Verizon Samsung Galaxy S4 Pre-Orders Start at Premium Retailer

It appears that at least one Verizon premium retailer has begun taking pre-orders for the Verizon Samsung Galaxy S4 ahead of its official release date. However, while the offer might be enticing, it’s costly and limited, it seems, to a store in Northern California.

Read: Samsung Galaxy S4 U.S. Pre-Orders Bring More Questions.

Earlier today, AT&T and U.S. Cellular started to take pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy S4 ahead of their official release dates which should arrive in the next few weeks. Today, another carrier has been added to that list, though, it appears that the offer is a bit limited and doesn’t come from the corporate offices of the carrier itself.

Gotta Be Mobile has learned that at least one premium Verizon premium retailer located in the Northgate Mall in San Rafael, California has begun taking pre-orders for the Verizon Galaxy S4, even though Verizon itself has not yet announce a pre-order or a release date for the device. The retailer, while not an official Verizon corporate store, is indeed taking pre-orders, something that we have confirmed with the operator of the store.

The retailer confirmed that it is indeed taking pre-orders for the 16GB Verizon Galaxy S4 and it says that it will be receiving stock at some point in May, though, it cautioned that it wasn’t sure when stock would become available. The price is going to be steeper than those that we’ve seen through AT&T and U.S. Cellular who are charging $199.99 on-contract. The retailer is going to be selling the Verizon Galaxy S4 for a little over $300 with tax, at least at the moment. That price could drop at some point after Verizon announces the official details.

The person who manages this store also mentioned another Verizon store in Petaluma, California that is supposedly offering the same deal but we were unable to confirm that with an employee who works there.

Read: Verizon Galaxy S4: Coming Soon, Minimal Branding.

While expensive, the option is still there for at least some people. Another Verizon premium retailer that we talked to in Ohio said that it wasn’t taking pre-orders so it appears that the offer may be limited to a few stores in Northern California at this point. We wouldn’t however be surprised if other retailers followed suit in a likely attempt to capitalize on the demand for the Galaxy S4 in the United States.

Verizon itself has yet to reveal any specifics about the Samsung Galaxy S4, only confirming that it will be carrying it. The device showed up on Samsung’s website today displaying its branding which is without a branded home button like the Galaxy Note 2. We’ve heard that the device may not be showing up until May 30th though the retailer could not confirm that.

The model on Verizon will be coming with the same hardware as the others though which means that it will arrive with a 5-inch 1080p display, quad-core processor, 13MP camera, Android 4.2 and more.

Thanks to Tyler for the tip!