The Ugly Truth About Financing

You hear about financing everyday. All you have to do is turn on the radio and you can hear about how you can buy furniture and not pay for it for 12 months interest free.  Financing is great. It’s like free money, or is it?

We have often been asked if we offered financing, and up until a few weeks ago, we didn’t. Well, times they have changed, and now we can finance your diamonds, your engagement rings, your wedding bands and all your custom jewelry, and I honestly don’t know how I feel about that.

The one thing I do know is that I do believe in being up front and straight with my customers before I sell them anything, and just like I would be honest about the diamond I am selling you, I am going to be honest and tell you the ugly truth about financing.

What You Need to Know About Financing

1. No matter what terms you sign up for, whether they are interest free or equal payment, from the second you get that money your interest is accruing at a rate of 29.99%.  That means that if you don’t pay within your allotted interest free time, you will not only be paying from day one an interest rate on your borrowed amount of 29.99%, but accrued interest on the amount that you borrowed as well that will be due.  That amount could be quite substantial.
2. If you decide you want to get financed for $2,000, but you qualify for financing for $10,000, you will actually get credit for $10,000.  The reason? The credit company is hoping that we, or me, will convince you to then spend more because you actually were approved for me and have a higher spending limit, much like a spending limit on a credit card.
3. You will receive a credit card in the mail that will have our name on it.
4. You will receive monthly statements, but if you are on a 6 or 12-month interest free plan, then they do not tell you how much to pay, just how much you owe.
5. They can share your information with their marketing partners. In other words, expect some sales calls!
6. There is no guarantee that you will be approved for financing or approved for the amount that you requested!
7. The entire process will take you about 10 minutes start to finish and is done while you are standing there. There is a paper application that is one page and the rest is done online.  We get an answer immediately.
8. You will be asked for your net monthly income from all sources.  If you don’t feel as if you make enough to qualify for financing, then apply with a joint applicant.
9. We’ve read the fine print and the truth in lending.  Be sure that you do as well before you fill in the blanks on the application, especially since these terms are non-negotiable.
10. We get charged a nominal processing fee for every application that is approved and granted.  There will be times we might add that fee to your sale, split that fee with you or just eat that fee.  It will depend on how much your sale is.  But, we promise to let you know all of this on the front end.
11. You will be asked for two forms of ID and one of those HAS to be a state issued ID that has a picture on it.  It also can’t be expired.  The other has to have an expiration date, such as a credit card.
12. As easy as it sounds to get free money when you get financing, don’t get caught up in the fact that you have hit Nirvana and can now afford something out of your budget.  The fact is you can still afford what you could before.  Financing just gives you an alternative way to pay it off.  We don’t want any of our customers to buy something they then have to turn around and sell, so please if you are going to ask for financing, read this and think it through first.  If you are sure, then we will certainly do our best to get you the best possible terms we can with the financing plans that we have in place!