Straw poll – Do you buy your bikes on credit?

“Q – is there a catch with a 0% payment plan?”

Such schemes work on the premise that although most people will probably pay within the agreed time limit, there will always be a few who don’t, who then end up having to pay steeply inflated interest terms, which help fund the interest fee schemes in the first place. Banks aren’t lending people money to be nice, it’s a business. The bank will gamble on the assumption that if 99% of folk are repaying properly, the 1% who don’t, will generate the profit needed to make the scheme worthwhile. What caused the Credit Crunch, was far too much easy credit, and increasing numbers of people defaulting on their agreements, yet there wasn’t actually any money anyway, as it never existed. Which **** things up for everyone.

Or, you could simply save the money, and give that £70 to a charity or other worthy cause, which, if everyone did so, would make society a better place. All you’re actually doing, is making some very rich people, even richer. The same people who won’t give a **** if you fall on hard times, and can’t afford to pay your debts. They’ll happily take your money and watch you go without basic necessities. Why give your money to such people?

I don’t want to give it to charity

I did however give my Spearfish to my mate on an interest free payment scheme with no specific start or end point…. that’s £800, surely giving your mate something is better than a random charity ?

Just because what?

Just because i may need it for something else.

I’m giving my money to someone providing a service… The same way i give it to BT, same as i give it to Thames Water or my mortgage company.

On-one have given me a bike… they’ve given me it and i’ve not paid them… Over the course of the next 2 years i’m paying them £70 for letting me do that… Bargain… i’m more than happy.

I’ve just bought my Whyte T130SX for cash…. Does this make me a better or worse person now ?

I have. Transferred it from a > 0% credit card to a a new 0% credit card.
I could have bought it with savings, and I’d never buy anything on a credit card, even at 0% if I didn’t have enough money somewhere to cover it, if the need arose to pay it all off in one chunk.

It seems cheaper paying for something at e.g. £100 a month, than £2000 all at once.

“Just because i may need it for something else.”

So, you don’t actually have sufficient funds to protect from unforeseen events/circumstances. IE, you can’t actually afford the bike AND have a sufficient security net if anything goes wrong. Great financial acumen. 😕

“surely giving your mate something is better than a random charity ?”

But you’re not actually giving him anything.

“I don’t want to give it to charity”

Why not?

I will if it is 0%, prefer not to pay any interest if I can help it.

So, you don’t actually have sufficient funds to protect from unforeseen events/circumstances. IE, you can’t actually afford the bike AND have a sufficient security net if anything goes wrong. Great financial acumen.

yeah i do.

But you’re not actually giving him anything.

I am, i’m giving him the ability to have my Spearfish now without giving me the money for it.

Why not?

I don’t give to charity.

Not a bike, no.
A dish washer, yes.
Oh, and My Spitfire frame (not a complete bike) – 0% over 2 years

No, pay by card and then pay it off when the bill comes at the end of the month.

Mostly not, although i have used 0% for one bike.
Got it shortly after buying a house and a car, so was a bit tight on cash.
I knew i could afford the monthly outgoings, and didn’t want to miss what was a very good deal.
Would never use finance other than 0% though.

No, I don’t ever intend to either.

Never.

“I am, i’m giving him the ability to have my Spearfish now without giving me the money for it.”

But you’re not. You’re selling it to him. Why not just actually give it to him without any need for repayment? He’s a mate, you have a surplus bike, you can ‘afford’ to, so why not do so?

“I don’t give to charity.”

But why not? There must be a reason why you’d want to help fund some rich ****’s yacht purchase, rather than trying to help others in need?

Nope. I don’t buy anything on credit – except houses.

The use of 0% credit deals does depend on the minority defaulting on their payments, the fact that so few (in percentage terms) do shows just how much money the banks make when they’ve got you by the short and curlies.

I’d possibly consider a 0% deal but I’d make sure I had the funds to cover the purchase beforehand so that those funds could attract what little interest they could.

