When looking to save money on gadgets, there’s one place many people may not think to look: the human resources department.
In many cases, being employed by a certain company entitles you to a discount with various vendors. Cell phone companies in particular tend to shave a decent percentage off if you have the right discount code. In fact, sometimes your company may not even know about the discounts available. My father has worked for the same university for decades, but he only now found out that Verizon offers a 20 percent discount on lines for that college’s employees. Turns out it was news to the school’s human resources department too.
Don’t solely rely on finding your company’s discounts through websites though. Sprint’s tool said I didn’t have a company discount, yet my company gave me a code for 18 percent off on all Sprint plans. You can find similar pages for AT&T and T-Mobile. If you ask around, you may discover similar discount pages for smaller carriers like MetroPCS or Cricket.
You don’t just need the right job to get a discount. Wireless providers will give discounts based on the health insurance you have (MetroPCS), credit union or bank that your money is in (Sprint), college you attend, or branch of the military you serve in (pretty much all of them).
Not in the market for a wireless device? Check to see if your job gives you access to hardware specials. In a past job, my company received a huge discount from IBM, and this was back in the days before the company sold its consumer hardware division to Lenovo. I managed to save $250 on what was then a powerful desktop. I’ve worked at jobs where I’ve had access to discounts from Dell, HP, Sony, and Apple. Additionally, if you attend or work at almost any university, you should be able to get a discount at one of those major players.
I’m normally more specific in my discount details, but the fact is that these are utterly subjective discounts. They’re worth investigating though. Now, I find myself evaluating my discount options at my current place of employment, and I highly suggest you do so as well.
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