Authorized Retailer Kickback from Verizon

At RadioShack, it is approximately $220 for a new customer on a contract, including a $15 SPIFF that goes to the associate who makes the sale.

Upgrades are around $150-170. That's why you pay more to upgrade your phone at RS than a new customer would pay for the same model.

I assume it is similar for all retailers.

 

Verizon pays it's retail stores a comission of 250 for every new activation and 170 for upgrades

 

He makes the difference between the wholesale price and what you pay + what Verizon pays. Example:

Motorola V120c (older phone):
Approx. wholesale= $170
Price in store=$30 (varies)
VZW kickback=$250
Store profit= 250-200=$50

 

sorry but your prices are a little off for retail. The 120c is not thaty expensive, maybe if you buy just one. But if you are a retailer and your buying alot of phones you are not going to pay the same as if you just bought 1. the 120c is abotu an $90 phone at retail. but you are right about how you figure out how much money the retailers make

 

Sorry, but I still didn't get the math.

What you pay + what verizon pays = $30 + $ 250 = $280
Wholesale(or is it Marked price?) price = $170

Store Profit = $(280-170) = $110

 

Too bad the company owned associates get paid less commission than the agents... however at least we have benefits.

 

Yeah, you're right. I was using that "new math" at the time.

 

Well I know for a fact that no radio shack employee makes more than my friend who works for VZW!!! Their reps can make 95,000.00 a year if their good! and my friend is like top 8 in his area! 95,000.00 to sell phones?? wow

 

Why do u think cell phone stores pop up all over the place? You do, however, need alot of startup capital to open up your own shop.

 

It's a Very Volatile Business.

It seems, at least in my area, that 90-something percent of the current "cellular phone dealers" didn't even exist 3 -5 years ago, & probably won't be around 3 or 5 years from now. ("cellular only" dealers - not Radio Shack, Office Max , Stereo Shops, or other retailers who's main business ain't phones). There are a few (1 out of 10 or 15) exceptions.
For those of us that can remember back 15 years, seems that there is always new "crop" of Beeper/Cellphone dealers that spring up on hiways, strip malls & downtowns every few years, & soon dissapear.
Unfortuately, I don't see it getting any better for independent dealers, with VZW & all the others opening their own stores with more stock & on site service, & Powerhouse Mega retailers getting into cellphones.
Let's face it, cellular is becoming like most other "mainstream" electronics..... if one were going to buy a DVD player, Dishwasher, TV , the vast majority would go straight to the Mall, Best Buy, Circuit City, The places that offer 30 day money backs, & flood the mail & papers with full color juicy ads,..... Not "Joe's Hi-way Cellular Hut" or whatever....
BTW , I'm sure Radio Shack Gets MORE than $300 per VZW activation on a corporate level (which is not what they credit the local store with). With massive clout of something like 6,000 Stores Nationwide, they would be Morons if they got the same deal from VZW that a single dealer in New Jersey gets for activating 20 phones per month.....

 

lol... VZW agents are different than other carriers though. It's hard to get approval to open new stores and it's usually only allowed in cities where there is no VZW corporate store (or maybe 1 other in a city where there is one.) One of the agents here (Cellular Sales of Knoxville) have nicer stores than the VZW owned ones.

 

Cellular Sales has very nice stores. They have a nice one in the mall in Johnson City, TN and that new one near Kingston Pike in Knoxville, TN is a stand alone store and its HUGE.