Can anyone help me understand this specific Buy Now Pay Later financing option?

2

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  • Ben8282
    Ben8282 Posts: 4,821
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    edited 15 June 2017 at 4:21AM
    Do you really want anything to do with this finance? The wording is either unprofessional or deliberately designed to be vague, confuse and possibly deceive.
    Even paying it off before the 9th month will cost you £49 (£20 arrangement fee/£29 settlement fee). The cost of your purchase is £759.70. The fees of £49 represent 6.5% of the purchase price. To put it in perspective, this is comparable to a balance transfer 0% for 9 months with a 6.5% fee.
    To answer the final question, they can't stop you paying it off earlier than the 9th month but I don't know how they would react to partial repayments.
  • Automaton
    Automaton Posts: 8 Forumite
    Ben8282 wrote: »
    Do you really want anything to do with this finance? The wording is either unprofessional or deliberately designed to be vague, confuse and possibly deceive.
    Even paying it off before the 9th month will cost you £49 (£20 arrangement fee/£29 settlement fee). The cost of your purchase is £759.70. The fees of £49 represent 6.5% of the purchase price. To put it in perspective, this is comparable to a balance transfer 0% for 9 months with a 6.5% fee.
    To answer the final question, they can't stop you paying it off earlier than the 9th month but I don't know how they would react to partial repayments.
    Unfortunately, it's the only way I can get the new computer I want which I am in desperate need of. I'm a student and will be paying it with my loans (thus the wanting to split up the payments). I've budgeted and after rent and utilities and this I would still have £85 per week so that's not an issue. I do agree that this is probably worded to deliberately to deceive, though, which is why I want to make sure I'm getting everything right. The fee doesn't bother me too much as, comparatively, their products are cheap and they have good reviews on customer service and delivery etc. etc. from computer enthusiasts.

    I'm having to do this through my dad, as they're unlikely to accept an application from a student without a full-time job. The same goes for a 0% interest (18 month) credit card, but my dad doesn't want to take out another credit card, so I'm left with this option.

    Realistically, as I'll be paying my dad, it doesn't matter about me splitting payments up, because he can just save them and add them both together and then pay all at once. I think I'm going to call them up and ask them explicitly, though. "Will I be able to pay half in september and half in january and still gain no interest?"
  • TrustyOven
    TrustyOven Posts: 746
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    Automaton wrote: »
    Unfortunately, it's the only way I can get the new computer I want which I am in desperate need of. I'm a student and will be paying it with my loans (thus the wanting to split up the payments). I've budgeted and after rent and utilities and this I would still have £85 per week so that's not an issue. I do agree that this is probably worded to deliberately to deceive, though, which is why I want to make sure I'm getting everything right. The fee doesn't bother me too much as, comparatively, their products are cheap and they have good reviews on customer service and delivery etc. etc. from computer enthusiasts.

    I'm having to do this through my dad, as they're unlikely to accept an application from a student without a full-time job. The same goes for a 0% interest (18 month) credit card, but my dad doesn't want to take out another credit card, so I'm left with this option.

    Realistically, as I'll be paying my dad, it doesn't matter about me splitting payments up, because he can just save them and add them both together and then pay all at once. I think I'm going to call them up and ask them explicitly, though. "Will I be able to pay half in september and half in january and still gain no interest?"

    Um... you are a student with no full time job and you are:
    a) asking your dad to take care of life's problems
    b) going for an expensive brand-new computer? (by heck! when I was in full time employment the laptop I bought brand-new was only 399.99, not some fancy £533-£759 one that has been mentioned on this thread)

    If you are in desperate need for a computer, can't you go to a computer fayre and get a second-hand one for like £85 to £200?
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  • Automaton
    Automaton Posts: 8 Forumite
    edited 16 June 2017 at 12:30AM
    TrustyOven wrote: »
    Um... you are a student with no full time job and you are:
    a) asking your dad to take care of life's problems
    b) going for an expensive brand-new computer? (by heck! when I was in full time employment the laptop I bought brand-new was only 399.99, not some fancy £533-£759 one that has been mentioned on this thread)

    If you are in desperate need for a computer, can't you go to a computer fayre and get a second-hand one for like £85 to £200?
    1) I'm going for an expensive one because if I bought a cheap one now I'd only regret the wasted money when I inevitably spend my money on an expensive one next year, for both music production and gaming. Music composition, recording and production is becoming a massive part of my life, and hopefully my career in the future (with some fall backs that my degree will grant me, obviously). To record and produce music well, and have the programs run smoothly and reduce the possibility of crashes, you need a minimum of a current-gen i5 or similar, and minimum of 8gb RAM, preferably 16gb, and also an SSD rather than a hard-drive. This would put the PC, including all the other necessary but cheap parts, at at least £600-700. Then there's the graphics card, which will be for gaming, my main hobby besides music.

