Guitar Center...financing 0% for 48 months?

CoolCat

Well-known member
Ok, so why the 48 months 0% financing?
Isnt that abnormally long?

Any business minds have a comment on the "angle" of 48 months 0%?

Last year it was Guitar Center is going bankrupt, now they seem to be ok, like Gibson guitars...but offering 48 month loans at 0% seems desperate to me.:confused:

first it was 6 months, then 12, then 24...... how about 360 months?
 
It is to sell more high priced stuff by making the price look lower.

Same thing with mattresses and other higher priced items.
Make the payments low enough and more people will buy.
The interest on that loan is built into the price.
TANSTAFFL
 
Ok, so why the 48 months 0% financing?
Isnt that abnormally long?

Any business minds have a comment on the "angle" of 48 months 0%?

Last year it was Guitar Center is going bankrupt, now they seem to be ok, like Gibson guitars...but offering 48 month loans at 0% seems desperate to me.:confused:

first it was 6 months, then 12, then 24...... how about 360 months?

Sweetwater does this constantly...like right now they have a bunch of gear that you can buy with 0% for 48 months...sometimes they do 24 or 36.
I've used it a couple of times, not because I couldn't pay the whole amount, but because you get the gear without having to tie up a large amount of cash, and you pay no interest on the charge.
This is a nice option if you want to buy some bigger ticket items...but it's kinda dumb to use for stuff that's only a few hundred or less.

You kinda have to ask yourself...why do I want to drop thousands on something when I don't have to, and at no extra cost to me...? :)
I would rather leave the thousands in my bank, where it's earning a little interest...and where I can have it for a rainy day...and the monthly payment on the 0% interest purchases are not a big dig in the regular cash flow.
What's really dumb is spending thousands on gear with a credit card that charges interest.

Heck...I've done the same thing with my car purchases more than once. Taken a 3-4-5 year loan...with 0% interest.

It's like layway...but you get the item right away. :D
 
So they can cut out the credit card companies, that makes sense. 0% vs 29%....
The store makes the same profit selling the piece/item I guess.

24....48...... 4yrs is a long time to loan someone something with 0%?
 
So they can cut out the credit card companies, that makes sense. 0% vs 29%....
The store makes the same profit selling the piece/item I guess.

24....48...... 4yrs is a long time to loan someone something with 0%?


They are making monthly payments not paying it all at the end.

Interest rates had been very very low. As inflation forces rates higher then these special deals should become shorter.

And most of them have some gotchas. Don't pay it all off by the 48 months and then you owe a big bunch of interest retroactively.

READ THE FINE PRINT IN THE CONTRACT BEFORE YOU SIGN.
 
24....48...... 4yrs is a long time to loan someone something with 0%?

Mmm...only if you have a reason to count the months. :)

Bottom line, with or without interest or paying it all up front or over a few years...it's really about what you can afford.
So yeah, if you're already squeezed...looking at 48 months of payments may feel like a burden, but even more so if you're paying interest on top....and even more so if you drop all the cash at once and buy it outright.

I'll use the 0% option only when I can also buy it outright, but simply don't want to...because again, I don't have to shell out a big chunk of cash all at once, and it's no extra cost to me.

I do similar stuff with my regular credit cards....charge shit on them all month long, and then pay off the entire balances at the end of the month. I know how much money I can spend without ever getting stuck with a rolling balance (with interest).
It's a convenience thing, and I haven't paid any interest on credit cards in 20 years now...and I even avoided it on a few 0% interest car purchases.

And most of them have some gotchas. Don't pay it all off by the 48 months and then you owe a big bunch of interest retroactively.

READ THE FINE PRINT IN THE CONTRACT BEFORE YOU SIGN.

Well...I wouldn't call them "gotchas"...they're just the rules of the purchase agreement...but yeah, be aware of them, and again...regardless of 0% interest, don't buy shit you can't really afford. :p
 
1) They don't have to pay the credit card company's merchant fees - which can depend on the total $$ 'deposited' annually, so could be 1/2 to 1%.
2) I bet at least half the people who take out this deal are late on one payment - which then invokes the full interest otherwise accrued (at a credit card-like rate). I've got 0% financing on my Subaru, same thing applies if I miss a payment. The big furniture company in these parts (Jordan's) does it all the time.
3) They rope in the people who have bad credit - or credit card debt already - who normally would not buy something.
 
I bet at least half the people who take out this deal are late on one payment - which then invokes the full interest otherwise accrued (at a credit card-like rate).

The simple solution is to set up auto-pay on those kinds of purchases...and just make sure you have enough in your bank account to cover the withdrawals.
That way you're never late. :)

Really...the "trick" is not to buy beyond your means...and then there's no concern about making the payments. I personally don't accept the argument that they "rope" people in. I mean, people know if they can afford something. If they don't know, or know they can't afford it, and they still go ahead with the purchase...don't blame the merchants or credit card companies. I really hate it when people blame someone else for the debts they get themselves into.
 
So they can cut out the credit card companies, that makes sense. 0% vs 29%....
The store makes the same profit selling the piece/item I guess.

24....48...... 4yrs is a long time to loan someone something with 0%?