A works sharesave scheme matured and I went to my mortgage provider to use it to pay off more of the outstanding debt. “Oh!” said the assistant “You’ve a lot of collateral. Do you want to take out a loan?” “No I don’t! Why would I replace a low interest loan with one attracting a higher interest?” There was no answer.

clodhopper – Member

“Key thing is affordability, which is separate to credit.”

If you don’t have the cash to pay for something, you can’t afford it, without someone lending you money. Which is fine, if you suddenly need a new boiler, or your bike gets nicked and you need it to get to work, but for things that aren’t essential? Just stupid, in my opinion. Why not just save up until you can afford something, then buy it? That way, you have no debt, no stress, and no interest payments.

Whilst the situation you’ve described would be quite irresponsible behaviour, its naïve and incorrect to assume that’s what everybody who uses credit is doing.

In my case I do have the money. I’d much rather keep that in my bank account for essential stuff as needed. Sometimes I want a new bike. So if someone else is willing to pay for that, and allow me to pay them back in instalments, interest free, that’s what I’ll do. No stress and improved credit rating.

Given the way I purchase bikes, it also means I can afford a few nicer bits to hang off the bike if I so choose.

Don’t know how old you are, but perhaps attitude to debt is a generational thing. If you’re young and debt stresses you out, you won’t live very long. Just make sensible decisions and manage it properly and credit is a very useful thing to have access to.

No, though I did buy a pair of Pace forks back in the ’90’s with Leisure Lakes cheques spread. 🙂

But I’ve no objection to people buying a bike on credit, even paying interest, if it’s responsibly done- not some 7k enduro wunderbike, but I’d much rather have a bike, on credit, that I could use, if the alternative is to sit around home for six months saving every penny while twiddling my thumbs and avoiding spending that week’s saving on a couple of pints at the pub on Friday night.

Not many things I’d use credit for, but I think a bike if you don’t have one is a pretty decent use of pay later.

Mine have all been via C2W – I seem to do alright with £1k bikes..

I’ll probably spend a bit more the next time I buy a new ‘summer best’ road bike – and would possibly look at 0% if it was an option.

…and no bike

Yup. Just bought my new roadie on a Halifax interest-free credit card. Cut the card up and threw it away and I’ll easily have it paid off in two years from company divvies and selling crap on Ebay.

Daft not to really.

No – I upgrade as I go along, so don’t tend to spend more than £1,300 or so in one go (typically on a HT frame, fork and some bits). I save up and then spend on my bikes; even complete bikes.

Complete bike prices aren’t terribly competitive these days, which I suspect reflects the growth in “0%” finance.

I do wonder how long it will be until we see lease / PCP-type deals on the more expensive bikes, whereby the payment is for time-limited possession (as with cars).

If this place is anything like Pistonheads, then this thread will run and run…!

Pay up front last few times, not bought for a while and looking at the cost of the equivalent models to my Trek Remedy 9 2013 I wont be. Wouldnt turn nose up at interest free but hate to be paying for something two years later.

Lad I worked with always had a loan out and credit card maxed up to the hilt, was shit feared of dying and not having a load of debt thinking hed got one over on the system, wheres the logic in that 😕 , he was only in his 30s, saw him on facebook the other day probably mid 50s now, wonder if hes still running with the same mentality or if he`s increased his debt as the big day gets closer!!

Yes, I have been a frequent user of credit for a various things but no longer.

Now in strict pay it off mode as I don’t expect any fiscal good news for the next few years.

Considering a new HT frame but will be flogging the Spitfire for that.

I decided a few years ago to go for a dream bike now I’m in the last – chance saloon. Saved up the £5k+ and tootled along to my lbs. Established that cash wouldn’t earn discount or extra upgrades so accepted their 0% offer and keep the money in the bank earning almost no interest.

I could have bought any of my bikes outright but I don’t. I use interest free or very low interest credit.