    2) It's hardly asking my dad to take care of life's problems. He knows he won't be paying a penny for anything, he'll just be running it in his name so that it's even possible. There's literally no point getting a £200 PC because to save that money on top of everything else I need to buy myself (i.e. food and travel and other things) would take me until october anyway when I could just buy it up-front with my student loan. He knows that I'll pay him as soon as my loans go in, meaning he won't have to pay anything. Maybe you're not used to parents that will actually help their children with little things like this, but I don't see anything wrong with it. It's not as if I'm asking him for a loan out of his own money. It's the same as him being the "guarantor" for my rented property at uni. Students are expected to need guarantors--who are 99% of the time their parents--exactly because they aren't in full time work and because parents support their children throughout university.
  • Arleen
    Arleen Posts: 1,164
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    Automaton wrote: »
    1) I'm going for an expensive one because if I bought a cheap one now I'd only regret the wasted money when I inevitably spend my money on an expensive one next year, for both music production and gaming. Music composition, recording and production is becoming a massive part of my life, and hopefully my career in the future (with some fall backs that my degree will grant me, obviously). To record and produce music well, and have the programs run smoothly and reduce the possibility of crashes, you need a minimum of a current-gen i5 or similar, and minimum of 8gb RAM, preferably 16gb, and also an SSD rather than a hard-drive. This would put the PC, including all the other necessary but cheap parts, at at least £600-700. Then there's the graphics card, which will be for gaming, my main hobby besides music.

    You can build used-parts PC which will work as well as new one, the only downside is that it doesn't come with any guarantees for longevity, but that is generally not a problem as long as you run basic diagnostics on the marts to make sure they are operating at nominal levels. And that will cut your price by half, at least. And the best part is you can start cheap, but getting just the motherboard, cpu, 8gb of ram and HDD, and then expand as you get more money available, instead of doing it through loans.

    Also as much as you may love the sentiment for SSD, it will not make as big difference as you may think, or been told you. Nowhere near that, but will cost multipel times as much.
  • Automaton
    Automaton Posts: 8 Forumite
    Arleen wrote: »
    You can build used-parts PC which will work as well as new one, the only downside is that it doesn't come with any guarantees for longevity, but that is generally not a problem as long as you run basic diagnostics on the marts to make sure they are operating at nominal levels. And that will cut your price by half, at least. And the best part is you can start cheap, but getting just the motherboard, cpu, 8gb of ram and HDD, and then expand as you get more money available, instead of doing it through loans.

    Also as much as you may love the sentiment for SSD, it will not make as big difference as you may think, or been told you. Nowhere near that, but will cost multipel times as much.
    If I'm making a big investment of something, I'd rather spend the extra to get parts that come with guarantees and are likely to last. The whole thing with PC enthusiasts is that, usually you upgrade your parts to the newest ones every 2-5 years. Buying used parts reduces that timeframe, making it kind of pointless.

    Besides, like I said, there's no way I can even afford £200 on a PC over summer with all the other stuff I need money for as well, not without a loan or a BNPL scheme.

    Also I've used an SSD on my friend's laptop and a few other friends' PCs, and I know for a fact that whilst the difference isn't massive in performance in games or in general PC usage, it is incredibly useful for music production in loading in/out various plugins (which you have to do a lot of).
  • TrustyOven
    TrustyOven Posts: 746
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    Automaton wrote: »
    1) I'm going for an expensive one because if I bought a cheap one now I'd only regret the wasted money when I inevitably spend my money on an expensive one next year, for both music production and gaming. Music composition, recording and production is becoming a massive part of my life, and hopefully my career in the future (with some fall backs that my degree will grant me, obviously). To record and produce music well, and have the programs run smoothly and reduce the possibility of crashes, you need a minimum of a current-gen i5 or similar, and minimum of 8gb RAM, preferably 16gb, and also an SSD rather than a hard-drive. This would put the PC, including all the other necessary but cheap parts, at at least £600-700. Then there's the graphics card, which will be for gaming, my main hobby besides music.

