Contract Plans vs. Prepaid Plans

If you have been in the market for a cell phone or have just looked around just anywhere you go, you’ll notice there many different plans out there to go with the phone that you want. The two main tiers of the cell phone plan market are contract plans and prepaid plans. Well, besides having a contract on the phone or not, what other differences are there? There may be pros or cons to either one that may determine which side of the fence you settle on when you’re ready to join the wireless world.

Contract Plans

Sign my name here?
Yes! Contracts are an agreement to use a service for an allotted amount of time determine by you and your service provider. There usually incentives that come along with signing up for a contract plan, but there are also drawbacks to doing so if you don’t fully understand what you actually signed up for. Please also know that qualifying for a contract plan requires a credit check. You may be asked for a deposit, depending on your credit.

Incentives

You may ask yourself why would you want to sign a 2 year contract. Incentives, that’s why. When you sign up for a contract you get discounted prices on cell phones, plans and options that come with your plan. A phone that may retail for $150 may only cost your $50 and in some cases may be Free. If you want a cheaper price for your cell phone, then going with a contract plan certainly will help in that matter. The plan itself is more of a bargain as well, giving you more minutes for the money and offering you options such as texting and multimedia at lower prices.

Prepaid Plans
Don’t waste a minute…
Prepaid plans offer the comfort of not having to sign a lengthy contract or a credit check. Plus, if you don’t want to risk going over your minutes (great for children), or maybe your credit isn’t quite good enough yet to get a contract plan. You pay for you minutes and when you use them up, simply pay for more. Please know also, that texting and other features beside calling on your phone may subtract from the bucket of minute you pay for. You will pay more for your cell phone with these plans, but if a contract is out of the question, then these are your options.

Pick a Plan / Pay as you Go
There a two ways to buy your minutes for your prepaid device. You can pick a prepaid plan or you can pay for your minutes as you need them. Some carriers may offer both or only one of these options.

When you pick a prepaid plan , you buy up a package of minutes for a month at a time and it is reoccurring just like a contract plan. You will get billed each month for the amount of minutes you have chosen. Don’t worry about going over your minutes because you can’t. When you minutes are used up, you talk time up. If you do happen to use to those minutes up that month, you can go online and buy more minutes or buy a prepaid card with minutes to give yourself more talk time for the month until your next month’s minutes are on your phone.

Pay as you go is exactly what is says. Instead of buying a prepaid plan with a reoccurring bill, you pay for your minutes as you need them. Maybe, you only use your cell phone for emergencies or just are not a big talker. Either way, you can buy buckets of minutes to use them at your discretion. You minute will not run out at the end of the month but only when you use them up. A drawback to paying for your minutes this way is that you pay a higher price for your minutes than you would a contract or a prepaid plan. Overall, this is perfect for the seldom user or someone who doesn’t want to pay a monthly payment.

Shop and Compare cell phones & service plans at Onestopwirelesshop. Carriers such as Cingular, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, Amp’d & more.