Pre Plus now included in Verizon BOGO super sale 45
by Derek Kessler
Thu, 18 Feb 2010 1:53 pm EST
Thu, 18 Feb 2010 1:53 pm EST 
While the just-reduced-in-price Palm Pixi Plus has been running as a free phone along side the purchase of a Pre Plus, Verizon’s just-launched super Buy One, Get One Free sale now includes the Pre Plus as one of the free phones (so long as the other one is of equal or greater value). So you can essentially get two Verizon Pre Plus phones for 50% off. And that qualifies as a good deal. This BOGO sale isn’t even set up in pairs, so if you want a Pre Plus and your wayward spouse is lusting after a Droid Eris you can still get a free phone. Of course, you do have to sign a new two year contract for two lines to get the deal, but them’s the breaks when you get a deal like this.
Thanks to Audemars02, Tim, and danib62 for the tip!
45 Comments
Wondering if these discounts will hurt Palm more than help. Gives the impression that they are desperate to unload the devices (which I guess they are).
I wouldn't think this. Verizon is doing the same for the Droid and for BB's. They just want to sign people up. It's good aggressive marketing and good for Palm.
The Droid and the Droid Eris are also BOGO'd - not just Palm. Six handsets in all.
From all the market share reports I think Palm is probably better off taking a hit in revenue to expand their market. Palm's marketing hasn't been very good and not enough people know about WebOS.
Also do we know who actually makes the loss for these BOGO promotions? What's to say Verizon isn't buying the BOGO'ed devices from Palm at their wholesale price and then recouping the cost of the phone by locking someone into 2 lines at Verizon prices for 2 years.
I am sure that there is a manufacturer subsidy but VZW probably is taking the hit because they are most definitely going to make it back through their contracts.
Wasn't thinking so much from a revenue standpoint as much as a perception of the product.
BOGO probably isn't as bad perception wise as Free-On-Contract. And they have BOGO on the Droid too, the Droid is a pretty high-end phone.
I can almost guarantee that Palm takes no losses and neither does Verizon. As long as Verizon sells the phones they purchase from Palm they are way up in the black. This is a discount provided by Verizon. I'm sure they are are paying full price for the phones. These companies service two completely different segments of the market. Palm sells phones and Verizon sells service contracts. Why would either one lower the price of what they provide. Verizon does not lower the cost to enter into service contracts and Palm does not lower the price of their phones. We already know that even though Verizon tries to have better competetive pricing, they still can't give as much bang for the buck as Sprint nor do they have to. Customers are subscribing in droves and to be able to market a really cool phone like the Palm Pre Plus just helps them get more customers. And, trust me people are starting to really ask about Palm phones again. It's a win-win for both Palm and Verizon.....
ehhhh Im good thanks... :)
Great sale though and good news for Palm!
There is no money in handsets for the carriers. Contacts are worth thousands, phones wholesale for hundreds. And BOGO has been a VZ hallmark for years. You walk off thinking you got an extra phone for free, they smirk because you just signed on for a $4000 commitment.
Everybody "wins"!
+1!!
But in this case it is good if people buy up the webOS phones to help secure its future =)
Can we PLEASE stop calling it "BOGO?" Why not B1G1? Bogo just sounds, so, lame...
In all reality, it is BOGOF, as there is also a BOGOHO (Buy 1 Get 1 Half Off) and they are both commonly called BOGO. This is a BOGOF (bo-gof) rather than the BOGOHO (bo-go-ho).
it`s just game from VZW to lock everyone in the game.
I`ll stick to my Sprint at lease I choice new phone every
one years if I want, not every two years as VZW want,READ
BELOW from VZW website:
How do you sign up for New Every Two?
