[tjr]

This all makes sense. Regrettably, the Verizon salesman did not explain it to me this way, and presented it as a penalty due to my low credit score. It seemed believable, too, because it wasn't that interesting of a phone. This was in circa 2002; $100 seemed like a decent price for the phone I was trying to buy -- $600 did not.

Oh well. Thanks for your comment!