Vendors Offering Financing - Do You Support It?

[Bruce Burnett]

The upfront cost can be a major investment so if you have a good regular income why not but if you are low in your account every month and shuffling bills then no don't finance

 

[JLynn]

I worry that it tempts people to spend money they can't afford to spend. I mean yes, it is up to the individual to make responsible decisions. But... I don't like the idea of making it easier to behave irresponsibly.

It's not a big problem, though.

 

[Peace River]

Do you think that there is a difference between a vendor offering financing and a vendor accepting credit cards? If so, why?

 

[1000rrstunna]

You shouldn’t buy hobby items if they cannot be paid for at time of purchase

 

[reeplay87]

I really don't care how people spend their money. I am a finance manager at an auto dealership and I have seen people with excellent income so strapped in debt that the most minor deviation will cause them to spiral behind. I've seen people come in with excellent incomes and can't get a $12k loan for a Nissan Versa because they've only got one credit card that sits in a drawer they never use while everything they purchase is paid for in cash, on the opposite side I've seen people who have low income and high debt, but have never missed a payment in 10 years. In my experience, the guy that pays cash for the Mercedes that says you shouldn't finance the Mercedes typically likes to feel special that he can pay cash for a Mercedes.

I think the line of thinking that people shouldn't finance what they can't pay cash for could be on the same line as thinking people shouldn't get something like a Macy's card. Some people you talk to would go even further and expand this philosophy to credit cards, education loans, auto loans, and even home loans. Like religion or sexuality, one person's financial philosophies aren't always correct nor are they always wrong.

Would I personally go finance $1k worth of corals from WWC? Absolutely not. I might use one of the 0% credit cards I cycle through if I really want something and wanted to spread out the cost, but it's none of my business if other people use their financing option though. I will say like anything, this hobby can be addicting. Unfortunately, financing options for addicting activities can be dangerous. Regulations may step in at some point to limit interest, but easy online finance options have been spreading for the last few years, and their success will likely cause more to follow.

 

[Jedi Knghit]

I think financing is a good thing for the hobby. Everyone can say if you cannot afford the hobby you shouldn't do it. In that case there is so many people in the world who wouldn't be able to have an aquarium. Most of the initial spending is a high investment after that it becomes very minimal. Seeing how many say people using the option to start their aquarium shouldn't do it is sad. We all have out opinions about things but thinking that people who are not as well off as you don't deserve a hobby is pretty ******. Everyone wants to buy a 3000$ aquarium and stand. Then add another 5000$ in equipment then another 2000$ in rocks and sand and not bat an eye. But alot of people cannot. And to say that they don't deserve the same past time as you or same enjoyment because they are not rich enough. SMH

Wow, perhaps those of us who think it is a bad idea to finance a hobby are are not doing a good job of explaining our viewpoints.

By no means am I elitist, and would never deny anyone access to the hobby of their choice, Through personal experience, and witnessing the financial troubles of others in my life, it doesn't make sense to me to finance a luxury item that you cannot afford to pay for with cash. Sure, you can make the payment today, but what about a month from now when you lose a job or every nonessential business is closed and you do not know when you will get your next paycheck?

I've seen people say "patience, nothing good comes fast in this hobby" on a regular basis on this site. I think it applies to purchasing equipment for any hobby, or any luxury item in life. Figure out what the payment is set the money aside and buy the item when you have money in hand.

Anyway, hope I haven't offended anyone.

 

[cidermaster]

If this takes off you think corals are expensive now ?? Just wait until they all offer financing and start charging more

 

[gotmesalty77]

i think it depends on the situation, most of the time i would say no on financing, unless something like a pump or light failed and i didn't have the money at that point and time to replace it then i would probably consider it

Thats something that i would think i would use it for as well. Its hard to keep super discretionary income for something like a vectra m2 on hand. Well not that its not available but i generally keep my funds in harder to reach than just oh hey something shiny let me buy it. I pray that nothing really bad happens during this time of no work. If not i may find myself using affirm or something like that.

 

[Steven91]

Thats something that i would think i would use it for as well. Its hard to keep super discretionary income for something like a vectra m2 on hand. Well not that its not available but i generally keep my funds in harder to reach than just oh hey something shiny let me buy it. I pray that nothing really bad happens during this time of no work. If not i may find myself using affirm or something like that.