You are automatically enrolled in our New Every Two program when you sign up for a two-year agreement on a calling plan with a monthly access of $34.99 or higher. If you maintain service on a calling plan of $34.99 or higher and fulfill your two-year term, you will qualify for a free phone. If your calling plan monthly access is $79.99 or higher for the entire three months prior to completing your New Every Two phone upgrade, you will get up to $50.00 toward the purchase of that phone. If your calling plan monthly access was between $34.99 and $79.98 at any time during the three months prior to completing your New Every Two phone upgrade, you will get up to $30.00 toward the purchase of that phone. When completing your New Every Two upgrade, you will need to renew your agreement for another two years on a calling plan with a monthly access of $34.99 or higher.
You must retain the same wireless handset for 20 months in order to receive the full advantages of this program. If you choose to replace your handset at a discounted price, you will forfeit your benefits and be automatically reenrolled if you meet the requirements of the program.
"This BOGO sale isn
...I think it means if you purchase the Pre Plus you can select a 2nd Pre Plus (or) a phone of equal or less in value, free!!!
Normally BOGO sales are in pairs - buy a Pre, get a free Pixi; or buy a Droid, get a free Eris. Now it's any two of the six qualifying handsets.
not despperate at all vzw has been doing these sales with blackberries for over a year it's a great way to get family share accts to add additional smartphones. Consider this a good thing.
I agree, this is a "plus" for palm
If only Sprint did this. My entire family has either Pre's or Pixi's
The best Sprint can do is discount the price of the phone,but not to half price. They are losing millions of dollars in sales contracts. Trust me, if Sprint could afford to offer Bogo deals, they would. But their customer base is declining every single quarter. But, even though customer loss is evident with Sprint, they are still able to offer some of the lowest monthly plans out there. It should us know that there is tons of profit margin in obtaining customer contracts. If Sprint were ever to start gaining service contracts as opposed to losing them, I bet we'd start seeing more Bogo like deals!!!
Sprint's service plans are cheaper than Verizon. At least mine is.
of course Sprint is cheaper than everyone else...
for what you get, you can't go wrong with Sprint. They just need to step up their marketing and advertising game....
other than that, I love em and Im approaching my two years and I definitely plan on renewing for another 2 years.
Palm device going to tmo??? Check this out.....
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/02/18/palm-webos-coming-to-t-mobile/
Isn't he the goober that started the hysteria about Palm halting Pre production?
OTR Global did, but they were banging trash can lids to let everyone know.
If this is true I'm going to WIND. Although kinda doubt it.
While this is good for Palm as a means to get more devices out there, it boggles my mind as to how people think this saves them a lot of money in the long run. I price-matched the features I get with Sprint and I EASILY save $40 before taxes and fees by staying with Sprint versus Verizon.
... Again, I'm happy for Palm and hey if you love Verizon enough to shell out the cash, then go for it! I'm happy with Sprint.
Just throw out the word "Free" and the average consumer's brain stops functioning in any rational way.
Give away the razor, sell the blades. It's pretty standard marketing.
just like ink jets, sometimes the printes is cheaper than the ink itself? do they lose? of course not, once u have their printer you have to keep buying their ink...
The consumers are correct. For someone who likes Verizon, or gets better quality service in their area from Verizon, this is a great deal. They have every reason to be happy!
Wondering if this could really mean Verizon's exclusivity is really short like Sprint's and the AT&T May date (i.e. my guess) is correct. They're trying to lock in more people into contracts as fast as they can before AT&T starts selling, or an unlocked unit is around the corner.
Hopefully the last 8 months weren't so bad that it's too late to reap most of the benefit this war charge warrants.
The next 8 months will be chock full of thrills and chills, I'm sure.
and it looks like tmobile will be getting either both pre plus pixi plus, or a all new version of a pixi type form factor phone hmmmm. Also looking at the comments alot of people either want a web os phone on tmo over a nexus one, as well as At&t people want to swap out there iphone 3gs for a pre very interesting. I also hear people say what us, and places like Noah at phonedog.net have been saying that WEB OS is the best OS on the market. I think in a year or two we all will be looking back at this and saying to ourselves we picked and stuck with the right OS, because I believe WEB OS will be a great success either still just palm or under another company like Nokia. Also in regards to the sprint comment sprint is loosing customers like in the previous 4 years but have slowed considerably the last year so hopefully there on the uphill climb now.
so this is all better for the consumer how?
