Here's my deal: I am on a Tmobile plan where I pay $20 less per month than most other people because I'm not in a contract. That means if I want a new phone, I have to pay full price for it, which I'm fine with because over the two (or more) years I have the phone, I save more than the discount would be on a new phone.

Anyway, I've been scouring the web for a good place to find deals on "full-priced" phones but am having a hard time. Craigslist and Ebay are possibilities, but I was curious if other people out there have any thoughts.

And I'm talking smartphones here like the G2, Vibrant, MyTouch4G, etc.

How does not having a contract lower the monthly cost? That seems counterintuitive.

Anyways, in the past I have gotten "dumb" phones off both ebay and amazon. I tried craigslist but I couldn't find the exact phone I wanted in a location that was convenient for me, and there is also (IMHO) a higher risk of getting a stolen phone that way, with no way to get your money back.

I'm also curious why you think you are paying $20 less than everyone else because you are not on contract. Until about 2 months ago I had been a T-mobile customer for 10+ years. Some of that time was under contract and some was of contract. I definitely got better rates by staying on. Basically my rates did not go up since 2003 because I stuck around with them. I was paying about $20 less a month than the current rate plans and I got more minutes than they gave other customers. But it wasn't for not being on contract, it was for loyalty.

The only reason I left was because they did not have the phone I wanted, the Droid X. So I switched to Verizon even though I pay a little more (though not much because I get a discount because of my employer).

In my experience T-mobile will give you a pretty good loyalty rate if you call them up and say you plan to switch. But they can't give you a phone they don't offer. If they have the phone you want there is a good chance you can get it free if you ask nicely and agree to a 2-yr contract. They offered me both a good rate and a free smart phone (Samsung) even though the website priced it at $199.

At $20 a month you are saving $480 over 2 years. Most of these phones sell for $500-$600 at full retail so it seems like you would have to find a stolen of refurbished phone to make this work.