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[Updated November 29, 2021] For Cyber Monday, T-Mobile is running a special bring your own device (BYOD) promotion. Add a new line with your own device and get up to a $400 virtual gift card. Both new and existing T-Mobile customers are eligible. Offer link below:

Promotion date: November 29, 2021

Offer details: Bring your own device (BYOD) and add one new line. You can get a $200 Mastercard gift card with the Magenta® MAX plan, or a $100 Mastercard gift card with other postpaid plans. Each customer can receive up to two gift cards.

Strategy: If you are a new customer, you can open a new account directly, choose the Magenta® MAX plan, and add two lines, which works with T-Mobile’s third line free offer. If you do not plan to do Best Buy’s trade-in offer, you can add three lines for $140. If you do plan to do Best Buy’s trade-in offer, it is better to add only two lines first, then wait until the account is activated before doing the Best Buy trade-in offer. That way, adding a line does not require extra cost. Recently, quite a few people likely bought the iPhone 12 mini from Walmart or Sam‘s Club for about $299 + tax, which can then be traded in at Best Buy for a $630 credit toward an iPhone 13. If you are an existing customer, it is recommended to change your plan to Magenta® MAX first and then add two new lines. With Magenta® MAX, you can get up to $400 in gift cards, while other plans can only get up to $200. Within 30 days after activating the new line, submit the rebate at the following website:

You need to log in to your account and submit the promo code. The promo code for this offer is 2021BYODACTIVATE1 

The gift card will be issued within 6-8 weeks after meeting the promotion requirements. In principle, you need to keep the plan for two months. If you use the Magenta® MAX plan, the cost for two lines for two months is $280 plus tax, and you can receive $400 in gift cards, for about a $100 profit.

Black Friday promotions are here again, and one of the biggest topics is how to buy an iPhone easily and cheaply. We previously covered iPhone offers from Costco and Visible. If you are not familiar with them, see our earlier posts:

Here we will mainly discuss how to buy a new iPhone at a low price from Best Buy. Offer link below:

Among the carrier offers, the T-Mobile one is the best. Here we will focus on T-Mobile’s trade-in offer, which is available to both new and existing customers. After entering the offer page, choose the model you want. Here, I will use the iPhone 13 128GB as an example. Select T-Mobile as the carrier, add it to cart, and click Continue:

At this point, you will see two options. Existing T-Mobile customers choose the left option, and new T-Mobile customers choose the right option. Existing T-Mobile customers can choose either Add a line or Upgrade. New T-Mobile customers should choose Create a New Account. Whether you are an existing customer or a new customer, you can do a trade-in. Here, the author uses the iPhone 11 128GB as an example to explain the trade-in, as shown below:

We can see that the iPhone 11 128GB gets a $540 credit. Trade-in values for other models are as follows:

  • Apple iPhone SE: $165

    Apple iPhone 6s: $185
    Apple iPhone 6s Plus: $210
    Apple iPhone 7: $200
    Apple iPhone 7 Plus: $250
    Apple iPhone 8: $245
    Apple iPhone 8 Plus: $300
    Apple iPhone SE (2nd Gen) : $360
    Apple iPhone X: $390
    Apple iPhone XR: $420
    Apple iPhone XS: $430
    Apple iPhone XS Max: $500
    Apple iPhone 11: $550
    Apple iPhone 11 Pro: $650
    Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max: $700
    Apple iPhone 12 Mini: $630
    Apple iPhone 12: $725
    Apple iPhone 12 Pro: $900
    Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max: $975

Trade-in value depends only on the model, not storage capacity. Please refer to the official website for the exact value. One thing to note: if the trade-in value is higher than the price of the model you select, you will not be able to place the order. The next step is to choose a plan, and you can simply select the cheapest plan here:

Then just place the order and check out. Choose store pick up:

Final notes and reminders:

  • Best Buy offers the new iPhone on all four major carriers, but T-Mobile’s trade-in deal is the most attractive. Compared with trading in directly through Best Buy, you get an extra $200 with this trade-in offer. This extra value appears directly when ordering online. According to reader DP, if you go to a Best Buy store, the extra $200 only shows up at the final checkout step
  • You must choose a postpaid plan to participate in this offer. New customers will have their credit checked, which may result in a Hard Pull
  • This offer defaults to installment payments. After applying the trade-in credit for your old phone, the remaining device balance is paid over 24 months. Note that this is not a contract phone, and you can unlock it anytime after paying off the balance. Generally speaking, you can pay off the remaining balance the day after receiving the device, then contact T-Mobile customer service to unlock the phone. After the phone is unlocked, if you do not want to keep using T-Mobile long term, you can simply close the account right away (or wait until the account is close to renewal and then close it or port out to another carrier).