iTunes Vouchers in South Africa – which vendor is the cheapest? [Solved] - Updated 18 Nov 2013

It was time to start buying a few apps for my iPad and so I decided to do a bit of research which I am sharing here… where is the cheapest place to buy iTunes vouchers and pay with my South African credit card? 
I also wanted instant delivery by email – please double check the payment options and delivery methods for the various vendors before making your purchase.


So, eVouchers seems to be the vendor with the lowest markup.
Thanks to Anonymous who commented and prompted me to re-evaluate the vendors out there.

Sorry, CheapCodes - your prices have been beaten!

The winner of the “no contract, pre-paid data deal” in South Africa is… CellC!

I was looking for a data deal that doesn’t attract monthly charges since I don’t use my iPad away from home very much – ideally, the per MB rate should also be lower than the R2/MB out of bundle rates that Vodacom and MTN offer.

I had my eye on the much-advertised-to-me offer from FNB.  I was prompted to investigate further when I saw a tweet to FNB asking for clarity on the FNB deal (first 50 MB per month at 30c/MB, thereafter 59c/MB).  The pre-requisites for using this deal was listed as “A Vodacom Service Provider contract (excluding alternative service providers like AutoPage, Nashua Mobile, etc.) Or alternatively, any MTN cellphone contract”.
So, if I wanted to take up this offer, then I would need to take up a cheap contract that would attract monthly charges, and then the per MB rate would be low.

Here are the Twitter conversations:
 



 


@TopEditorInt warned against contracts – I tend to agree with that… so, I looked further…


I needed to answer the question: “What was the best per MB rate that I could get without taking out a contract, and where the data wouldn’t expire in a month or two?” 

{
Note: this posting has been updated and edited since it was first published… VirginMobile was my original choice (until I found out the their packages expired after 30, 90 or 120 days), the modified “winner” is CellC
}

So, the search was on… perhaps a small monthly fee for a contract from MTN or VSP (Vodacom Service Provider) with a small amount of data could be topped up with data from FNB?  So, I checked all the web sites and compared them.  Bear in mind, I really didn’t want a monthly fee since I hardly used my iPad away from WiFi for more than once or twice per month.

Vodacom data deals list had “MyMeg 10” deal on offer (90c per MB) – but those aren’t contracts so I wouldn’t be able to topup with the FNB deal :(  These were valid until the end of the following month.

MTN data deals list had “MTN-10MB” deal on offer (R1 per MB)– but those aren’t contracts so I wouldn’t be able to topup with the FNB deal :(

CellC data deals list had “25” deal on offer (80c per MB) – but those aren’t contracts so I wouldn’t be able to topup with the FNB deal :( 
These were valid for 30 days.

8ta data deals list had “100” deal on offer (40c per MB) – but those aren’t contracts so I wouldn’t be able to topup with the FNB deal :(
These were valid until the end of the following month.
VirginMobile data deals list had a flat rate of 60c per MB – but those aren’t contracts so I wouldn’t be able to topup with the FNB deal :(
These didn’t expire! Plus: you get R10 for every R30 used.
Plus: DOUBLE YOUR AIRTIME on your first recharge: That takes the rate down to 26c/MB

You get the recharge amount immediately.  The first 50% of FREE airtime will be loaded within 24 hours.  A calendar month later you will receive the next 50% of FREE airtime. e.g. If you recharged with R300, you receive your R300 + R150 (50% of the first recharge free) and a calendar month later, you’ll receive another R150 (balance of the 50%) free.



So, if you bought R300 for your first purchase, that would get you a rate of 26c per MB – that’s even better than the “special” FNB deal, and there’s no need for a contract and no monthly fees, and no expiring/lost data! 

After the first recharge, the per MB rate goes up to 45c – still not too shabby:


So, the clear winner of this competition is: well…. not so sure any more… Waiting for VirginMobile’s response to my Tweet (see explanation below)
With this hurdle, I decided to look further into the other offerings more closely… and I found this winning deal from CellC: 3GB Valid for 365 days (SIM card only – no modem) for R399 once off!


The CellC offer works out to 13c per MB, R133 per GB, or R33 per month, and 250MB per month – perfect!  I don’t think I’d use that much but hey, what a winning deal!

Comparing this with the original “winning” VirginMobile offer even with the ‘Double your airtime on first recharge’ I would only get 1.5GB at 26c/MB for R400!  So, I will get double the bandwidth that won’t expire after 120 days.

Comparing that with the FNB offer of 30c/MB then 59c/MB – it just plainly blows that out of this universe!



Now, where can I go and get one of those CellC microSIMs from?:  http://www.cellc.co.za/cellc-stores

Oh, and yes, you can purchase CellC airtime from the FNB Internet Banking web site :)
BUT, the 3GB for R399 deal can ONLY be purchased at any CellC shop.