GC among many others, uses what was once called GMAC now known as Synchrony as the bank for their credit cards. None of these companies actually have their own credit/finance so you aren't really escaping the banks(who issue most all credit cards). The longer finance terms are usually capped at a minimum dollar amount and some have a sliding scale:re the larger the purchase the longer the available term. Considering GC and Sweetwater offer gear that goes for the same price as a used car, long term financing makes sense and no interest is good for the consumer,though as has been noted, the cost is built into the selling price. I was looking into a couple of big ticket items from GC and found that some were things that they would be direct shipping from the MFG thus not having to pay for inventory and space to keep it. It wouldn't surprise me to find this as the norm for the very high dollar item and/or anything that will need to be heavy freighted.
 
1) They don't have to pay the credit card company's merchant fees - which can depend on the total $$ 'deposited' annually, so could be 1/2 to 1%.
2) I bet at least half the people who take out this deal are late on one payment - which then invokes the full interest otherwise accrued (at a credit card-like rate). I've got 0% financing on my Subaru, same thing applies if I miss a payment. The big furniture company in these parts (Jordan's) does it all the time.
3) They rope in the people who have bad credit - or credit card debt already - who normally would not buy something.

You hit it with #2. If you’re late, or don’t pay it off fully in the 48 months, you owe ALL the accrued interest. And it’s not even the normal 18% credit card rates, it’s worse! Somethng like 25-26%.

I’m guessing enough people end up defaulting that they’re fine with the few who actually get it interest free.

I just bought appliances on a similar deal. You have to make the minimum payment each month - which btw won’t payoff the loan within the time frame, so you need to pay attention to that. At this point I’ve paid off about $600, and there is already about $700 in deferred interest. In other words the interest is exceeding the minimum payment. :eek: All of which I’ll owe if the loan isn’t fully paid within the interest free period.

The takeaway is NO business is in business to lose money. That doesn’t make these programs a bad deal. If you follow the rules, you get a 48 month interest free loan.
 
... long term financing makes sense and no interest is good for the consumer,though as has been noted, the cost is built into the selling price. I was looking into a couple of big ticket items from GC and found that some were things that they would be direct shipping from the MFG thus not having to pay for inventory and space to keep it. It wouldn't surprise me to find this as the norm for the very high dollar item and/or anything that will need to be heavy freighted.

Mmm...not sure about that.

I'm a very frugal shopper, and so I will research most items across multiple merchants. Compare the prices, the shipping, the taxes..etc...and TBH, on the stuff I got from Sweetwater at 0%, it was usually was selling for the same price at other merchants that weren't offering any deals.

IMO...I think they get their profits by doing a lot of sales, on the markup from wholesale prices, and when you hook up with these 0% deals, it has to be on their cards (which is Synchrony for a few merchants)...so now you have this card with a limit, and it's always there in case you need it....and that's what they count on, that besides the 0% purchase, you will at some point make more purchases without that deal.

In my case...they don't win. :D I never violate the no interest rule I set for myself many years ago, AFA credit card charges go.

On car purchase, I've taken 0.9% or 1.5% a coupe of times, but like I said, I also did 0% on a couple of other purchases when I was rotating cars more often.
Right now, my one vehicle (SUV) is paid off...and the car has 2 years to go on an interest free loan, which was originally 5 years. in the past I would have been getting ready to rotate the car, but I haven't been driving this one as much as in the past...so after 3 years I have less than 20k miles on it, and when it's paid off in 2 years, it will be like new, very low miles, and I'll have real good equity in it as a trade in...or I may just keep it longer.

Things have been pretty good for me the last 15-20 years, but heck I remember younger days when my income wasn't as great, and it was harder to cover expenses, and then that "something" you really wanted ended up going on a credit card with interest charges, and I just had to roll with it until I could get it paid off. About 20 years ago I cleared out all my CC balances, and from that day, I swore never to pay a penny in CC interest charges again, and I've managed to stick with that, plus, income is much better these days...so I can play around with the 0% charges and not really worry about missing a critical payment.

I know it's hard for some folks to dodge the CC balance/interest merry-go-round when life tosses things at you...but then you just have to tough it out and get off quick, otherwise you may never. The people who just shop mindlessly without considering their finances simply because they *want*...they deserve to be on that merry-go-round.
 
Let's face it the economy is not as good as we're led to believe. And in the internet age, the competition for your hard earned money is brutal.
Cash flow is important to any business. The 48 month zero interest program provides cash flow, and generates equipment sales that may otherwise not have happened.
The amount of guys I know that have gear, that without that program would never have been purchased is astounding. It can create a lot of impulse buys.
A buddy of mine recently got a handwired Vox AC30. I said, "I didn't know you wanted one". He said, "I didn't, but got an email that I could get it on the 48 month deal. Had to have it" lol.
These programs create sales, keep cash flow going, keep companies selling, etc.

It's a win/win.......as long as there's no defaults.
 
Really...the "trick" is not to buy beyond your means...and then there's no concern about making the payments. I personally don't accept the argument that they "rope" people in. I mean, people know if they can afford something. If they don't know, or know they can't afford it, and they still go ahead with the purchase...don't blame the merchants or credit card companies. I really hate it when people blame someone else for the debts they get themselves into.

