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The time has finally come. For Verizon Wireless customers itching to get their hands on the Samsung Galaxy S4, we know it’s been tough watching every other US carrier get first dibs on the device. No matter, today, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is now officially available from Verizon Wireless for $200. For those of you that hate waiting for stores to open, long lines, or even the possibility of the device selling out, Amazon Wireless too is selling the device, but at a discounted $180 for either the 16GB black or white version (new lines and upgrades).
Keep in mind there is only the 16GB version available at this point and even with removable storage, users have been reporting that there just simply isn’t much elbow room for installing apps. To find out more about the Samsung Galaxy S4 and get a little more feedback about how others are enjoying it, hit up our Samsung Galaxy S4 forums to chat it up with users or even other prospective buyers like yourself. Links for purchasing provided below.
[Samsung Galaxy S4 from Verizon Wireless | Amazon Wireless: Black or White]
Don’t buy from Verizon directly because they will rip you off on the taxes. If you get the $199 contract price, they will charge you tax on the full retail price of the phone $650… Go to Costco for the best price and free accessories.
I was under the impression that it was the law to charge tax on the full price, not the subsidized price? Costco doesn’t do this?
Most places don’t, Sprint will charge full retail for the phone. Best Buy, Amazon, Radio Shack etc etc will not. They will charge tax on the subsidized price. Another reason for not buying at a carrier store.
*edit* this is in NY btw
Costco likely DOES do this, but does not pass the charges on to you
Costco does pass the taxes on to you, in MI you pay tax on the pre-sale price. Where Costco comes in handy is that they waive the $35 activation fee and give you accessories for free.
Before accusing Verizon, perhaps you should do some research on how taxes are regulated. The state regulates taxes, not Verizon. Plus this does not apply to all states, only some states do this.
it’s called the law… we aren’t scamming anyone, we HAVE to (I now work at verizon as retail sales)
im not overly knowledgeable about how other retailers handle sales but if we were to tax the discounted price we would be in deep crap…
saying we “rip you off” implies that we somehow benefit from the higher tax rate, all taxes go to government, that is how taxes work, so it makes no difference to verizon. if we could sell them with NO tax we would because it doesn’t hurt or help us.
Actually, it depends on where you live. I work retail for Verizon Wireless in Hawaii, and out here you only pay sales tax on the $200 price, but I know in California (and possibly other places), you pay sales tax on the full retail price. Something else that is different is that it is illegal in Hawaii to have a “restocking fee” if someone returns their phone. Whereas in the mainland, I believe there’s a $35 restocking fee for return/exchange. Just FYI.
yes this is true, in OK (where i work), we don’t tax the full price either, only the sub’d… i guess i should have clarified the state by state part.
Or just move to Delaware and never pay sales tax
About freaking time!!!!
It seems like it would be unlawful to charge on the full price, since the cell phone plan (that includes magical subsidy, but isn’t itself an extra charge) is already highly taxed. when you add in all the regulatory charges and 911 as well I find my family verizon plan averages somewhere between 20-25% tax.
exactly
Also what people might be referring to, is that verizon now charges an activation fee on new phones, (although this applies to phones purchased from amazon and other verizon authorized retailers). I forgot about that since I got my last phone last year the week before they stopped waiving the fee on upgrades.
My work discount mitigates the tax. Doesn’t feel like a discount but it certainly does help
If it’s the law to charge on the full price, then it’s not unlawful to charge on the full price. Some states require the taxes to be on the undiscounted price of a phone. California is one of those. It’s always really painful to ring up a $200 phone and see $60 in taxes ring up.
Also, between Income, use, service, sales, and property taxes the government is taking a cut at least times in a row from start to finish of spending.
Hmm. In florida i’ve never had that happen. Also I paid zero tax, because I bought my last phone from amazon.
I feel like this is different though, this is 2 sales taxes. Income/property taxes are very different things. This isn’t an anti-government anti-tax rant. I actually like taxes. This is a matter of practicality.. for example:
Verizon buys a phone wholesale for $600 and pays no tax.
I then buy the phone for $200 pay sales tax on that $200. The other $400 are subsidized into my monthly payments, which I also pay tax on.
In this scenario they talk about, you’d be paying tax on $600 to start, and still paying the same tax you always did on your phone bill every month. (verizon should just switch to t-mobiles new billing scheme maybe?).