Call CellC on 084 140 (Available 24 hours a day, including public holidays)
Twitter: @CellC
Find your nearest CellC store here: http://www.cellc.co.za/cellc-stores  Remember to take your ID and some sort of proof of address eg: Edgars account, or municipal account.
I wonder how much their MicroSIMs cost? {From comments: R29 incl VAT)

Thanks to the original Tweeters for prompting me to do this investigation!

Please let me know if you have found a better solution to this by adding your comments to this post.


Update 30 Apr 2012: Just got a response from VirginMobile to an email – the MicroSIM cost 99c (not like Vodacom’s that cost R110) and can be obtained from any VirginMobile store.

Update 01May2012 08h00: So, I went into a VirginMobile store and wanted to confirm my findings.  I wanted to confirm with the salesman that the Virgin Mobile airtime didn’t expire… but, to my surprise he showed me a brochure with a table of how long the airtime lasted for before expiring – so, it seems that VirginMobile airtime does expire:

How frustrating – I had done all of this research on the web site (and awarded a “clear winner” to VirginMobile) only to find out of this obscure “expiry period”! 
BTW: I searched long and hard on their web site and couldn’t find any reference to the expiry period – hopefully @VirginMobileSA will reply to my tweet.
So, I decided to rename the title of this posing – I removed the “non-expiring” phrase, so as not to mislead you my readers… and now I need to decide whether to award my winning provider to one of the other networks?
If I decide to go with another network then they certainly will not be the winner of this “competition” – watch this space for my decision…

Update 01May2012 18h45: I have updated the post with further investigations and I have decided to go with the CellC offer – so, the clear winner of this competition is: the CellC 3GB for 365 days offer

Group buying schemes in Cape Town all in one place

If you aren’t taking advantage of the discount coupon sites around then maybe now’s a good time to start.

I have created a list of all the ones that I could find for Cape Town… just hold down the ‘Ctrl’ button and click to open each of the following links in separate browser windows and then wait for them to download:

http://www.cityslicker.co.za 
http://citymob.co.za/cape-town 
https://www.daddysdeals.co.za 
http://www.dealify.com/cape-town-central 
http://www.dealify.com/cape-town-north 
http://www.dealify.com/cape-town-south 
http://www.dealio.co.za 
http://hot-deals.co.za 
Twangoo/Groupon/MyCityDeal: http://www.mycitydeal.co.za/deals/cape-town 
http://onedayonly.co.za 
http://www.skoop.co.za/deals 
http://ubuntudeal.co.za 
http://ucit.co.za/cape-town 
http://wicount.co.za 
http://www.youdeal.co.za/deals/cape-town 
http://www.zappon.co.za/cape-town  
http://www.justhenga.com/capetown
http://www.mobstir.co.za/Cape+Town

There’s also this aggregator site that will list all the deals on one page: http://www.dealchecker.co.za
(See below for more aggregator sites)

If you use a browser like Opera or FireFox that allows you to save your browser sessions then keep the above sites open and then save the session for reopening later… or just bookmark this page and click on each link every day.



Updated on 25 July 2011:
More after a more extensive Bing search:
http://salewine.co.za
http://www.collectivecow.com (Pretoria and Johannesburg only)
http://www.vuvuplaza.com/capetown 
http://www.bangoo.co.za/cape-town
http://www.dealson.co.za/ZA/cape-town   
http://www.garethcliffdeals.com 
http://www.sacoupons.co.za
http://247deals.co.za/index.php?city=Cape Town

http://www.todaysdeals.co.za (aggregator)

http://www.24hoursonly.co.za


http://alldeals.co.za/category/cape-town-deals (aggregator)
http://www.dealspade.com/cities/cape-town (aggregator)
http://safindit.co.za/specials (aggregator)

http://www.dealzela.com/Daily-Deals/Cape-Town (aggregator)

http://www.buywithus.co.za/deals/western-cape (aggregator)
http://yadda.co.za/search?region=cape-town (aggregator)

http://www.dealafrica.co.za (aggregator) new, in beta still, very nice layout 



http://www.fooddeals.co.za (no deals yet)
http://www.dealison.co.za (no deals yet)

Discounted airtime for your cell phone – where’s the best price?

