Layaway: Why does exist?

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Wiglaf
You idiots. Layway >> credit cards because you are not at risk of identity thieves. Every time I have had sex in the last five years my credit card has gone missing. No girl has ever gotten my lay away payments no matter how deep into my pants she can reach and I give you there fact.

I think more that you only date hookers now.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by asleepathewheel
Layaway
Pay day lending
The Lottery
Rent-to-Own


Ticket to the good life.

I imagine the stores like layaway because I assume if the person misses a payment the item goes back on the self and the store gets to keep the money. From a retailer's perspective I can see why they'd want to promote it but from a buyer's perspective it's junk just like buying stuff on a credit card if you don't pay the balance off each month.

[KrazyHorse]

if the person misses a payment the item goes back on the self and the store gets to keep the money

No.

[Dinner]

How does it work then and does it vary from store to store or state to state? Do people get back their money minus the fee? Are there late fees?

I've honestly never used lay away before.

[KrazyHorse]

Neither have I, but AFAIK payments are returned on items which are not delivered.

[KrazyHorse]

Wikipedia seems to back me up.

[The Mad Monk]

I remember layaway being advertised as a great way to hide Christmas gifts in the weeks before the holidays. This was in the seventies.

[Jon Miller]

Yeah, I pretty much thought it was only useful for a few weeks before you were going to give a gift to someone.

JM

[Grandpa Troll]

Originally posted by The Mad Monk
I remember layaway being advertised as a great way to hide Christmas gifts in the weeks before the holidays. This was in the seventies.

Q F T

[asleepathewheel]

Originally posted by Kidicious


No it's not. When you buy on credit you get the thing right away. The only value I see for it is for gifts at Christmas time. I've never used it though.

The average credit card interest rate is 13.86% I'm guessing, but I don't think layaway fees are at that level.

[Dis]

my parents bought my brother's Commodore 64 in the 80's with Layaway. My (actually my brother's) first home computer. .

When you are poor and don't have credit, that's all there is. But layaway is mostly for people who can't save money. Although I don't recall my mother having much trouble saving money (she does it well now), but we were dirt poor back then.

So don't knock it. I know it's easy to look down on people. But most people aren't as lucky as us and have poor impulse control. Layaway is helpful to people who can't save and blow their money on stupid stuff like drugs, alcohol, smokes, and gambling (the latter pays my paycheck ).

[Kidlicious]

Pshaw. Saving money is stupid. Spend it while you can.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
Layaway was a big thing. Then a lot of people went the instant gratification, credit card route. I'm glad to see layaway making a return.

But layaway was only a big thing because consumer credit was so tight -- my parents' era. When I graduated from college, I remember my parents describing the laborious process they went through over the years to establish their credit. In spite of the fact that they owned a home, owned their car outright, and that my dad had a white-collar job with AT&T (a job for life, 1950s-style), they still had to start with a Sears card and spend years working their way up. They advised me to do the same thing; the next day, Visa told me I was pre-approved...

So, yeah, layaway is definitely the companion of tight credit. And while I understand Asher's point about just putting the money in the bank (which is actually what my parents did; I don't think they ever used layaway), the fact is that people are undisciplined, and layaway is a means of disciplining yourself, of making sure the money actually gets put away for the tv/sofa/whatever and not frittered away. Disciplined people wouldn't need it, but disciplined people don't make up the Fattest Nation on Earth, either.

[rah]

Just for grins I looked up the details.
For Kmart there's a 5 dollar non refundable fee to set up the account. In one state it's only 1 dollar.
The only other fee is a 10 dollar fee if you default.

So the only possible advantage to just saving the money untill you have enough is if you're afraid that they will run out of the product you desire before you can afford to buy it.

So the fees don't seem unreasonable but I don't see nay reason to pay them.

[Asher]

So the fees don't seem unreasonable but I don't see nay reason to pay them.

If there's no reason to pay them, why are they reasonable?