What's the interest rate on the 12 and 24 month options?

10-30%
www.affirm.com/faqs linked from https://www.thepinballcompany.com/

Ouch!

Some credit cards in the states offer 21-months at 0%. You pay 1% of the transfer fee ($100 for $10K) and then you only have to make the regular payments on your card. This way is a no brainer.

https://www.nerdwallet.com/the-best-credit-cards

What I do is I apply for a balance transfer card. When I am approved and get the funds in my bank account, I use my current 2% cash back credit card. I put the pinball on my credit card. Then pay that card with the borrowed (0% balance transfer money).

In the end I made 1% of my transaction and paid no transfer fee. It's almost like they are paying you to borrow money LOL

Please don't go into debt to buy a pin, even at 0%.

If you combine that with ebates and ebay coupons that come up, you can save even more. With the narrowing of the MSRP and what dealers charge, ebay is a legit place to buy NIB games now.

Agreed. Way better option. Thanks!

I would also agree with this. But I'm guessing it's happening a lot.

Even if you have the cash in the bank you might be better off buying with a 0% card unless you can work out a better cash / cash transfer deal with a dealer and I suspect you could since there would be no card fees which are substantial on a $5K+ purchase.

I'm not sure what the street price is on deadpool, but to give an example of ebay savings:

ebay.com link: Deadpool Pro Edition Pinball Machine NEW Free Shipping Stern 2018

$5799 there.

2% on credit card rebate
2% ebates
$100 ebay coupon (that pop up like once a month)

4% off $5799 = $232 off

$5799 - $332 = $5467 delivered.

Meh. People spend their money on dumb shit like $8 starbuck coffees, and $8 Mc Combo Meals on a daily basis. If I take a loan for a pin and pay it off in 7 months for me it's a win win. The bank made $60-$70 and I made $100. People buy boats, cars, RVs, pools on credit and loans and no one bats a lash. Why is a pin such a bad thing to take a loan on given that you get 0% for in some cases 21 months?

We’re about to go into an economic decline. Americans have enough debt. Remove this thread it’s dangerous.

I'd argue that you can actually benefit by doing this even if you have the money on hand. Put that money to work for you while you pay off the 0% pin note.

That's what happened to me. I asked the guy the price and he told my $X.....I said "Ok, how much if I pay cash?" and he gave me the same price. So there was absolutely no incentive of paying cash.

While that is always a risk, I understand your point completely.

Which card has 2%? What about the ebay bucks you also earn?

Didn't Stern start leasing program through authorized OPs at one point?

In a perfect world, this makes sense. We do not live in a perfect world.

https://www.nerdwallet.com/the-best-credit-cards , I don't live in the states but that site gives you a run down of some cards. Hell some give you $250 off travel if you purchase $X in the first 90 days.

Take the Chase unlimited for example. From the way I read it they give $150 for doing a purchase of more than $500 + the 1.5% (to be verified) but on a pin purchase that would mean ($5000 purchase = $75 (1.5%) + $150 bonus = $225 cash back).

I am familiar with that site. I know capital one is always 1.5% cash back and citi has the double cash card which gives you 2% total once paid off. There are always promotions on new cards and monthly/quarterly ones like discover and chase 5%. I was just curious where he is getting the 2% cash back cause it would need to be standard unless you open a new card for every NIB purchase.

Most pinball companies won't take Credit Cards without a 3% fee. Which totally irritates me and may violate CC agreement.
There is much incentive for me to put these on CC vs Cash. I can get some money back with CC purchase.

Suze Orzmon said it best - take free money when you can.

While I agree that you should not go into debt over a pinball, I would rather finance at 0% for 6 months than pay cash. I make 15% ROI on my investments on average over the last 10 years.... if I invest $6000 I can make $4-500 bucks over 6 months.

I always take cheap credit when I can... if you have enough liquid investments, it doesn't make sense to take the money out when you can finance for free.

Nic and Brooke are great to deal with also.

It was not standard. It so happen that I had just renewed to a new card when there was a promo at the time for the cash back. But in some cases cards will give you 1% 1.5% cash back on all purchases, which covers the 1% transfer fee that the banks charge.