It’s been a while since I updated my “Buying Airtime Calculator” calculator (Feb 2009), so I decided to do another Bing search (anyone noticed that I’m avoiding Google?).  Truth-be-told, I was spurred to update the calculator after I saw a Tweet from @HifiCorp: “Now you can talk for more while paying less with our discount prepaid airtime offers! http://bit.ly/l2Q3Zz”.  The link takes you to a very large pdf file – I’ve snipped the great pricing:

Or in tabular form from the calculator here:

	Vendor	CreditCard	Date	Airtime Value	Actual Cost	Discount
Vodacom	HiFiCorp	Yes	Jun-11	5.00	4.70	6.00%
Vodacom	HiFiCorp	Yes	Jun-11	12.00	10.90	9.17%
Vodacom	HiFiCorp	Yes	Jun-11	29.00	26.90	7.24%
Vodacom	HiFiCorp	Yes	Jun-11	55.00	49.90	9.27%
Vodacom	HiFiCorp	Yes	Jun-11	110.00	99.90	9.18%
MTN	HiFiCorp	Yes	Jun-11	5.00	4.60	8.00%
MTN	HiFiCorp	Yes	Jun-11	10.00	9.30	7.00%
MTN	HiFiCorp	Yes	Jun-11	15.00	13.90	7.33%
MTN	HiFiCorp	Yes	Jun-11	30.00	28.50	5.00%
CellC	HiFiCorp	Yes	Jun-11	5.00	4.60	8.00%
CellC	HiFiCorp	Yes	Jun-11	10.00	9.30	7.00%
CellC	HiFiCorp	Yes	Jun-11	25.00	22.70	9.20%
CellC	HiFiCorp	Yes	Jun-11	35.00	30.80	12.00%
CellC	HiFiCorp	Yes	Jun-11	50.00	45.50	9.00%

Download the updated calculator which also lists the outlets that I could find here:  http://www.mediafire.com/file/l6bq6ioa44wwl7q/BuyingAirtimeCalculatorJune2011.xls

Anyone notice that they don’t list the new provider 8ta?  Do they even sell 8ta airtime?

That’s not just a question “out of the blue”… I’m getting suspicious about why GoogleAdsense suspended my account almost immediately after I posted this article on 8ta’s “special”: ‘I knew there had to be a catch with that 8ta deal for a Blackberry for R90 per month.... with free calls to a landline number’.
8ta was an advertiser on my blog – in fact the questions that I received were from readers asking about “my ad” on “my blog site”.
Since Google Adsense will not tell me the reason(s) for the suspension I will continue to speculate – and believe that this is the reason.

Cheap International calls from South Africa using Calling Cards (no computer necessary): another HTT calculator to compare offerings

Yes, I’ve blogged about VOIP and SkypeOut and VoipBuster and NimBuzz and Fring and Dect-to-Voip but all of those require a computer or cell phone, and Internet connection (preferably ADSL or 3G/Edge).  Some of my readers and friends have asked for a much simpler way of making international calls and save money – in fact they are already using calling cards. 
Calling cards are more expensive than using your ADSL connection (probably slightly more than paying for the data charges on your cell phone unless you have a data bundle), but the low cost (relative to Telkom), simplicity and convenience of using a calling card from any phone is a very good option for a lot of people.

This blog article attempts to find a few services that are available in South Africa and compares their rates:
(Please note that I haven’t tried any of these web services, although I have purchased some physical calling cards from ‘Talk Time’;
Also, rates are taken from the services’ web sites and might differ from their actual charges;
Don’t forget to consider the costs of the local call to the calling card’s local service number (that’s the cost of the Telkom call) – call at Call-More-Time {weekends and on weekdays: after 19h00 to 06h59} else get a Telkom ‘Closer Plan’)

   
 

Please note that HTT has not tried any of these services so cannot guarantee their services at all.  Quality of call, and rates might not be as depicted on their web sites.

Download HTT’s calling card calculator – download and read the “ReadMe” worksheet for instructions: HTT’s PhoneCallingCardsRatesCalculator
Note: the spreadsheet also compares VoipBuster and SkypeOut rates – did I say that VoipBuster rocks??!!! 
That DECT to VoipBuster solution is really convenient too :)




HelloHowzit: is dedicated to provide a low cost, high quality phone service offering discounted overseas international telephone calls.

Phone IT also known as: http://www.hellohowzit.com or http://www.phonehome.co.za 

They sell international phonecards for inexpensive international calls.  I think this is the service that provides the “Talk Time International Calling Cards”. 
Access numbers are: 011 - 232 9792 or 011 - 555 9600 or 021 – 673 6730

They also have a dial through service using the 087 8063555 access number, which is useful if you have free cellphone minutes to use up.

International phonecard rates start at R0.36 to most land line destinations. See the website for a whole list of countries.

Free R50.00 signup bonus on new South African call-through accounts!
This offer is valid for a limited time when opening a new R300 account.

The CARE project calling cards:
Make Free International Calls from you mobile or landline and support The C.A.R.E Project.  Save time and energy by using our free service and pay local call rates.  Use you mobile free minutes to effectively make free calls to overseas destinations. YES... It's FREE and support a charity organisation as well!
”
C.A.R.E (Caring. Assisting. Reaching. Empowering) is a non-profit organization formed to combat poverty and assist those less fortunate in realizing their potential towards self-empowerment.  The organization aims to do so by providing food and other products to poverty stricken communities, and advocating programmes for self- development and sustainability.
“

Dial the local access number (010 590 4444) and make free calls to over 60 countries. It's that SIMPLE!
Cellphone free minutes do apply, no PIN required, pay local mobile or fixed line rates.