Of course, that's the 'trick' - but there are thousands (millions?) of people out there with credit card debt beyond their ability to pay off. You don't think that GC (and every other place offering 'credit for everyone') knows this and is capitalizing on it?
 
As already noted, Sweetwater and GC (and MF et al) are using Synchrony Bank. And the bank, or whomever, is relying on proven statistics that enough folks will miss a payment and that 30% interest rate will pay off big time on enough losers to give them comfort about the ones that do make all the payments.

Zzounds is the only sizeable music e-tailer I’m aware of that does their own payment plans but I think 18 months is the max and you might need some history with them to qualify. There’s a fee for that - $15 IIRC (may depend on length of term), so you probably want to save it for something pricy.

Sweetwater does have a similar 3-4 month payment plan that doesn’t involve a lending company (and associated credit score hit/risks). There’s also a fee for that. Plus, strictly IMO, a year is pretty long anything longer - probably should be part of a well thought out business plan or backed with something other than dreams. 30% interest will kill you.
 
Of course, that's the 'trick' - but there are thousands (millions?) of people out there with credit card debt beyond their ability to pay off. You don't think that GC (and every other place offering 'credit for everyone') knows this and is capitalizing on it?

I'm still not seeing why it's somehow the merchants fault that some people spend beyond their ability to pay off...or that they offer 0% financing...?

If you can't afford it, then you don't buy it. I mean, these are not adolescent children with credit cards who still can't do basic arithmetic.
There are millions of people who get loans or use credit cards and they never get into the bottomless debt situations...they buy within their means and only stretch their credit to where they know they can cover it.
I'm not talking about some tragic situations that force someone to spend all their savings, etc...l'm talking about people who simply buy regularly beyond their means because they are allowed to carry a balance, and can't control their spending...but that's not the fault of the banks/CC companies.
These are often the same people who carry a grudge against anyone that is better off than they are....and expect the government and the rich to bail them out.
 
Did I mention that my credit rating went down the last time I did one of these no interest deals. :mad:

Apparently just opening a new account was a hit. Then, because I didn’t pay off the entire balance (which btw is the whole frigging idea), my ratio of outstanding debt to available credit went up. This was compounded by leasing a car around the same time (another new account, more outstanding debt).

Mind you, I only dropped from excellent to good, and as I pay down the no interest balance and the lease it’ll climb back up. But it still pissed me off.

P.S. The no interest credit card was for $4000 worth of appliances. So a pretty good chunk. And yes, it was with Synchrony (formerly GE Credit).
 
A lot of good points being made here.
I prefer to treat any credit card as an Amex card......the bill is paid in full when the statement comes. This isn't always possible, but it's the ideal. Good for the credit rating too. :)
However there are millions who don't look at it that way. They just look at if they can afford the mothly payment.
But that's the morm for so many.

When i was younger credit cards didn't even exist. You had the money or didn't
The only two things that required a loan with monthly payments were a house and car. And often times the car was paid for upfront too.
 
Did I mention that my credit rating went down the last time I did one of these no interest deals. :mad:

Apparently just opening a new account was a hit. Then, because I didn’t pay off the entire balance (which btw is the whole frigging idea), my ratio of outstanding debt to available credit went up. This was compounded by leasing a car around the same time (another new account, more outstanding debt).

Mind you, I only dropped from excellent to good, and as I pay down the no interest balance and the lease it’ll climb back up. But it still pissed me off.

P.S. The no interest credit card was for $4000 worth of appliances. So a pretty good chunk. And yes, it was with Synchrony (formerly GE Credit).

I have heard of peoples rating dropping because the new rules require credit companies to reduce your available credit when you pay your debt down a certain amount so your available credit to outstanding debt ratio gets skewed. One of my brothers claims this happened to him, and he is a business owner, so I have little doubt as to it's veracity. It was also Synchrony, between them and Capital One there is a lot of bad rep; I assume that's why GE credit changes it's name every few years. They actually issue my gas card too. I had a name brand card from a large bank cut my available line of credit with a letter that basically said since I never reached amount X they were cutting my credit line in half(it was too large anyway, I had no balance on it and they had been increasing it unasked over the years so I didn't care). I am with Miro as far as self responsibility for finances is concerned , however I know how many lower income folks who I have employed or worked with that haven't a clue as far as basic finances.
 
Mind you, I only dropped from excellent to good, and as I pay down the no interest balance and the lease it’ll climb back up. But it still pissed me off.

Yeah...I guess that can happen in some cases.
TBH...I never bothered to check if the 0% stuff had any impact on my credit rating, at this point...my credit rating just doesn't matter all that much to me.
It only matters if you actually need to apply for more credit for anything...and if paying off those 0% interest accounts and closing them would improve things (if for some reason I needed credit and my rating had gone down)...I would just pay off the balances.
Like I said, I only do the 0% interest stuff when I know I can also buy the items outright, but simply don't feel like giving them all the money at once. :)
 
I'll pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today. :)

Edit: haha, now every ad on my phone is for car loans. And they say they only collect metadata. :D
 
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