Prices

[Anonymous]

I just went to my local o2 store and paid £359 up front for my 32g iphone 5. I notice that if I ordered it online it would have been 299. Anyone have any comment on why the differecne in price?

[Anonymous]

Did you get yours straightaway when you paid as even though its cheaper online they have a 3-12 week wait for delivery

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

I believe the online prices are different than the instore ones its the same with upgrades you can often get a better deal over the phone than you can instore as they have more power to alter things or give you add ons

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the replies. No I didn't have to wait so that's probably how tey justify the difference

[Anonymous]

Was that on contract ?

[Anonymous]

They will class their online services as a different business to their highstreet shops.

Apple do the same as so do many businesses !

The online prices are sometimes less due to no overheads such as a shop to pay rent on, heating and lighting etc. really its there to tempt you to buy.

[jimthing0]

Also some O2's are franchises, rather than part of O2 directly, in case you didn't know. 

Apple don't do this, one reason amongst many being they are all part of Apple Inc's stores subsidary company directly under their control, another being a 'unified pricing strategy' across sales channels (and also a unified fixing/replacements policy too). 

This is another reason I draw cash from my savings specifically put aside for such things during the year, and go and buy the handset directly from Apple — much less hassle and no locked-in contracts, so I can move carrier at any time, or change device should I ever want to. 

(in future years, selling the old unlocked iPhone also subsidises the new one greatly too, of course! 😉