The Money Mustache Community

Around the Internet => Antimustachian Wall of Shame and Comedy => Topic started by: wordnerd on April 10, 2015, 05:03:17 PM

Title: Financing on a sweater?
Post by: wordnerd on April 10, 2015, 05:03:17 PM
A clothing catalog came in the mail today, addressed to a previous resident. As I was throwing it out, I noticed a bright red "YOU ARE PRE-APPROVED" on the cover. Yep, pre-approved for financing on $70 dresses and $30 necklaces...
Title: Re: Financing on a sweater?
Post by: forummm on April 10, 2015, 05:26:44 PM
Why pay $30 for a tie when you can pay $30+interest for a tie?
Title: Re: Financing on a sweater?
Post by: gimp on April 10, 2015, 06:45:17 PM
I recently got a savings account, and my application also told me I was pre-approved for a $30k car loan.

Look at this peasant, only pre-approved for $100 worth of clothes. I bet it eats gruel, too.
Title: Re: Financing on a sweater?
Post by: wordnerd on April 10, 2015, 06:48:56 PM
I recently got a savings account, and my application also told me I was pre-approved for a $30k car loan.

Look at this peasant, only pre-approved for $100 worth of clothes. I bet it eats gruel, too.

Ha. Gruel on credit, I bet.
Title: Re: Financing on a sweater?
Post by: Pigeon on April 10, 2015, 06:49:51 PM
DH and I once worked with a guy who had champagne tastes and no sense. He once told us about buying fancy, heirloom, organic grass seed. On credit. Years later it is a running gag for us.
Title: Re: Financing on a sweater?
Post by: TheGrimSqueaker on April 10, 2015, 06:57:56 PM
Isn't that technically what the customer would be doing if he or she bought it with a credit card?  I wonder if the store offers similar terms, such as a grace period before the bill is due and interest starts racking up.  If so, it might be a service worth using, for appropriately priced products the customer was going to buy anyway.
Title: Re: Financing on a sweater?
Post by: wordnerd on April 10, 2015, 07:08:01 PM
Isn't that technically what the customer would be doing if he or she bought it with a credit card?  I wonder if the store offers similar terms, such as a grace period before the bill is due and interest starts racking up.  If so, it might be a service worth using, for appropriately priced products the customer was going to buy anyway.

True. And, to be fair, I think micro-financing your Panda Express on a credit card is ridiculous too. The advertising of this just seemed to scream "buy ALL THE THINGS even if you can't afford them!" Not "put this reasonable purchase on a cash-back credit card that you pay in full at the end of each month."
Title: Re: Financing on a sweater?
Post by: TheGrimSqueaker on April 10, 2015, 07:43:37 PM
Isn't that technically what the customer would be doing if he or she bought it with a credit card?  I wonder if the store offers similar terms, such as a grace period before the bill is due and interest starts racking up.  If so, it might be a service worth using, for appropriately priced products the customer was going to buy anyway.

True. And, to be fair, I think micro-financing your Panda Express on a credit card is ridiculous too. The advertising of this just seemed to scream "buy ALL THE THINGS even if you can't afford them!" Not "put this reasonable purchase on a cash-back credit card that you pay in full at the end of each month."

Given that advertising like that costs money, it's probably more effective to attract the kind of customer that will make them the most money, long term.  I suspect they get more from the interest-and-late-fee payers than they do from Mustachians' swipe fees.