Also sometimes when you have the money easy, something else might pop like car repairs or what's going on now. Vendor financing might allow you to replace a broken pump before it gets too bad. Now I will say buying coral/livestock with vendor financing is not a good idea

 

[gotmesalty77]

If this takes off you think corals are expensive now ?? Just wait until they all offer financing and start charging more

But i think local stores and local reefers sales will be more prevalent and also much much cheaper. Its like that now and i live in orlando. All the big guys are all around me and everything is cheaper in store than onilne. With the exception of one of those stores you can get pretty crrazy deals if you buy a few things at once. That is the one thing that is lost on the online sales for sure. I think the financing of coral seems like great move to vendors but i think the timing actually shows me that the sudden change in the larger economy quickly showed a extremely vulnerable business model, So something had to be done

 

[DonTavo27]

I’d finance an Apex Elite, but not something that will die with a drop or spike in parameters

 

[gotmesalty77]

Also sometimes when you have the money easy, something else might pop like car repairs or what's going on now. Vendor financing might allow you to replace a broken pump before it gets too bad. Now I will say buying coral/livestock with vendor financing is not a good idea

I think i can get behind that for the most part. I think it certainly shows that the bigger LFS are scared to death and exepect extreme reductions in sales. Im sure this stuff was a long time coming but the timing is undeniably important. I think that the entire industry Is very very fragile and its about to be a little exposed. Id never buy coral like that. Just that alone is going to lead to more people who dont know what they are doing killing coral. Which i still care a great deal about as i think most people should. I hope for the best on both sides of this i will be watching very closely to how everything plays out.

 

[Copingwithpods]

I think the main discussion here comes down to how people deal with finances.

I've seen multiple comments here that from my upbringing and way of handling money I just don't understand. "I want to buy x product, x product costs $500,i have the $500 laying around, I'll finance anyway because $500 all at once is a big scary hit" I don't understand that, 500 is 500, unless you are leaving your money open for possible investments why not just pony up? I recently bought an AI Nero5 by waiting a few weeks until I saved up enough to buy it, I had the $220 laying around and sure I could have financed it and paid it off later but that's not how I was taught to handle money. And here lays the discussion, we were all brought up differently. There isn't a right or wrong way of going about this just different approaches.

What we should be really concerned about is all this price gaging that's going around. Frags are getting smaller and price tags getting bigger. Is this new per vendor financing going to increase prices? That's what I really want to know. I don't want to wake up one day and find a 1/2in frag of gsp listed for 3 easy payments of $14.99.

 

[FishDoc]

With more and more vendors offering financing, do you think it's good or bad for the hobby? I feel people shouldn't be spending money they don't have on their aquariums. This is just a hobby after all. What do you think?

In my opinion it’s not a matter of spending money you don’t have but more of a way to adapt to a hobby that is becoming increasingly more expensive to take part in. Financing might afford some to invest in equipment or products they might not otherwise be able to afford all at once but could manage over installments. I can see the downside in that if not approached with caution, a person could go overboard quite easily. This risk however is present in many current aspects of everyday finance.

 

[Panky]

I don’t agree with it. It just makes prices ridiculous. Charging way more for something because you can finance it and pay for it over time. Both hardware and corals. Coral especially should not be financed.

 

[FishDoc]

I'm split

On one hand I do believe if you need to finance anything in this hobby you need to seriously reevaluate your priorities. Excuses like something broke and I didn't have the money for it just underline the existing problem of scraping by and getting into a very expensive hobby one your wallet is telling you you can't afford. If you cannot immediately replace a broken piece of equipment without a loan you are living above your means.

On the other hand these are hard times, folks who might have been OK 2 weeks ago are now struggling. What ever cookie jar money there is going to essentials instead of hobbies. It's nice to know someone out there won't have to choose between groceries and their tank in case something goes wrong. It's isn't ideal but I'm sure some folks will benefit from it.

Living above your means or trying to take part in a hobby in which the person may truly be passionate about but must proceed with caution due to its expense. I believe the state of this hobby is disheartening in that it has had this shadow of the appropriation of wealth attached to it which has driven the cost of livestock and new tech through the roof. Now, some may opt to utilize alternative forms of payment to make their desire to stay in the hobby work, while simultaneously ensuring they don’t over extend themselves in doing so, how is this any more reckless then spending the money just to realize something came up and now you need it?

 

[CodyBot Verified Sponsor]

This is just going to drive the costs up for everyone else. And I completely disagree with people comparing this to cars, home appliances, etc. We have aquariums. If you’re financing an aquarium then I don’t know what to tell you. I know this hobby is more of an obsession than a hobby for most of us, but what if you knew someone that couldn’t afford a pet emu, so they financed it. You’d look at them like they’re crazy.

 

[Copingwithpods]

This is just going to drive the costs up for everyone else. And I completely disagree with people comparing this to cars, home appliances, etc. We have aquariums. If you’re financing an aquarium then I don’t know what to tell you. I know this hobby is more of an obsession than a hobby for most of us, but what if you knew someone that couldn’t afford a pet emu, so they financed it. You’d look at them like they’re crazy.

OK yeah lol an emu would be a good chunk of Bens up front but if you financed that afterwards the month to month would be minimal.

 

[Opus]

I think it is great. People have a right to be able to buy things they can't afford right away.

 

[CodyBot Verified Sponsor]

OK yeah lol an emu would be a good chunk of Bens up front but if you financed that afterwards the month to month would be minimal.

Haha you know what I mean. I was thinking of something that most of us would probably look of as completely unnecessary and just something that the other person liked. Definitely not something worth going in debt for. Plus, I don’t even know what kind of maintenance those suckers need. Maybe all they eat is super expensive, rare berries. Literally no one, including biologists, knows!