Just doesn't bother to activate the SIM at all because all they wanted was the phone ??
Has anyone here done it that way ??
Just curious.
Thanks.
I believe the way it currently works is that you pay the first month account fee regardless of whether or not you actually activate the SIM. Still a great deal for the phone.
(Originally, you wouldn't get charged if you didn't activate the SIM-- can't imagine why they had to change that.)
I think the E6 is a pretty nice phone. The build quality seems a couple of notches below the E4, G4 Play, or even the Moto E2. (The Moto models I'm familiar with.) It also seems to lag more than any of those. But it has a great selection of LTE bands-- the only phone I have that has both bands 66 and 71. (T-Mobile's newest bands.)
All of Visible's free-with-swap phones appear to be out of stock right now, including the E6.
I am not surprised. I wonder how much longer are they going to keep that option with the money they are loosing with all the folks that are just doing the swaps but not staying with service for at least a couple of months.
It is a great deal which is why I can't blame people for just doing the swaps for the upgrade. I hope it all works out, so they keep the option for those that need it.
What is the internal memory of this e6?
Are the phones new or used?
Thanks
They're not currently losing money on the E6 because they've been out of stock for a while. I bet they're thinking of how to prevent people just swapping and then never activating and instead just re-selling the phone on eBay. However, I do believe that a lot of people signing up for the E6 swap have genuinely done so in good faith but with a very small chance of staying with Visible.
Personally, I only did two swaps for the E6 with a variation on the theme. My first SIM, I activated on a different compatible phone and am using it for another two weeks on a data only device. I never opened up the E6 and have it listed on my local craigslist for $80. I'll probably wind up selling on eBay. The second line hasn't been activated yet. Visible told me I had 60 days to activate, and I'm waiting until around March 30, when my wife's buy 3 months get 3 months for free Mint Mobile promo from last fall expires. The line gets ported from Mint to Visible with an activation on her iPhone. She'll use Visible for a month and then come end of April, I re-port the line back to Mint via another referral from my father-in-law's account. Again, the E6 will never be opened and will be sold on eBay as "new."
I have another line that I need to port out of Mint and am waiting for the E6 to come back in stock. If that doesn't happen in the next two weeks, I'll settle with a swap for the ZTE A7. I'm actually curious about getting that device to work on other carriers and will open that box up, even though I'd have to resell it as "used" on eBay.
Agreed that they are not currently losing anything, since they have marked the phone out of stock. Wether truly out of stock or just simply exploring options to prevent swaps without any ROI, I cant imagine how this would be profitable if the program is kept as is without a commitment greater than the one month.
After all, it is a very attractive offer for sure - despite the phone specs (2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage) and build being inferior to many options out there - probably due to how compatible the phone is with other carriers. Either way, I am happy with it and certainly encourage anyone with realistic expectations to try it out. Not much to lose with a swap on an old Android device).
They are new, in factory Motorola boxes, with the model # of the standard factory-unlocked version. (4 carrier-- but many reports of activation being problematic on Sprint MVNOs, which will hopefully be straightened out soon.)
If/when whatever has allowed them to carry off this program may be revealed, I'm sure that info will be very interesting.
They must have already gone through thousands of those phones with those costs + shipping, and then the costs to dispose of an equal or larger sized lot of absolute junk that folks 'swapped' in.
I sent in a totally useless Blu junker - and they took that just fine.
By way of comparison the E6 is many times the quality and was brand new as KentE said.
All that done for a single $20 month of services ??
Wow.
Heck - I was delighted just to be rid of that nasty Blu thing even minus the great swap !!
LOL, agreed - I sent a useless Moto phone locked to some MVNO. It would have been hard to sell the thing even on eBay.
I too have wondered about Visible's motivation in giving the E6 - an unlocked phone that has so many bands and can be used on all carriers. They could easily have stuck with giving a locked-to-Visible phone instead of the E6.
Visible is not stupid, so they have to be making money on the E6 promo. Maybe Motorola/Lenovo is giving them a great price on the E6 for bulk orders. Or maybe the objective is to document new orders (as opposed to new activations). Or maybe they are getting a huge payoff from the junk swap phones 
Bottom line, there has to be a benefit for Visible, since businesses aren't in it for charity. We consumers just don't know what that benefit is. All we can do is speculate. I sure wish I knew what Visible's motivation is. Very curious about it!
If we accept the concept that the swap program in general makes sense, I suspect the E6 may just be an expedient choice for Visible at times.
The ZTE R2 and A7 Prime (the other phones that have been available through the swap program) are custom variants built to Visible specs. When ready-to-deliver supplies of those run low, the E6 may just be phone that sits at the intersection of low-cost, easy availability in the supply chain, and Visible-capable.
(Paired of course with large bulk orders, and Motorola's recent aggressive pricing strategy, the per-unit cost is likely pretty reasonable.)
Visible isn't directly making money on the phone swap program, whether the E6 or the ZTE models. They want subscribers, and that's a route that allows them to grow their customer base since the eligible phone list is pretty small & tilted towards higher end phones. I agree that Visible isn't stupid, and that if the swap program doesn't pay off in additional subscribers, they will likely modify or discontinue it.