Don't buy iPhone in USA if you are not going for the latest model - In India you get great deals on older models of iPhones

I thought I will quickly write down about this experience as I don't see this consideration in India. Many feel that iphones are always cost effective if someone can bring them one from the US. Well, this is not true. I am writing this blogpost when iPhone 14 is latest model and 13 is one model old. First let me put down some facts and then summarise why I claim that it's better to buy iPhone in India instead of USA. 

1. Cost of iPhone 13 right now is almost the same in India and USA. There is higher probability that you will find better deals on iPhone13 in India than USA.

2. When people look at iPhone price in USA, they forget to account tax which is above the price mentioned on Apple website or Apple stores. It varies from one state to other in USA. 

3. India you get great deals on certain Credit Cards and above that you also gain decent number of points on Credit card when buying through certain stores, which is much more than points you gain through using the same credit card on other stores/sites. For example - On https://smartbuy.myimaginestore.com/, HDFC credit card holder get lucrative discounts plus 5x points than usual. 

4. Related to above point - The benefit you will see for latest model vs one model old is different. It's worth considering that.

5. At times, models you get in USA vs India are different.   For example, in USA you get iphone 14 with esim option only while India you get iphone14 with physical sim. 

6. If you know someone in Apple, you can get 15% discount. 

7. The way Dollar is getting stronger, you will lesser benefit of buying iPhones in USA over time. 

So overall, consider all these points and do proper calculations before making a decision of buying an iPhone in USA or not. and most important is that when you will consider buying iPhone in India, you can buy the moment you need to upgrade your phone. Many times we get into a mode of buying a device in USA because we are travelling or some known is travelling there :). So if delta is not significant prefer buying the product in India instead of USA. I recently bought iPhone 13 in USA and all I saved is 2K, which is nothing. and probably we lost because I could have got better deals on my credit card in specific stores in India. Anyways, the idea is to do homework before making a decision and saving is not much consider buying in India. And its very clear that there is no point of buying older models in USA.