a day before nation-wide reservation on iPhone 6S AND PLUS at major reseller and carrier branches : some of this content has been repeated on earlier related Posts on the best deal and/or cheapest price you can get it around the Pacific Rim for use in South Korea .
- due to currency exchange rates : the cheapest way to purchase a full-paid Verizon or T-Mobile and NOT SIM-free in a U.S.State with no sales tax, and bring in through Korean border customs yourself – NO Tax charged on a single phone for you own use . matters change when you have your relative buy it there and send it through the Post Office or courier though . this should save you about W150,000 than purchasing it in South Korea .
- and if trans-Pacific flight would be a burden : purchase an UNLOCKED SIM-free model at one of the (only) eight Official Apple Stores around Japanese islands, tax deducted with your foreign PassPort . this would save you around W80,000 than buying it in the Korean Peninsula .
[ DOMESTIC CARRIER ] although South Korean price is the most expensive of all previous iPhones, there are still many ways to get better deals – although mostly with a carrier contract, so will list some here but NOT in detail as those in small print often change . so, many here are possible scenarios only :
- smaller telecommunication branches with strong hold On-Line have previously instigated what is known as over-night (or actually one that barely lasted a few nights) revolution cutting unprecedented discounts on low-capacity models, which their head office might have turned their suspecting eyes to get rid of expected stock . these appear suddenly mostly on under-dog telecommunication forum or portals, only to those who have been waiting, and come with standard two-year contract . this is in direct breach of a new law put into effect September 30 2014, to alter distribution of telecommunication devices : in short a solid law instead of periodical administrative orders to make price including discounts transparent and equal at a set time .
- conglomerates are able to offer substantial discounts on a number of related services when subscribed in a package including cellular, land-line telephone, cable-TV and internet connection, then even more when family members residing together subscribe to the same company . SKT the fore-runner on Korean cellular services, tops this as up-to 50% discount can be had when many of these are put together ! the only down-side being that : you lose all when you opt-out of your responsibilities in the middle of your contract term //
- OK this is the second hint to the Dark Side (not that it’s bad but almost like a black market since it is illegal) so skip this paragraph if you aren’t familiar with cellular rates and payment options . since the strick law mention on previous paragraph above : one location has become almost a Caribbean pirates’ nest in all of Korea . 9th Floor of ShinDoRim TechnoMart . a department store set-up following the grand success of the original TechnoMart (guide on Top Menu), but turned into a flop that many floors are selling all and not only concentrated on electronics . but they somehow changed the tide by secretly leaking periodical discount information on cellular forums, where people actually correspond by code ! just realized I will have to improvise this on a separate, dedicated Post ..
( D-Day October 23 Friday Update ) it is quite unfair practice but Official stance on carriers’ part that they have accepted early reservation without announcing nor implementing discount on two-year subscription (this is discount on the device, after which more discount is applied on Monthly calls, massage and data depending on plan), only to do so this morning – where it is not much : mere W70,000 ~100,000 depending on iPhone model .
[ UNLOCKED SIM-FREE ] always the most expensive way to buy any cell phone, but free to choose any Monthly contract, but at times some discounts available to those who seek :
- demographics of iPhone and iPad vendors have changed since ShinSeGae conglomerate have joined-in to sell Apple mobile products at their super-mart eMart chains throughout South Korea . as they have given-out a whopping W100,000 coupons (for use at any of their ShinSeGae department store and subsidiaries) they are offering W50,000 coupons if you pay all with either KB KeukMin or ShinHan credit cards 😉 only for the first Week of iPhone 6S AND PLUS release, until October 30 Friday .
- free people of the cyber-age with unlocked phones use so-called “half-priced USiM” (Korean term for SiM Card) offered by South Korea’s late-arrival discount carrier Hello Mobile . this used to be a bare-bone cellular service, but now you can choose which major carrier to ride on : KT or SKT (thus quality identical), and they are even Global Roaming but more additional minor options that major cellular carriers offer .
that all said, the most expensive but the surest way to get a non-problematic device : is through the ONLY Official Apple Store which is On-Line ON release day October 23 Friday 2015 . they have the most generous REFUND policy by-far compared to the still primitive product support throughout South Korea – much like imports that never found themselves in this once-Land-of-the-Morning-Calm .
( D＋4 October 27 Update ) Good Evening Mr.Phelps and this recording will self-destruct in 15 seconds :
- the best deal so-far on a two-year subscription for an unlocked iPhone 6S AND PLUS in all capacity and color, except Rose Gold is a total of 20% OFF : OK CashBag -3%, digital device -7% and KB KukMin credit card -10% deducted at billing . it is at the conglomerate-operated CJMall for a few days only . though I should note specific credit card discount of 5~7% comes frequent on larger On-Line shopping malls .
( D＋9 Oct.29 Thursday noon Supplement ) CJMall has the best iPhone 6S price today as they have added unlocked models too . in short there full retail is slightly higher than Apple Korea’s Official, but with their own -15% coupon and indicated credit card -10% applied 64GB at W1,090,000 comes down to an impressive W833,850 ! plus you can pay your credit card in installments AND discounts further if you opt for 2-year plan for -20%, then even -3% on accumulated OKCashBag points . *the only down-side for this is that they don’t have much in stock, especially Rose Gold color // - if you yearn for better price : it is hidden On-Line (mostly at Band) as well as off (mostly at ShinDoRim TechnoMart), due to legalities mentioned several paragraph above . the best price there today for an iPhone 6S 64GB is to keep W51,000 Monthly plan for 6 Months and get same-day (very hard to come-by) pay-back of a whopping W250,000 ! No I do not know where it is, as I only witnessed a few buyers celebrating and shouting how they got it, while flying over the cuckoo’s nest . I might inform more about this still-new phenomenon on a separate Post, but for now : much caution is needed on this attempt as (small to begin with) shops may close On-Line as well as off after a while if they’ve promised pay-back up to two Months after ..
( A Week after iPhone 6S Release ) cheapest subscription rate change by-the-day and now-a-days you have to search extensively On-Line then join (community) cafes or Naver Band, then wait to get invited /or/ yonder on to ShinDoRim TechnoMart to do serious physical leg-work . you will have to subscribe to a 2-year plan, with quite high Monthly rate (W55,000＋) for at least 6 Months, but receive pay-back amounting to W500,000 so far – same day or the next day is best, as again there is no telling when they might close shop – voluntarily or by mandate – so two-Month long wait is not the way to go .
this kind of information will not be updated but hinting as I am personally interested at the moment : LGT branches and Lotte Hi-Mart has the best deal for this Weekend, for changing carriers and signing-up for 2-year plans, as you are not obliged to take a high-Monthly rate, get designated credit card discounts and even receive a couple of mobile accessories as a package .
on the other side of the rainbow : 128 especially PLUS, is almost non-existent at telecommunications branches, and almost no considerable discounts comes your way if you are looking to simply change phones with the same carrier intact //
– What is COOL never comes cheap, Korea Tech BLog –
