If you've been interested in buying the Palm Pre, now might be the time to take the plunge. Both Wal-Mart and Amazon.com are offering the phone for much less than Sprint's after-rebate price.
At Amazon, you can score the Palm Pre for $99.99 with a two-year contract. Wal-Mart will get you an even lower price — $79.99 with a two year contract — but you'll need to send in a $100 mail-in-rebate. Sprint's price is $150 after $100 mail-in-rebate, two-year contract required.
If you are interested in the Wal-Mart deal, be sure to read the fine print. Not only do you need to mail in a rebate for the $100, you need to enclose a copy of your fourth month carrier bill, and it needs to show that you've made the payment and that there is no outstanding balance. So basically, you'll need to wait four months before even sending in the paperwork. $80 is still a deal, but if it were me, I'd pay the $20 extra and just get it at Amazon.com.
Both offers are for new contracts only. If you are an existing Sprint customer, your best bet is to deal directly with Sprint to get the lowest possible price. You may be able to take advantage of these offers if you are adding the phone as a new line of service to your existing Sprint account, but check with Amazon, Wal-Mart or Sprint before taking the plunge.
What Do Lower Prices Indicate?
Retailers are allowed to set their own phone prices (this is why Best Buy was able to offer the instant $100 mail-in-rebate on the Pre when it launched in June), because they get money from the carrier for each new sign-up that often far exceeds whatever margin might be on the phone itself.
Lower prices might indicate that new revisions of the Pre are in the works (maybe a higher capacity model) and retailers want to clear out the inventory. It could also indicate that the Pre isn't selling as well as expected.
Palm announced its next webOS based phone, the Palm Pixi earlier this month and it should hit Sprint stores before the holidays. Maybe retailers are just trying to clear some stock of the Pre to make room for the Pixi and its many different colors and styles.
So smartphone shoppers, do the new deals on the Palm Pre make it more attractive or are you going to hold out for a Pixi? Palm Pre owners, what are your favorite aspects of the phone?