An Xbox 360 and Kinect with a two year subscription for $99? That sounds pretty darn good, except when you consider the $14.99 per month it costs to subscribe to the Xbox live service under this special offer.
Calling it an “amazing deal at your Microsoft Store,” the house that Gates built is urging customers to come on in. By paying a monthly subscription, it lowers the upfront cost of the Xbox system, allowing consumers to pay it off over time.
But do the math first: $14.99 per month x 24 months of the subscription = $359.76. Now add in the upfront $99 to get $458.76.
What can you buy with $458.76? Walmart.com carries the exact same Xbox and Kinect for $299. That leaves $159.76.
Now sign up for a base $5 per month Xbox Live gold account. $5 x 24 months = $120. That leaves $39.76 from the $458.76.
What if you want the special family pack, which costs $8.33 per month, and allows for 4 user accounts? A two-year subscription would run $199.92. But the $99 deal offers only the a standard gold-level membership.
And don’t forget the early termination fees, which can be steep to recover the cost of the hardware. The fees decline month-by-month until the last month of the subscription.
So an “amazing” deal turns out to be not so amazing after all.
– Sean Gallagher, CMN Staff Writer
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