That leaves me a nice sum of money in the bank to buy things/emergencies etc,. where interest free credit is not available. Can’t see any sensible reason why I wouldn’t take advantage of it?

But then it doesn’t stress me out, I don’t see all credit as evil and I live for today.

RE: 0% finance – there are 2 versions we’re talking here:

0% Credit Cards, these are reduced rate deal to entice people into buying on credit – if you get a 2 year deal and pay it off in 2 years, happy days you’ve beaten the system and your credit was free – statistically most people won’t pay it off in 2 years and will in fact borrow more, for longer – the banks make their money from these people and a little bit from the retailer for payment fees.

0% finance deals, with bikes this usually means a fixed term, interest free agreement – you buy a bike, the cost is split over a few years, you pay it back you’ve paid no interest. BUT IT WASN’T FREE interest free deals are, a sales method. Instead of the consumer paying for the credit, the bike shop does – and it inflates the cost of the bike to pay for it – 0% deals are there to entice the exact type of person who “doesn’t do credit” Oh I’ll keep my money in my ISA earning 4% and pay 0% interest – but they paid 10-20% more for the bike that they could have – it’s not always easy to get around this though, LBS are reluctant to offer a better price “for cash” until the sales start, some brands won’t allow them too.

There is no such thing as ‘free money’ someone, somewhere will always have to pay, it’s a lot of smoke and mirrors a lot of the time.

0% at Wheelbase for my last bike. I paid the balance of my latest motorbike with a 0% balance transfer card. From memory it cost me £30 fee for £4000 with up to 30 months 0%.

I bought my house on credit, everything else gets paid for properly.

I have done previously but the last couple of frames I’ve bought I’ve paid by credit card to get the airmiles then paid them off straight away.
I’ve never had an issue with using 0% offers to buy bikes or other things like that but I’ve got to the point that I don’t want or need any new bikes or other expensive stuff so I’ll just save up then by the time I decide to buy something I’ll hopefully have the money for it.

0% finance deals, with bikes this usually means a fixed term, interest free agreement – you buy a bike, the cost is split over a few years, you pay it back you’ve paid no interest. BUT IT WASN’T FREE interest free deals are, a sales method. Instead of the consumer paying for the credit, the bike shop does – and it inflates the cost of the bike to pay for it – 0% deals are there to entice the exact type of person who “doesn’t do credit” Oh I’ll keep my money in my ISA earning 4% and pay 0% interest – but they paid 10-20% more for the bike that they could have – it’s not always easy to get around this though, LBS are reluctant to offer a better price “for cash” until the sales start, some brands won’t allow them too.

Not always true. Recently bought an instrument that is for sale at £329 and is never a penny less than that wherever you go. Bought it on a 10 month interest free arrangement. The shop may have lost out as they are paying the interest but I haven’t lost out as it was impossible to get it any cheaper.
If I could have bought it for say £250 from another shop outright I would have done.

Just need to do some very basic maths to work out which method to use for each purchase – sometimes credit, sometimes not.

All cash apart from C2W

Don’t even like doing credit for cars, keep to an amount I can do cash

Just the house on credit/debt

Or, you could simply save the money, and give that £70 to a charity or other worthy cause, which, if everyone did so, would make society a better place. All you’re actually doing, is making some very rich people, even richer. The same people who won’t give a **** if you fall on hard times, and can’t afford to pay your debts. They’ll happily take your money and watch you go without basic necessities. Why give your money to such people?

That’s not an argument against 0% credit, if anything that’s an argument against consumerism full stop. Which is not what’s being asked here. It’s a valid viewpoint, does anyone really need the stuff they buy

0% finance deals, with bikes this usually means a fixed term, interest free agreement – you buy a bike, the cost is split over a few years, you pay it back you’ve paid no interest. BUT IT WASN’T FREE interest free deals are, a sales method. Instead of the consumer paying for the credit, the bike shop does – and it inflates the cost of the bike to pay for it – 0% deals are there to entice the exact type of person who “doesn’t do credit” Oh I’ll keep my money in my ISA earning 4% and pay 0% interest – but they paid 10-20% more for the bike that they could have – it’s not always easy to get around this though, LBS are reluctant to offer a better price “for cash” until the sales start, some brands won’t allow them too.

