Bargains make me happy. Canadian phone carriers are all corrupt AF and SO expensive, but my two year contract was almost up so I had to choose to upgrade or pay off my phone, as that’s how it’s mostly done here. When I went into the store the clerk told me to upgrade my phone would cost 30 something more dollars a month, over 100 bucks, and I wouldn’t get a better plan for it. I stared at him and told him I was going home to look into other options and would find another carrier, and he argued with me that it’s a premium phone and that’s a really good price. Uh, no it isn’t.
So my workplace has an employee discounts program for various things, and there were several various phone plans which I had never investigated, and to make a long story short, I got an employee pricing plan and upgrade. The price she quoted me was 60 dollars plus 1 dollar for the phone, which is even a savings from my previous plan, but when I went to pick it up the plan price had dropped (they change for various sale periods) and I got a Pixel 10 for 45 dollars a month plus 1 dollar for the phone, 30 GB more data,and international calling which I didn’t have before. And I still deal with my carrier and don’t have to change stores or anything, it’s just done through an employee pricing plan.
So TL;DR I got a good price and new phone, and I like all of that. I really love when I can get a good bargain.


Many (most?) people can’t afford to buy a phone outright for $750. So they essentially have to lease it from the carrier.
I always bought my phones, never paid more than 300€. My current one is a refurbished pixel 7 for 250€
They could always get a phone for 200 (or keep the old one a bit longer), save the difference to the otherwise more expensive plan, then next time they can afford to buy a more expensive phone. Wouldn’t that work?
Don’t need a new damn iPhone every year, I always buy refurbished. My current pixel 6a was $200 and is pretty good. And I own it.