Several months ago Tracfone debuted a new eBay exclusive annual plan. The plan included 1200 minutes, 1200 text messages and 3GB of LTE data for $49.99/year. The allotments were good for 365 days and did not renew every month. Customers were given the opportunity to signup for the plan using either the AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon networks. That plan is still available today however it has undergone several revisions since first being released.
One revision implemented in June made the offering available to both new and existing Tracfone customers instead of for new customers only. On September 21, 2019, Tracfone made two more revisions to the offering. One change is that the plan is no longer available for existing customers. The other change is that pricing of the plan has been lowered if a pre-loaded SIM is purchased for use on either the AT&T or T-Mobile networks. Those who want service on the AT&T or T-Mobile networks will now pay just $39.99 for a pre-loaded SIM, a savings of $10 over the plans previous price point. That works out to an average cost of $3.33/month. Those who want service on the Verizon network will still have to pay $49.99 or an average cost of $4.17/month for the plan. Taxes cost extra for all options and in my area worked out to be $3.50 for the AT&T and T-Mobile based options, and $4.37 for the Verizon based plan. Shipping is free. Tracfone is advertising that there is a limited quantity of pre-loaded SIMs available.
Editor's Take And The Competition
For limited use customers, this is probably one of the best plan options around price-wise. Competing eBay exclusive plans are also available from Red Pocket Mobile. For $60 for 360 days of service with Red Pocket Mobile, subscribers can get 100 minutes, 100 text messages and 500MB of 4G LTE data to use each month on their choice of any of the 4 major networks in the USA. Newly launched Hello Mobile which operates primarily on the Sprint network but may use T-Mobile in a handful of areas offers a pay by the month plan that features unlimited texting, 500 minutes and 500MB of data each month for $5/month. FreeUP Mobile on the AT&T network offers subscribers 250 minutes or 250 text messages free of charge.