Tracfone price - Ebay deal

[scottydl]

Like many others here, I use Tracfone for my personal cell. For a phone that is used only occasionally, it's hard to beat the price. The best place to get Tracfone deals (I've found anyway) is their Ebay store here. It seems when they have older model (but new) phones in stock, they sell them on Ebay really inexpensively and often bundle in a 1 year / 1500 minute card along with it.

Current best deal listed: https://www.ebay.com/itm/283338993689 (limited quantity remaining)

That's for a ZTE Zmax One 5.5" Android smart phone, with 1 year of service... for $60. Considering that the "regular" price of a 1 year card alone is $125 from Tracfone's own website, getting the phone + a free year for less than half price is a no-brainer. Even if you like the phone model you have activated with Tracfone and need another year of service, you can buy this phone, transfer service to the Zmax (to get the year added), and then transfer service back to your original phone (and the service will follow). That can all be done via their website. Now you have a backup phone available, or you can re-sell it in brand new condition and get most of your money back.

Just wanted to pass this deal along to the forum. If/when the Zmax sells out, there will eventually be others posted with the same type of arrangement. I have the custom Ebay search saved "tracfone 1 year" so I get an email notification whenever a new option is posted. You'll also see the 1 year service cards alone, which can often be purchased for $75-80... still well under Tracfone's $125 website price.

 

[Hfx_Cdn]

    Scott, we used Tracfone for years, but gave it up when they started charging an additional fee to call Canada.

Ed

 

[NY_Dutch]

    Scott, we used Tracfone for years, but gave it up when they started charging an additional fee to call Canada.

Ed

Hmmm, we call our friends in Canada quite often using Tracfone's free International Long Distance service:

http://extras.tracfone.com/en/ild/faqs#tab_basic-international

 

[Hfx_Cdn]

      Obviously they updated their policies, last year I was very upset with them and had several discussions with supervisors over their change to levy an additional fee to call Canada.  I allowed my Tracfone to expire with almost 5,000 minutes as it was virtually useless to me.  Apparently they must have had similar occurrences with other customers to re-instate free calling to Canada.  I still have the phone, but no longer use it having obtained a cell plan that works full time on both sides of the border.
     

Ed

 

[NY_Dutch]

We used to use one of our VOIP apps for free calls to Canada, but that's no longer necessary. We still use the VOIP apps when we're in Canada though.

 

[scottydl]

I'll admit I have no familiarity with Tracfone's service in Canada... or anywhere outside the continental United States. But I've had very good service around the Midwest U.S. where I generally hang my hat.

The Ebay deal posted above is still available (as of the time of this reply) for anyone interested. We received our phones (I ordered 3) yesterday and had no problems activating/transferring service. The ZTE model is a notable upgrade for the smaller LG I have been using for the last couple years.

 

[Alfa38User]

Just as an FYI, Tracfone does not operate in Canada, there are no towers unless you are sitting on the border and are able to catch an American one. The  discussion involves calling to Canada from an American Tracphone, known in an earlier jargon as a Long Distance Call.
We use Majic Jacks for our calls to and from, no long distance charges at all

 

[NY_Dutch]

Just as an FYI, Tracfone does not operate in Canada, there are no towers unless you are sitting on the border and are able to catch an American one. The  discussion involves calling to Canada from an American Tracphone, known in an earlier jargon as a Long Distance Call.
We use Majic Jacks for our calls to and from, no long distance charges at all

We use our Tracfone smartphones to call Canada as well as when we're in Canada. Our Verizon and AT&T hotspots both work in Canada, so we can use either our Google Voice or PhonePower apps to call with VOIP in either direction at no charge. Tracfone's International Calling service is also charged at the same standard minute rates as US calls.

 

[timjet]

I'm a little late to this party but we're headed to Alaska in June. In Canada our verizon plan won't work and our AT&T hot spot won't work either. I need a working phone in Canada. Is there a cheap throw away phone that I can get in Canada with a calling and data plan. Don't need much but would like to stay in touch and check e-mail.

 

[DonTom]

I need a working phone in Canada. Is there a cheap throw away phone that I can get in Canada with a calling and data plan. Don't need much but would like to stay in touch and check e-mail.

I did that around ten years ago. There is (was?) one minor issue. You meed a Canadian address to get the phone to work on their system. So be ready with a phony Canadian  address. The address is NOT used for anything, but it must be entered in to the system that will only accept a Canadian address.

That was my experience in Red Deer, Alberta when I decided I needed a working cell phone  because my PAYG Verizon Wireless would not work in Canada. But that was around ten years ago, so things could have changed since then.  The Canadian phone cost me $40.00 in Canadian money ten years ago, plus the money I put on the phone  in advance so I could use it.

-Don-  Reno,  NV