Tax schemes vary by locality. The plan and the device are usually considered separate and are taxed differently because one is a sale and the other is a service. California requires payment on the full price of the phone (Verizon seems to keep the retail price between $600 and $750. The GS4 is $650). T-Mobile’s plan makes their final price $480 + down, so a $150 GS4 is priced at $630 after payments, unless they found a loophole in CA tax law (doubtful since VZW ATT, and Sprint would lobby quickly to fix it or remove the law). If Verizon was actually selling it for $200, then it would be taxed at $200, but instead they are subsidizing the cost by paying the remainder for you at point of sale in exchange for a 2 year commitment (or at least that’s the idea). It makes sense if you don’t consider the subsidy a part of your bill since it isn’t listed as a monthly service fee. Instead, think of a subsidy as a one time reward for agreeing to a two year term.
Also, T-Mobile is treating the phone charges as a separate thing, so your ETF doesn’t get you out of paying the rest of the phone. It’s a sales agreement and not attached to your service agreement.
Also, my mini rant about layer of tax is because it feels like double tax, but isn’t technically because its a service or use tax with a sales tax. It’s just an additional layer of taxation. Income, Sales, Use/Service, Property, etc all have purposes (I’m not saying taxes are useless), but sometimes they get complicated and overlap in ways that feel wrong.
Oh and Amazon avoiding sales tax has been an issue for years. Businesses only have to pay sales tax if they sell in places where they have a brick and mortar presence. Amazon has no facilities in Florida, so they don’t pay taxes there. Some states require citizens to list those purchases and then pay the state, but no one does it because it’s easy to hide and many people don’t even know that they are breaking their state’s laws (if their state has such a law. Again, California loves taxes and has a law that requires citizens to pay on internet goods, but has no enforcement capabilities)
Congress is attempting to craft a bill to fix this, but for now the supreme court “brick and mortar presence” requirement is how taxes are collected. It will be insane if they try to make every business pay those taxes for all sales. Heck, sales taxes often vary by city, county, and state.
Bring on that bootloader unlock process, please!
:-)
Yeah $200 up front, but that phone costs you $1,500 more over two years. Make sure Verizon kisses you on the mouth first ;)
Yes, although you’re describing the general situation with EVERY phone purchased on contract. You’re also about $1K low on the additional cost over two years.
…sadly Verizon’s coverage is worth $1,500 more than the others.
So true. I drove 400 miles the other day and only lost my 4G once.
You mean $235 up front…don’t forget the activation.(should be illegal, it’s only purpose is to drop advertised pricing)
I’m not sure which point you are trying to make if either, but if you are going to be on a contract, you might as well get a new phone because they are charging you like you are paying off a phone anyway. So you are screwed either way…might as well have a new phone to make it hurt less :)
If you are talking about over other wireless carriers, Verizon’s family plans actually beat other carriers in most cases. We have 2 dumbphones, 3 smartphones, and 2 tablets and pay $270. I’ve looked for better deals and can’t find one for our situation (among the carriers that have reasonable service in our areas anyway). So if you are on Verizon as an individual, get some friends together…
you mean $250 after taxes and the $30 activation fee they charge.
I figured taxes vary and aren’t Verizon’s call…I was also thinking it was a $35 activation fee…my mistake. But yeah.
2-year agreement Excluding taxes and Fees on a single smartphone with at least 2GB data per month and unlimited text/minutes:
AT&T: $200 + $110 per month
$2840
Verizon: $200 + $100 per month
$2600
Sprint: $150 + $110 per month
$2790
T-Mobile: $150 down + $60 per month +$20 per month phone payment
$2070
2 year Excluding taxes and Fees on a single smartphone with at least 2GB data per month and unlimited text with 450+ minutes:
AT&T: $200 + $90 per month
$2360
Verizon: $200 + $100 per month
$2600
Sprint: $150 + $80 per month
$2070
T-Mobile: $150 down + $60 per month +$20 per month phone payment
$2070
Taxes and fees vary, so I left those out. The difference between the major carriers doesn’t come close to $1,500 when buying on subsidy and each carrier still costs over $2K across two years. The difference between Verizon and T-Mobile is about $530 across 2 years for comparable plans. That’s not an amount to laugh at and each carrier has it’s own benefits. I got the numbers from the websites of each company and did simple math.
I’m sure that we could push numbers lower by having 150MB of data on some prepaid card and individual charges for texts, but I figured that would be like comparing a Ford Fiesta to an Aston Martin Vantage and saying that the Fiesta is absolutely better.
Just got mine, will be picking it up in three hours during lunch. I only paid taxes on the $200. Went with white!
Anyone hear if Verizon will be getting the 32gb version? I keep reading that the 16gb version has very little room for a lot of apps with all the bloat and OS on it, and I would prefer that version anyways…
I’m still waiting for the google GS4