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Post subject: Sweetwater.com question
Posted: Wed May 21, 2014 11:15 am
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Hello - I'm new to the forum and have found the posts here both informative and entertaining. I apologize if this topic has already been covered, but I am considering taking advantage of Sweetwater's 24 month interest free financing to purchase my first USA made Stratocaster. Is there anything I should pay particular attention to, or avoid during the process? Any insight or information about this company would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.


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Post subject: Re: Sweetwater.com question
Posted: Wed May 21, 2014 11:18 am
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Sweetwater has always treated me well though I've never availed myself of their interest-free 24-month financing. Be sure their return policy is acceptable to you -- it's not quite as liberal as that of GC.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Sweetwater.com question
Posted: Wed May 21, 2014 11:54 am
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StratDad67 wrote:
Hello - I'm new to the forum and have found the posts here both informative and entertaining. I apologize if this topic has already been covered, but I am considering taking advantage of Sweetwater's 24 month interest free financing to purchase my first USA made Stratocaster. Is there anything I should pay particular attention to, or avoid during the process? Any insight or information about this company would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

The 24 month interest free financing is a credit card you have to apply for, be approved for, pay fees for, and where rates are rather high (29.99% APR, or ~35% effective) if you use it for anything else. If you ever are a day late or a dime short on a minimum payment, or haven't paid the full purchase price off within the stated time, the full interest rates kick in, retroactively and cumulatively from the day of purchase. Worst case for a two-year purchase, you risk ending up paying $825 interest plus late fees on a $1000 purchase.

The reason why they can offer the interest free payments is, of course, that not everyone will be able to make every payment on time. If you can, great, if not, you end up financing those who can. The poor finance the rich, as always.


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Post subject: Re: Sweetwater.com question
Posted: Wed May 21, 2014 11:58 am
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arth1 wrote:
The poor finance the rich, as always.


Impoverished proggies pay for my profligacy......

I LOVE IT!

:lol:

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Sweetwater.com question
Posted: Wed May 21, 2014 12:11 pm
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arth1 wrote:
StratDad67 wrote:
Hello - I'm new to the forum and have found the posts here both informative and entertaining. I apologize if this topic has already been covered, but I am considering taking advantage of Sweetwater's 24 month interest free financing to purchase my first USA made Stratocaster. Is there anything I should pay particular attention to, or avoid during the process? Any insight or information about this company would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

The 24 month interest free financing is a credit card you have to apply for, be approved for, pay fees for, and where rates are rather high (29.99% APR, or ~35% effective) if you use it for anything else. If you ever are a day late or a dime short on a minimum payment, or haven't paid the full purchase price off within the stated time, the full interest rates kick in, retroactively and cumulatively from the day of purchase. Worst case for a two-year purchase, you risk ending up paying $825 interest plus late fees on a $1000 purchase.

The reason why they can offer the interest free payments is, of course, that not everyone will be able to make every payment on time. If you can, great, if not, you end up financing those who can. The poor finance the rich, as always.



I did look at the terms of the offer before I decided I might want to use their financing. I'm a big fan of using interest free financing, so I understand the pitfalls. I appreciate the feedback though. Thank you.


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Post subject: Re: Sweetwater.com question
Posted: Wed May 21, 2014 12:18 pm
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I have gone this route several times.

There are no loop holes or problems that I can think back on.

Sweetwater is pretty straight up and IMO probably in the top 5 for the best place to work with for online buying (for me, it's my first choice..).

one thing to note, not ALL products and manufactures will participate. For example, Gibson seems to participate in a lot of these promos, Fender, does, but not as often.

and the financing does have to be done with the Sweetwater card.

just make sure you DON'T exceed the interest free period. you will get hammered with interest.

But if you play by the book on this, it's a great way to get some gear you normally couldn't buy out right, as long as you can swing the payments, (or do what I do, pay it off in a few month no matter what the interest free terms are.


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Post subject: Re: Sweetwater.com question
Posted: Wed May 21, 2014 1:43 pm
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KidBlast wrote:
...But if you play by the book on this, it's a great way to get some gear you normally couldn't buy out right, as long as you can swing the payments, (or do what I do, pay it off in a few month no matter what the interest free terms are.


+1

I have several accounts like this, and I try to always get at least 12 months interest-free financing, and pay off early. Avoid the temptation to charge too much on too many accounts, as it is easy to get deeply into debt (by design), and it's best to pay cash as often as possible. I typically only use one account at a time, and pay that one off before charging another. Sweetwater is first rate and about as good a retailer as you can find, with excellent support and customer service.

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Post subject: Re: Sweetwater.com question
Posted: Thu May 22, 2014 6:15 pm
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Just another option. I just bought my first American Standard Strat and used one of the interest free for a year checks that my bank credit card sent me in an offer through the mail. I liked this option better. No new credit card needed. As everyone said, pay attention, make the payments on-time, and pay it off over the year with no interest.


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Post subject: Re: Sweetwater.com question
Posted: Fri May 23, 2014 12:08 pm
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Thanks everyone for the advice. I decided on the American deluxe model. I called and Mark the sales engineer was able to answer all my questions and made the purchase very easy. Now all I have to do is wait for it to show up!


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Post subject: Re: Sweetwater.com question
Posted: Fri May 23, 2014 12:31 pm
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Mark is the fellow I work with whenever I buy something from Sweetwater. He even called me at home to ascertain if I was happy with my purchase. A real nice guy.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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