It's taking advantage of the system. The Royal Canadian Mint got stuck in one of those loopholes a while back. They had a promotion going where you could return the items for the value you paid at the mint by cheque. So people would buy massive amounts of coins with these 1% cash back cards, hold on to them for 15 days and then return them and get a refund directly through the mint. The impact was two-fold...The mint lost millions when silver plummeted and some people made alot of money. It was a farce really, how could the mint be so dumb.

https://www.coinsweekly.com/en/Return-of-commemorative-coins-leads-to-great-loss-in-revenue-for-the-Royal-Canadian-Mint/4?&id=4870

open up one of those cards that offer sometimes up to $750 bonus cash back points if you spend a certain amount in the first 3 months

Just looked this up, it is the first result, so take that with a grain of salt:

"ValuePenguin found that more than 40% of all US households carry credit card debt, with the average American household carrying a balance of $5,700. For only indebted households, which excludes people who pay their balances in full every month, the average debt is $9,333."

Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/average-credit-card-debt-in-every-state-ranked-2018-8

-------------------------------------------------------------
I spent a lot of time closing out credit cards. I now have 2, plus a bank card. One is the major card, the other is basically for PayPal play money.

While nobody can tell the future, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to know that economic "good times" won't be around forever. I'd say we here in The States probably have another year of stability, then the election cycle will begin and all bets are off.

So, if you can get it paid within a year, I'd say good on ya. If you're looking at the 24 month option, you shouldn't be buying a pin.

Just my $0.02

I have bought 2 new pinball on credit cards with money I did not have. Things worked out great. I got a raise, my wife got a raise she went on half of one of the game, and I sold a couple of arcades and pins to pay for the rest. I would encourage people to do this. Beats the 8 lattes and other crap I might have spent the money on plus me and my wife would not have the raises. We made money buying pinball.

So, let me get this straight, you got a raise because you bought 2 pins on credit?

Forget credit cards or fancy financing offers.
I’ve learned on Pinside that it’s best to open a gofundme instead.

LMAO - Flynn's arcade comes to mind. He actually ended building the damn thing and it's a marvel. But you need some set of balls to ask for money when you already "seem" to make a boat load.

If you counted on the raises to pay it off then i would say it was a bad choice. If the raises came along unexpectedly then bonus. Moral = Don't put the cart before the horse.

Thank you. I 100% agree. If people are going to buy $8K pins that are "baseline" for some companies "because they can", then this is also relevant

Not everyone story is out there. One of the very best ways to build your credit score is to make purchases on credit, pay on a regular and timely basis, and knock the debt out. Some people have to do that because their life took a very unexpected and unfortunate turn, and we shouldn't be quick to judge someone "going in debt over a pin" when in all actuality they are doing something that best benefits their monetary situation.

Ask me how I know.

Cash on the glass. That’s it. Otherwise with creative financing....someone loses a job or gets sick and you’re in over your head before ya know it. Bankruptcy is not a financial planning instrument.

Some of us dont have that luxury. But push come to shove if i would put a star wars pro for 4500 it would be gone.

Or you could buy a less expensive title that you can afford. To each his own I guess.

Sure you do. You pretend like you just bought a pin on a 6-month plan. Set aside that money each month. Boom! In 6 months you can pay cash for a pin. I bet you can get a better cash price than a 6 month financed price.

Dangerous stuff: big wave surfing, underwater welder, sleeping with a Kardashian.

NOT dangerous: This thread.

I hate to state the obvious...
If you can afford it , Why stretch out the payments?

To keep that $7K invested in the cryptos? I have no idea. I don't drink $8 lattes either.

Unless the game earns very well on location
and is a Stern Pro which depreciates in value less than other game brands/variations.

My wife bought a pin with me, then asked her boss for a raise. She would not have asked for the raise if she did not buy the pin.

Debt is risk. It’s committing future, unearned dollars. Sure things are fine now. But if you get laid off or have a family emergency, you’re gonna wish you hadn’t committed to those payments. And sure, pinball is mostly liquid, now. Will it be if there’s a downturn? I don’t risk it.

I can't believe anyone would finance a pinball machine, but then I think of this...

c5ihAxe (resized).jpg

Maybe you should ask for a raise, then go buy the pin.

Just a what if here, , ,

What if your wife had asked for the raise, but her boss instead let her know he was downsizing and had to let her go?

It's great that it worked out for you (this time), but I feel as though you have a misunderstanding of plan vs luck.

Can I finance 5 of them?

So you invest for a living then?

I sort of feel like this discussion is parallel to this scene:

This is great option if you buy a game, hate it, then sell it basically for free. Unless you sell it for a big time loss.