    2) It's hardly asking my dad to take care of life's problems. He knows he won't be paying a penny for anything, he'll just be running it in his name so that it's even possible. There's literally no point getting a £200 PC because to save that money on top of everything else I need to buy myself (i.e. food and travel and other things) would take me until october anyway when I could just buy it up-front with my student loan. He knows that I'll pay him as soon as my loans go in, meaning he won't have to pay anything. Maybe you're not used to parents that will actually help their children with little things like this, but I don't see anything wrong with it. It's not as if I'm asking him for a loan out of his own money. It's the same as him being the "guarantor" for my rented property at uni. Students are expected to need guarantors--who are 99% of the time their parents--exactly because they aren't in full time work and because parents support their children throughout university.

    Yay! Getting into debt for gaming / wants, not needs.

    Yay! Bad financial mindset thinking that family based loans never go badly.

    Anyway, you have provided contradicting information in a previous post on this thread so I am not sure that any further advice or suggestions would be taken seriously by you.

    I hope it works out well for you.
    Goals
    Save £12k in 2017 #016 (£4212.06 / £10k) (42.12%)
    Save £12k in 2016 #041 (£4558.28 / £6k) (75.97%)
    Save £12k in 2014 #192 (£4115.62 / £5k) (82.3%)
  • Automaton
    Automaton Posts: 8 Forumite
    TrustyOven wrote: »
    Yay! Getting into debt for gaming / wants, not needs.

    Yay! Bad financial mindset thinking that family based loans never go badly.

    Anyway, you have provided contradicting information in a previous post on this thread so I am not sure that any further advice or suggestions would be taken seriously by you.

    I hope it works out well for you.
    What contradicting information?

    Also, I didn't come here for advice or suggestions about whether or not I should get the loan, so don't act surprised when I am affronted by implications that I'm living in my daddy's pocket and acting like a child (which is what your post amounted to). All I asked was for an explanation as to the workings of the loan.
  • Automaton wrote: »
    Unfortunately, it's the only way I can get the new computer I want which I am in desperate need of. I'm a student and will be paying it with my loans (thus the wanting to split up the payments). I've budgeted and after rent and utilities and this I would still have £85 per week so that's not an issue. I do agree that this is probably worded to deliberately to deceive, though, which is why I want to make sure I'm getting everything right. The fee doesn't bother me too much as, comparatively, their products are cheap and they have good reviews on customer service and delivery etc. etc. from computer enthusiasts.

    I'm having to do this through my dad, as they're unlikely to accept an application from a student without a full-time job. The same goes for a 0% interest (18 month) credit card, but my dad doesn't want to take out another credit card, so I'm left with this option.

    Realistically, as I'll be paying my dad, it doesn't matter about me splitting payments up, because he can just save them and add them both together and then pay all at once. I think I'm going to call them up and ask them explicitly, though. "Will I be able to pay half in september and half in january and still gain no interest?"

    A. Let me be honest, you don't really need that rig. Every Uni offers free, almost unlimited access to their computing power via virtual desktops, VPN etc.
    B. Go to Curry's and get their finance offer with "yourplan". Their offer has no setup fees or early repayment penalty. Account and repayments were accessible online and I was very happy after buying my laptop with them.
  • Automaton
    Automaton Posts: 8 Forumite
    edited 17 June 2017 at 7:53AM
    A. Let me be honest, you don't really need that rig. Every Uni offers free, almost unlimited access to their computing power via virtual desktops, VPN etc.
    B. Go to Curry's and get their finance offer with "yourplan". Their offer has no setup fees or early repayment penalty. Account and repayments were accessible online and I was very happy after buying my laptop with them.
    A) Depends what you mean by "need". I think a lot of people are getting caught up on the fact that I said I "need" it, as if I were trying to justify taking out a loan. I could get by easily at university without a new PC, and in my life in general without a PC. So in that sense, no, I don't "need" it. But for people (other posters) to say it's simply a want and assume it's just for gaming is a little too much. My current PC runs slowly and crashes a lot. I know that it is a hardware problem (RSODs), but I haven't managed to isolate which part causes it. It's also not good enough for the sort of music recording & production I "need" to do. My dad is my manager; he seems more into it than I do at times. But yes I don't "need" it, but I do need it to continue forging the path that we both want for me (minus the GPU, of course).

    B) Thanks for the help :) I checked it out, but unfortunately their selection of PC parts isn't enough :( I'm buying all my parts separately and building it, like I did with my last one about 9 years ago, because it's cheaper and also because it means I can get exactly the most price-performance parts in one build for my budget. For example, I want the AMD Ryzen 5, as opposed to an i5 or something, as their hyperthreading is much better for multiple tracking in a DAW, even if it is very slightly worse for gaming. Unfortunately Currys only has 2 processors available.
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