If i was given the option of a discounted cash price against a 0% deal – I’d do the maths and see whether the lost interest by eating into my savings pot was more or less than the discount. But as noted, reductions for cash are not as easy to come by nowadays. Best I’ve managed in recent years was some free kit with it, which i then had to hawk on ebay to get some cash back.

Thee’s also the scenario where the 0% deal doesn’t necessarily cost you extra but it’s the difference between shop A and shop B. At the risk of opening the can marked ‘support your LBS’, that offer of a 0% deal vs a savings funded deal on a bigger purchase might be what swings where your order finally goes.

If 0% is available I’ll use it, for instance I’m about to buy a new toy in the region of £2300 (not a bike), I have the money in the bank but I have the option of 0%, then the money I have in the bank is 1) making interest (granted not a lot) 2) available should I need money for something unplanned (house\car repairs etc).

I have used 0% in the past, setting up a schedule at 50% of what I can afford, stashing the rest as a form of PPI and then settling early.

But I may not do that again as I am moving to a no credit model of life.

But I may ignore that as clearly new bikes are the exception…

@deker – that money in your account should be your guarantee against the debt you’ve taken on with the 0% finance/credit not other purchases.

“That’s not an argument against 0% credit, if anything that’s an argument against consumerism full stop. Which is not what’s being asked here.”

Consumerism is fuelled by creating the illusion that people can have things they can’t afford, and selling them stuff they don’t need. Banks offering easy credit is just part of this. Many of the responses on this thread show just how deeply entrenched the consumerist ideal is, in our society. That someone would happily pay money to a bank, rather than help the needy, is indicative of just how rife this ideal is.

“available should I need money for something unplanned (house\car repairs etc).”

Credit should not be an option for poor financial budgeting.

whitestone – Member

@deker – that money in your account should be your guarantee against the debt you’ve taken on with the 0% finance/credit not other purchases.”

It is, but that money in my account goes up every month when my wages go in so isn’t really an issue, in reality I would only need to be able to stand one month of payments (in the event of needing the money and even then in the absolute worst case I can add extra to my credit card), it’s all about doing the maths, there’s no best solution for everyone, I’m pretty good with my finances and have very little debt.

By using the interest free option and making interest on the savings, depending on the rate you get the interest made is actually a discount off the purchase, if you buy outright then you may be worse off.

kerley – Member
Not always true. Recently bought an instrument that is for sale at £329 and is never a penny less than that wherever you go. Bought it on a 10 month interest free arrangement. The shop may have lost out as they are paying the interest but I haven’t lost out as it was impossible to get it any cheaper.
If I could have bought it for say £250 from another shop outright I would have done.

So in this instance if you had the money in the bank, you would actually save money by using the 0% option as the £329 is making interest for you.

Nope. I don’t buy anything on credit – except houses.

Ah, just remembered I bought my Brompton on C2W. Which is a bit like credit.

I do cycle to work every year which helps.
Nothing against finance but I will always try and avoid it.

Isn’t cycle to work just essentially a discounted finance plan though?!

I think i’d always buy on finance. I don’t see the point in putting £50 away each month (for example) to then buy the bike outright when it’s all there (few years later) when you can just put that money to monthly payments and have the bike now at no extra cost?! Saving up seems a bit daft in this context to me.

I got my old one on finance and i’m currently nagging the wife to let me have another 😉

Consumerism is fuelled by creating the illusion that people can have things they can’t afford, and selling them stuff they don’t need. Banks offering easy credit is just part of this. Many of the responses on this thread show just how deeply entrenched the consumerist ideal is, in our society. That someone would happily pay money to a bank, rather than help the needy, is indicative of just how rife this ideal is.

mmm, just a little patronising and condescending