All profits will be used to fund their social development projects which include:
  *) Funding and support of an orphanage
  *) Homeless feeding schemes
  *) Other social development projects to be initiated

1. How does it work ?
  i) Dial our local access number, 010 590 4444
  ii) Wait for the voice prompt
  iii) Dial your Destination number follows :
         00 <country code> <destination number>   e.g    00 44 207 3457654  (UK London)

2. What's the catch ?
Well... There is no catch.  You dial our access number, we obtain rebates from the service providers and the profits are used to fund social development and charity projects.

3. How much does it cost ?
Calls to global destinations are FREE!

Calls from your mobile provider depends on local call rates available on the package you have subscribed to.
Free mobile minutes may apply. This is not a premium rated service and you will be charged at local cellular rates to call our access number.  Peak and off peak rates apply thus determining the Free destinations available.

Calls from your Telkom landline to our access number are charged at R0.78 per minute during peak hours and R0.40 during off-peak.

4. Do I need a PIN number ?
NO. You do not require a PIN so call at your convenience

HTT comment: excellent rates to a limited list of 127 countries (and some cell phones).



Telesaver Phone Cards
http://telesaver.co.za/pricing.htm

HTT comment: Excellent per minute rates BUT, beware: the cards expire: R50 expires 6 months after first use.  R20 expires 1 month after first use.  Recharging makes a card last for an extra 6 months per R50.
The rates listed are awesome!  Some are even better than VoipBuster!

HippoCom allows payment by credit card.
The International Pre-Paid Calling Cards are available in R25, R50 and R80 denominations. These cards allow you access to all our international destinations at the lowest prices.

Access Numbers: 031-251 8100 and 031-765 2248

See here for their FAQs: FAQs

  
Phone4You allows payment by credit card.
Web site is (still) undergoing an upgrade but shows the rates and compares them with Telkom rates (and % saving).

Updated on 09Jan2010 @ 17h00: added WorldChat and SunDial telecom (and updated WorldChat to calculator .xls)
{Didn’t change the verdict tho)


WorldChat: allows payment by credit card
Calls are billed per minute.

Denominations of airtime: R25, R50, R100, R200

Please note all cards expire within 90 days of initial use.
R200 cards will expire 180 days after initial use
A trick: to add another 90 days credit to your expired card & have access to your expired airtime, recharge online.  Even by recharging with the smallest denomination (R25 for which you'll only pay R22.50) you will get access to your expired credit as well as the extra credit you have recharged by!

Access numbers:
  *) Durban     031 2048090
  *) Johannesburg     011 2312800
  *) Cape Town      021 4871040
  *) Tollfree (but rates per minute to International countries is higher): 0800 1WORLD (0800 196753)



SunDial telecom:
Per minute charge varies according to the calling card denomination that you have purchased – the more expensive the card, the lower the per minute rate.

The advertised web site is not working: http://www.calltheworld.co.za/ rather use: SunDial telecom

Access numbers:
Nationwide Share Call 0860 104649 – you pay for a local call (to Telkom) – this is NOT toll free.
CellSave 087 941 5000

Cape Town 021 402 0164
Johannesburg 011 252 1157
Pretoria 012 313 6930
Nelspruit 013 752 9524
Vereeniging 016 420 6447
Klerksdorp 018 406 2018
Rustenburg 014 590 2002
Standerton 017 727 8261
Kimberley 053 838 2040
Bloemfontein 051 411 0781
Durban 031 582 8218
Port Elizabeth 041 397 9805
East London 043 700 3005

Calls can be made to the 087 Cellsave access number from your cellular phone to use your free minutes (you receive a 30c discount on the per minute rate.) 
All calling card and subscriber calls made to the Toll Free access number (you don't pay local call charges)

See here for rates: SunDial telecom rates

HTT verdict: based on a random selection of countries (listed in the default filtered list in the spreadsheet) it is obvious that the Telesaver International Phone Card rates are the best – but, if you don’t use up your card within the expiry time, then you will lose your money! 
{R50 expires 6 months after first use. R20 expires 1 month after first use. Recharging makes a card last for an extra 6 months per R50.}
Don’t forget though, if you have ADSL, then VoipBuster is the best and cheapest!

Some tips: BEWARE of services that have 0861 access numbers – the rates are probably cheaper BUT they get a kick-back from Telkom per minute of the LOCAL call costs (to the calling card’s access number).


Here’s an excellent (although a bit dated) article from ‘Personal Finance’: Ten ways to cut your phone bill