[E. Pluribus Unum]

Evidently the prepaid cellphone companies sell the phones at a loss in anticipation of making a profit on the service.

I love Tracfone. Costs me and my wife $90 each per year to have a cell phone with 450 minutes, which is more than enough for our purposes.

They ought to just sell the phones bundled with a year's worth of service. That would solve the arbitrage problem.

[Sloth]

I love Tracfone. Costs me and my wife $90 each per year to have a cell phone with 450 minutes, which is more than enough for our purposes.

Same here. If you want a phone just for emergencies plus the occasional 'pick up some milk' or 'I need directions' call, you can't beat a Tracfone.

[RichardW]

I love those Tracfones as well. $10 a month. How can anyone beat that deal? But what sold me was that the minutes will be rolled over so long as the service remains active. My next card is due at the end of October but I have 157 minutes left and I just use it for emergency purposes which is the only reason I really see for these things anyway. 10 minutes come with the phone but when activated over the internet got another 30 for a total of 40 minutes. Adding the additional minutes is a piece of cake.

When my wife's regular cell phone contract runs out, it's bye-bye time to that rip-off. She seldom uses anywhere close to the maximum time allotted. And that's $48 a month. Won't fall into that trap again.

I have the 2126 phone and put in inside an 1100 case and clip it to my shirt pocket and I still can put my reading glasses in there. Great reception and I can use it anywhere.

I've already bought a second one to get my wife up and running as soon as her regular contract runs out.