Im with the people sticking with Sprint....Im happy with Sprint and have no intentions of switching; ESPECIALLY to Verizon.
I like my "oh, around $300 saved" a year. :)
Derek,
is there anything to derive from this about Palm and or the Pre, maybe from the history of Verizon? I don't know. never had verizon or been part of a bogo. but like are these phones they don't want anymore? too much inventory? do they do this with the best phones or the worst or all? I'm curios.
This is how Verizon does business. They positioned the Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus phones as their high-end, fun and easy-to-use smart phones for the mass market. And they are already allocating substantial advertising resources to these phones. This is Verizon's way to get new subscribers and hold-on to their existing customers.
question then. if Pixi Plus is their high-end smart phones why are they offering it free? Seems you'd want to say buy a pixi get a pixi. not buy a pre get a pixi. or even buy a pixi get some other phone.
Shouldn't they be calling it BOGOF?
I fully admit that I do not understand the economy of giving phones away for free. If it made such good sense, why should a carrier not give them all away for free and make it up on volume? I will let the economists work it all out. In the mean time, Apple: the company Palm was trying to compete with for a while, is doing something quite exotic; they are SELLING their phones rather than giving them away. Also in a strange turn of capitalism, people are BUYING premium phones rather than lining up for free phones. BOGO is just a half step above free with contract. What products is the Pre competing against? At this point, it seems Symbian and WinMo are Palm's realistic targets. I doubt Symbian is all that dominant if you only count the phones people actually purchase.
Contracts, ECF, dumb consumers. Those are the reasons.
It's much cheaper if you fully own your phone, no contract, and call them for a cheaper plan. It'll save you money on the longer run.
But consumers are easily distracted by the world "FREE" and forgets the details.
You are using selective information to make your "second" point. Palm is selling its phone at Sprint, and it is selling quite well. Verizon is selling the Palm Pre Plus, it is not giving it away for free. The deal is that you will get a second one free "if" you buy the first. But your "first" point contradicts your "second" point: Why not give them "all" away for free to make it up on volume? The reason why they are not giving it all away for free is because these are high value smart phones, and consumers will buy the phones at the current discount. Not only that, the Palm Pre smart phone may be costing Verizon $550 each; that is a lot of money to simply give away two phones for free.
As I said, I really don't understand how that particular business model works. I do know that it is different from how the iPhone is sold. That is relevant because the iPhone is, or was, the Pre's competitive inspiration. Hypothetically, if Palmed moved as many phones as Apple in a particular quarter, it still would not be comparably since up to half the Palm phones were give aways. You can't give away product for free and then compare your numbers to a seller of a premium product.
As far as I know, there are no BOGOF iPhones anywhere in the world. That means that everyone who carries the iPhone is able to sell it at list price. That has to be better than giving them away or heavily discounting them. It is not to say that the bogo model doesn't work; it is just not comparable to a premium model. That is why I think Palm is not competing in the same arena as the iPhone; they are competing against lower tier offerings. I suspect that the Pixi, as well as the Pre will be Verizon's free phone in a year. That may be one definition of success, but I don't believe that is the type of success Palm had in mind.
you can afford to not give away free iphones cause they have high demand, a loyal following, top not marketing, a app store loaded with decent 99c or free apps, etc. They don't really have to do anything to sell iphones.
If Palm had the power of apple at the bargaining table they could contract to have control over the price to prevent such deals and if they sold Pre's at the same rate as iphone they'd probably wouldn't be bogo either.
i don't think it will take a year for either to be free simply because lots of new phones come out each year, thus lots of competition driving prices down.