Purchases- Using Credit or Cash

rymercho

Hi
I am new to this, I ave a rather sizable purchase to make and this is probably the best place to ask.

My old mountain bike bit the dust last week and I am going to have to buy a new one. Now they don't come cheap if you want a good machine that is going to fulfill your needs. So I am looking between £1500-£2000.

I would like to know does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to purchase. I can go down the 12 months 0% intrest route and pay full asking price or I could buy it on a credit card with a 0% for 6 months, but would that give any more buying power.

The other option would be cash which is possible but would take me a few months to get together.

The thing is when I have bought items over £500 the companies have always said that the price is no different even if you pay by cash i.e. no finance. How can this be, I was a bit naive before and I now think they were pulling the wool over my eyes.

Any ideas, I am kean to strike a bargain.

Chris

cheekyweegit

Hiya,

Please please please if you are buying a single purchase of more than £100 and up to £30,000 especially where you are buying over the phone, internet etc or even from a shop use a credit card of some description. The reason being is, if the retailler goes bust and / or there is a problem with the goods you have bought you are covered by your credit card company, who are then equally liable under "Connected Lender Liability".

The result of this is if you have a problem with the goods you have a choice of who to claim your money back from, obviously try and get things resolved with the retailler first, but if this fails, you can contact your credit card company and make a claim against them. (Not a lot of folks realise this.)

Note the £100+ figure must be purely for the goods and not for goods plus delivery.

For example a suit at £115 + £5 delivery = £120, total cost of goods is £115 so it would be covered under Connected Lender Liability.

But..... Jacket £60 + Matching trousers £55 + £5 delivery still comes to £120 but although it's still a suit the total single item is either £60 or £55 which does not meet the criteria for same.

Same for ipod £99.99 + £2.95 delivery, this is still too little and you would not be covered so in some cases it's worth paying a little extra for peace of mind.

NEVER USE CASH IF IT CAN BE HELPED ON LARGE PURCHASES OVER £100 UP TO £30,000 UNLESS THE BENEFITS OUTWEIGH SIGNIFICANTLY ANY POSSIBLE RISKS!

Hope this helps, if you need further info either contact your credit card company or google connected lender liability+credit cards for more info.

dudleyboy

I agree, purchase your bike on a credit card and you'll benefit from protection provided by the Consumer Credit Act. On a £1500-£2000 purchase I'd say that's a must.

Also, I'd recommended getting a new card with a long(ish) 0% and/or high % cashback. Egg Money, for example, currently offers 0% interest for 6 months AND 1% cashback on all purchases. Providing you pay off the cost of the bike in full by the end of the 0% period, you'll have staggered the cost over 6 monthly, interest free, affordable repayments as well as earned up to £20 cashback.

Check out the site's credit card articles for more info:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/creditcards

rymercho

Cheers for the advice.

I didn't realise I would be at such a risk wth a credit purchase. Intresting.

I still don't understand, fully how I would be at risk. If I get the bike and they go bust what could go wrong for me? Loss of warranty, would it e covered on my card if it got stolen?

These are things I never thought about.

Cheers
Chris

mm66

By the way if you are looking at such an expensive bike why not go to US on the new British Air deal of £274 return to New york and buy a great bike there. with the £1=$2 the bargains are great.

rymercho

Thats quite a good idea. How do you get it back. Do you know somebody who has done it??

Is it that easy