Why this Kogan Radio Rentals iPhone deal isn’t worth your money
Radio Rentals and Kogan are running a promotional deal to get an iPhone 6s or iPhone 6 for a low weekly price, but the total cost is alarming.
If you can’t afford the upfront price of any given bit of technology, leasing it can make some sense; you only pay during the lease term for the access you need while not needing that hefty lump of cash in your pocket at the time of purchase.
That’s only true if the terms of the lease make good financial sense, however. Radio Rentals has announced a leasing deal for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6 through direct importer Kogan that will see the 16GB variants of those phones offered for $22.99 or $19.99 per week respectively. That’s exclusive of any mobile phone plan you'll need so they're actually useful.
Even with that restriction, $22.99 might not seem like that much money to pay, especially if your budget is tight and you want a nice shiny new iPhone. To further sweeten the deal, Radio Rentals will give you a single month's rental for free.
The problem is that the sums that this adds up to to simply don’t make financial sense on any level. Assuming a month to be four weeks, over the 24 month contract term you’d have to make 100 weekly payments (52 weeks by two years minus four weeks for the "free" month, although Radio Rentals actually requires payment fortnightly) for your handset.
Here’s how the sums add up comparing the Radio Rental Kogan deal against Apple’s own RRP for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s, as well as the best current price for those handsets from direct importers.
| Radio Rental Weekly cost | Radio Rental 24 month lease cost | Apple RRP | Direct import best price | Direct Importer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone 6 16GB | $19.99 | $1,999.00 | $929 | $829 | Kogan |
| iPhone 6s 16GB | $22.99 | $2,299.00 | $1,079 | $979 | Expansys |
Yes, that iPhone 6 best price is from Kogan, and it’s less than half the price of the Radio Rental contract.
Bear in mind also that you could get a phone on contract, with phone service included, over 24 months. Radio Rentals is only providing a handset with this deal. Here’s your current selections for those two handsets, and once again, in many cases it would be cheaper to get a contract phone than to lease one this way.
There is the challenge that getting contract approval from a telco may be difficult if you have a poor credit history, but even there are ways that are significantly better value. Even a payday loan over 12 months at full Apple retail for either device would be around $1300 to $1500 over a single year term, according to our Payday Loan Calculator.
The bottom line? This looks like a cheap deal, but it isn't. Compare and you can do better, even on a tight budget.
