Verizon increases fees in stores, reduces them online

Verizon is making it both cheaper and more expensive to buy a new phone with the carrier. It all depends on how you choose to purchase.

As CNET reports, starting tomorrow the upgrade and activation fees for purchases completed in stores or over the phone are increasing from $30 to $40. Verizon sees this as offering a "full service experience" and therefore warrants the additional cost for anyone who wants that experience.

If you balk at the idea of paying the extra $10, Verizon is one step ahead of you. Deciding to purchase online or using the My Verizon app used to cost $30, but that's being reduced to $20 from tomorrow.

Clearly, Verizon is trying to encourage online upgrades which require less resources and therefore are cheaper for the company to carry out. Online activations can also be handled much more quickly, therefore increasing the number of customers and therefore fees that can be grabbed each day.

The fee changes follow Verizon Prepaid getting cheaper last year and come at a time when 5G rollouts are starting to happen. Verizon is planning to launch 5G in 30 cities this year, with Chicago and Minneapolis already served using the Moto Z3. Americans also think Verizon is leading in 5G, so the company is probably expecting a lot of new customers and upgrades this year.

If you were planning an in-store or over the phone purchase with Verizon today, it's going to be cheaper to wait until tomorrow and do it online instead. If you must do it using the "full service experience" then do it today before the fees increase.