Sprint beckons T-Mobile customers with $200 trade-in and $350 buyout

By Malarie Gokey Published January 23, 2015

5 ways Sprint can move on — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Sprint isn’t too happy that T-Mobile has siphoned away some of its customers, and now it’s firing back. The carrier announced a very tempting offer to T-Mobile customers with the promise of at least $200 of trade-in value for their old T-Mobile phone and an additional of up to $350 credit per line to cover the remaining payments on the device, since there’s no contract to buyout.

As with any deal from the big four U.S. carriers, there are of course, stipulations to the promotion. To receive the $200, you have to hand over your T-Mobile phone and then use that credit towards a new phone from Sprint. After that, if you want to get more money from Sprint to cover the remaining balance you owe to T-Mobile on the phone you just handed in, you’ll have to register for the refund online. Then, you’ll get a prepaid or reward card from Sprint.

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Since T-Mobile doesn’t have plans with two-year contracts, Sprint is offering to front part of the cost of your old device instead. The offer is ideally suited to those who owe $350 or less on their T-Mobile phone. The only problem with that scenario, is that if you owe more than $350 on your T-Mobile phone, you’ll have to fork over the rest personally. Alternatively, if you don’t owe any more to T-Mobile, Sprint probably won’t offer you additional money.

To leverage the deal, Sprint reminds T-Mobile customers that its plans are actually cheaper. Sprint offers unlimited high-speed data, talk, and text for $50 a month if you buy an iPhone 6/Plus, or $60 if you buy any other device and have only one line. Pricing for a family of four on both carriers’ networks is equal, though Sprint offers more high-speed, 4G LTE data.

The deal starts on now and will continue until April 9. You can see more details in the press release.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

As DT's Mobile Editor, Malarie runs the Mobile and Wearables sections, which cover smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, and…

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