Prices For Phones Online?
- Do I Have To Pick The Service Provider Once I Buy The Phone?
- Other Places To Buy A Phone
- Why You Want To Be Careful With Cheap Devices
- Is Buying A Prepaid Phone At Walmart A Good Idea?
Prepaid Phone at Walmart What You Can Find
The type of phones that you’re going to be able to find at Walmart online and at the store could vary a lot. At the store you could find some hidden gems for sure. That you won’t be able to find online. The good thing about buying a prepaid phone at Walmart directly is that you can literally walk out with the phone in hand and go right over to a wireless service provider and get it activated. In fact, you may be able to activate your prepaid plan directly in the Walmart store. As we mentioned, what you can find will certainly vary. For the most part you’ll be able to find the hot new phones that are currently on the market. You may be limited with the color schemes. Other than that it’s no big deal.
When you’re looking for a bargain deal where you’re buying an older phone or a cheaper phone that can be a little more difficult. There’s a chance that at that moment that you decide you want to go buy a prepaid phone at Walmart your local store doesn’t exactly offer a wide variety of options. Particularly in the lower cost variety or even refurbished or pre owned phones. We’re going to talk a little bit about those here shortly. If you’re looking for the latest models there’s a good chance that you’ll be able to find a good selection of phones at your local Walmart. When you’re looking for a bargain deal you may be able to find more options online. Obviously the negative side to that is the fact that you won’t be able to see the phone physically before you buy it.
Why Are There Different Prices For Phones Online?
This applies to phones that you can find at the Walmart marketplace online and other places. The same phone same, model, and same everything can be found at different prices on various sites. What changes? We have an article on this, and we advised there as well, do here that you should be very cautious when looking at those deals. Particularly if the price tag is way different in one place than it is in the other. Usually when you see a price for example that is 20, 30 or more dollars lower than the price tag on the Samsung, or Apple site you may want to check and see if it’s really a new phone. In a lot of market places people are selling used or refurbished phones, but they hide that fact within the production description or wherever it may be.
We’re not saying that all refurbished phones are the worst and you should never buy them. Our advice in that department is, however, proceed with caution. What we are saying is that what you don’t want is to buy a used or refurbished phone thinking that it’s brand new! If you know what you’re getting into it’s ok. On the flip side when the price tag is 5 or 10 dollars off of what we would call the original price you end up getting the same price due to delivery fees or some tax. In the best case scenario the store is holding a sale on older models. So with older models there’s a chance that you’ll get a deal. When you’re dealing with newer models though it’s usually smart to be skeptical of massive price drops.
Do I Have To Pick The Service Provider Once I Buy The Phone?
The thing with Walmart and other third party sellers that sell prepaid phones is that they can give you the option to activate the prepaid plan on the spot. That’s not a bad thing by any means. If anything it saves you a trip to your local Verizon, T-Mobile, or AT&T store. That being said, you may not be sure what service provider or prepaid plan you want to get when you buy the phone. That’s ok, don’t feel pressured to pick a service provider on the spot. You can let them know at Walmart that you want the phone to remain unlocked and you’ll pick the service provider later down the line.
For example if you’re buying a burner phone that you want to use when you travel you can just leave the phone unlocked without a SIM card. What’s going to happen then? Essentially nothing. By all means you can have an unlocked phone without a SIM card. That does mean that the phone is not going to have a phone number and you won’t be able to make calls on it. You can however start installing some apps and things of that nature. To get the phone “ready” for when you pick a service provider. If you want to know more about this, we have a full on article on what you can do with a phone without a SIM card. We dare say that many people are surprised with all the things that can be done.
Other Places To Buy A Phone
Getting a prepaid phone at Walmart is obviously not the only option that you’re going to have. There are certainly many other places where you can buy a phone. Best Buy comes to mind rather quickly as a retailer that sells prepaid phones. What’s the difference between one place and the other? From the way that we see it, people can find deals in both places. Folks who got a great deal on Amazon, Best Buy or wherever it may be are going to say that buying phones there is great. Folks who had a good experience buying a prepaid phone at Walmart will back that idea. That’s just how things go.
You could even go ahead and buy a device directly from the manufacturer. There are some manufacturers that will have their own retail store in malls and strip malls that you can go to. If what you’re looking for is that experience of touching and seeing the device before you buy. In fact, there’s an argument to be made that buying even a prepaid phone directly from the manufacturer is a good option. Since you’re going to be able to buy it through their credit program. Those credit programs work a lot like car leasing programs. Changing your phone every two years for the same monthly fee may not be something that you’ll be able to get at Walmart. Just something to think about. The best place to buy a phone can vary depending on where you personally are able to get a good deal. Sometimes you have to be a bit lucky!
Why You Want To Be Careful With Cheap Devices
When you buy at Walmart the physical store you’re going to have the benefit of looking at the device, and also asking around about the device that you want to buy. The problem that you may have when you’re trying to buy a prepaid phone at Walmart directly from the store is that there may not be a ton of options at the store that you visit. You could get a Walmart employee though to check the inventory in nearby stores if you don’t find exactly what you’re looking for. So what’s this about being careful? Well the thing is some of the cheap devices may not be compatible with the network that you want to sign up on.
Compatibility is certainly one of the things that you have to account for as we’ve mentioned. The other issue is more for online shopping. A lot of times when you see a great deal it may be too good to be true. Some people think that they can blindly trust Walmart, but they won’t trust Amazon or eBay. Just remember though that Walmart also has its own online marketplace. There are sellers on there that are not directly “controlled” by Walmart. So, some of the same warnings that we’ve given out when it comes to online shopping apply here. Make sure you know what you’re buying. Used and refurbished phones may be found at lower prices, but not be great deals in the long run.
Is Buying A Prepaid Phone At Walmart A Good Idea?
There are actually quite a few benefits that you could obtain when buying a phone from Walmart. We’ve mentioned that you may be able to get a SIM card from virtually any service provider while you’re there. Just make sure to let them know that you’re interested in an unlocked phone that you then are going to be putting on a prepaid plan. You don’t want them to hook you with a SIM card for a postpaid plan on the spot. Another benefit that you’ll have when shopping directly at the store is that you can walk out with an active prepaid phone at Walmart. If you’re looking for a quick way to get wireless service this can actually be a great spot to go.
Are some of the other options like buying a phone from Amazon, or directly from the service provider a better idea? It really depends on what you’re looking for. We heavily promote the option to get your phone directly from the service provider because you can get the phone at a low monthly fee. Basically just like you would on a postpaid plan. If you need to get phone service right away though, Walmart may just be the best option. Even better than going over to your local Verizon or AT&T store. At Walmart, you’ll be able to compare different service providers and choose the one that fits your needs best. They won’t be pushing you to get into a long term postpaid deal.
As is the case with many of the scenarios that we explore on the site we’d have to say that getting a prepaid phone at Walmart can be a great idea … under certain conditions. If you need coverage quickly, or if there are a ton of solid phone options at your local store it can be great. If that’s not the case for you then it may not work out as well. Ultimately we would say Walmart is without a doubt a solid option to look into. If you have more time to shop you can branch out to other options though.