Cell Phone Swap Programs at AT&T and Verizon

The big cellphone news this month is the iPhone coming to Verizon but the competition for your business has meant that all of the carriers are trying to win your business with new programs.

One idea that both Verizon and AT&T are offering are cellphone swap programs.  Each works with a third party to offer a trade-in value for phones from any provider that will be given to you in the form of a giftcard for the provider's services.  Verizon also allows for you to donate your trade-in to its HopeLine program that provides cellphones to victims of domestic violence.  AT&T encourages donations to its Cellphones for Soldiers program.

Of course, these programs offer just a fraction of your cost as trade-in, but each assumes that you want to get the newest device and have a slightly less than new device to trade-in.  You could resell your phone via Craigslist or eBay or to one of several electronics resellers directly, but this is a convenient way to get something back for your phone and offset the price of upgrading your phone without signing a new two-year contract or paying the full retail price if you still have months to go on your current contract.

We have seen how fast cellphone handsets are changing, as soon as you buy one you can be assured that a phone with more features, faster processor and 'cool' factor will come out soon after.  These programs help to offset the cost of upgrading and put your phone back into the market. 

In all cases, when you get rid of a cellphone (through donation, sale, trade-in) always clear your personal data.  Your cellphone's manual will have instructions on how to 'wipe' (remove stored information) your phone.  If you have lost your manual, search for it on your provider's website or visit one of their retail locations for assistance.

Visit the nearest Verizon store to Lorton visit verizon on the web.

For the nearest AT&&T store visit www.att.com.