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Are all PAYG SIMs for a particular network the same when first bought?

Steve1980

Regular Member
I've been having a look at the PAYG SIMs in my local shops and nearly all of them come in cardboard sleeves advertising stuff like "xGB for £y". I know each network has multiple bundles and offers you can choose from and some networks also do "traditional" PAYG (which is what most interests me), where you pay a relatively high rate for every call minute/text/MB you use but don't commit to paying £5/10/whatever for a month's worth of service.

Is the stuff printed on the cardboard sleeve just marketing or are these SIMs specifically linked to the offer on the packaging? In other words, if I go buy a SIM which says "3GB for £10" on the packet, can I still use it for that network's traditional PAYG or do I need a specific "traditional PAYG" SIM? For that matter, if I want the same network's "5GB for £12" offer, can I buy the "3GB" SIM packet and just top up with a different amount and choose a different bundle?

Does the answer vary with the different networks?
 
I've been having a look at the PAYG SIMs in my local shops and nearly all of them come in cardboard sleeves advertising stuff like "xGB for £y". I know each network has multiple bundles and offers you can choose from and some networks also do "traditional" PAYG (which is what most interests me), where you pay a relatively high rate for every call minute/text/MB you use but don't commit to paying £5/10/whatever for a month's worth of service.

Is the stuff printed on the cardboard sleeve just marketing or are these SIMs specifically linked to the offer on the packaging? In other words, if I go buy a SIM which says "3GB for £10" on the packet, can I still use it for that network's traditional PAYG or do I need a specific "traditional PAYG" SIM? For that matter, if I want the same network's "5GB for £12" offer, can I buy the "3GB" SIM packet and just top up with a different amount and choose a different bundle?

Does the answer vary with the different networks?
It is only advertising unless it is a preloaded SIM which costs the value of the advertised plan. If it is labelled at 99p then it will be just an advert for a certain plan.
 
Some of them are preprogrammed with the bundle on the account meaning if it advertises a £10 bundle and you top up £10 or more the SIM will automatically take £10 of your credit instantly and convert it to that bundle.

Some networks give you SIMs that are preactivated meaning you can change it before you top up and just go basic PAYG. Others will be set in a way that makes it unavoidable.

If in doubr, you can generally order a free SIM online from the networks in question or go instore if they have retail shops to get one that way and order one with whatever tariff you want.
 
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Exactly as above some are just advertising a bundle (on the back there is usually some "get out" like "offer valid until X" or "correct at time of production". Some might auto activate a bundle.

These SIMs in shops are sold at 99p or £1 usually when they're free directly from the network, the shop gets a further kickback on the credit loaded. You can see what some of these shops at by reading the kickbacks in this guide from Elite Mobile (who's a big SIM card distributor.

There are sellers on eBay who will sell you SIMs with credit below the market rate as they share that comission back with you, eg Three SIMs with £10 credit are readily avaliable around £4 delivered (but other networks too).
 
some networks also do "traditional" PAYG (which is what most interests me), where you pay a relatively high rate for every call minute/text/MB you use but don't commit to paying £5/10/whatever for a month's worth of service.

Many traditional PAYG rates are very expensive, like 35p/min.

Not all
  • iD Mobile (3) - buy a one month contract SIM for £5, end the contract and it will switch to PAYG when you add more credit which is 3p/min, 2p/SMS, 1p/MB. Not too expensive. I have a phone on this and use data for a bus app, email - around 10MB per trip. Credit expires after a year. This phone costs me one £5 top up per year, though I only get through around £3 of the credit.
  • RWG (Now/EE) - buy a £1 SIM and use it PAYG 5p/min, 5p/SMS 1p/MB BUT twice a year they run a "double you credit" or "buy one get one free" offer. Credit never expires.
  • We have a spare phone on Tesco Lite tariff
I don't need mobile data as I'm on wifi most of the time. The smart phone costs me £5/year, the flip phone costs nothing - old "free forever" 50 mins, 50 SMS, 250MB per month but with backup cheap credit added ages ago.

There are probably a few other cheap PAYG deals out there.
 
Most of the time, they're just "toppers" which are put on top of the SIM cards. This is done by a third party merchandiser that is contracted by the retailer to do SIMs, gift cards, books, cosmetics etc.

The SIMs are the same and all share the same barcode and version number/release date. In most cases, it is an automatic upgrade or temporary bundle increase for everyone.

Some networks require you to opt-in by sending a text message although this is rare.

E.g. Giffgaff offers increased plans to everyone and their toppers are just marketing, while Tesco Mobile requires an opt-in SMS to unlock the promotional rate.
 
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