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The Biz Beat

Layaway plans revived in tough times

9:27 am November 3, 2009, by Henry Unger

Today’s tough times have prompted retailers to dust off layaway plans for the holidays.

Different from credit-card purchases, consumers are not charged interest, but can’t take the item home until it is paid off, the Better Business Bureau says.

When purchasing items on layaway, the buyer must typically make a down payment of 10 to 20 percent and pay any service or plan fees for the store to hold the item, BBB says.

The consumer then has typically 30 to 90 days to make periodic payments to pay off the balance. Once it is paid off, the customer can take the items home.

BBB says it’s important to get everything in writing and ask the following questions:

  • How much time do I have to pay off the item?
  • When are the payments due?
  • How much do I have to put down?
  • Are there any storage or service plan fees?
  • What happens if I miss a payment? Are there penalties? Does the item return to inventory?
  • Can I get a refund or store credit if I no longer want the item after making a few payments?
  • What happens if the item goes on sale after I’ve put it on layaway?
  • Print

14 comments Add your comment

Debby

November 3rd, 2009
10:39 am

I used to do this all the time when the kids were younger and had lots of wants and wishes for toys. I can see where it must be a nightmare for the stores though. I remember Walmart having a tent set up outside when it was time for people to pick up their lay-a-ways, and people waiting in line forever. UGH–glad I don’t have to do that anymore.

mitzymy

November 3rd, 2009
10:43 am

I am glad that the age old practice of layaway is reinstituted. It will help a lot of families have a nice Christmas for their children. Most of todays young families don’t remember when it was a practice, since it stopped long ago when the economy was doing well, and everyone who wanted to work, had a job. Of course there were times when customers would not pick up their merchandise after it had been on hold for months, and the store lost a little money. I am sure that will not happen this time.

clyde

November 3rd, 2009
11:22 am

This is a practice that I’ve never tried.There are too many ways for a consumer to get shafted here.Do this if you must,but be prepared to be disappointed.I’ve seen the long layaway lines and they have to be degrading,to say the least.Long lines to pay.Long lines to pick up.Long lines to find out what happened to your layaway that is supposed to be paid for but just can’t be found.This is a high stress practice.

jct

November 3rd, 2009
12:27 pm

Love the concept. Glad to see it back. This is how I bought all my school clothes in the 80s. Pick the clothes in June and had to the end of August to pay for them. Lay away teaches responsibility and consequence. You don’t get your stuff if you don’t pay.

Barbara

November 3rd, 2009
12:46 pm

I’m so sorry that Walmart doesn’t do layaway anymore I rather go there to buy, but now it is K-mart. I believed Walmart is losing a lot of money.

SouthFultonMom

November 3rd, 2009
1:19 pm

I have always done layaway. Marshall’s is one of my favorite spots for my clothing. Name brand clothes that they want at discount prices. I used to do Wal-mart for my daughter when Mary Kate and Ashley were popular. I was sad to see it end but happy it was still going on when I needed it. Now, I’m doing Kmart for holiday gifts. I just wish there stores stayed stocked better. A lot of items were already out of stock when I went in two weeks ago to do my layaway.

Anita Mao Dunn

November 3rd, 2009
2:05 pm

The $787 billion stimulus bill was passed in February and was promised as a job saver and economy booster. Here is where some of the money went:

- $300,000 for a GPS-equipped helicopter to hunt for radioactive rabbit droppings at the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state.
- $30 million for a spring training baseball complex for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies.
- $11 million for Microsoft to build a bridge connecting its two headquarter campuses in Redmond, Wash., which are separated by a highway.
- $430,000 to repair a bridge in Iowa County, Wis., that carries 10 or fewer cars per day.
- $800,000 for the John Murtha Airport in Johnstown, Pa., serving about 20 passengers per day, to build a backup runway.
- $219,000 for Syracuse University to study the sex lives of freshmen women.
- $2.3 million for the U.S. Forest Service to rear large numbers of arthropods, including the Asian longhorned beetle, the nun moth and the woolly adelgid.
- $3.4 million for a 13-foot tunnel for turtles and other wildlife attempting to cross U.S. 27 in Lake Jackson, Fla.
- $1.15 million to install a guardrail for a persistently dry lake bed in Guymon, Okla.
- $9.38 million to renovate a century-old train depot in Lancaster County, Pa., that has not been used for three decades.
- $2.5 million in stimulus checks sent to the deceased.
- $6 million for a snow-making facility in Duluth, Minn.
- $173,834 to weatherize eight pickup trucks in Madison County, Ill.
- $20,000 for a fish sperm freezer at the Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery in South Dakota.
- $380,000 to spay and neuter pets in Wichita, Kan.
- $300 apiece for thousands of signs at road construction sites across the country announcing that the projects are funded by stimulus money.
- $1.5 million for a fence to block would-be jumpers from leaping off the All-American Bridge in Akron, Ohio.
- $1 million to study the health effects of environmentally friendly public housing on 300 people in Chicago.
- $356,000 for Indiana University to study childhood comprehension of foreign accents compared with native speech.
- $983,952 for street beautification in Ann Arbor, Mich., including decorative lighting, trees, benches and bike paths.
- $148,438 for Washington State University to analyze the use of marijuana in conjunction with medications like morphine.
- $462,000 to purchase 22 concrete toilets for use in the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri
- $3.1 million to transform a canal barge into a floating museum that will travel the Erie Canal in New York state.
- $1.3 million on government arts jobs in Maine, including $30,000 for basket makers, $20,000 for storytelling and $12,500 for a music festival.
- $71,000 for a hybrid car to be used by student drivers in Colchester, Vt., as well as a plug-in hybrid for town workers decked out with a sign touting the vehicle’s energy efficiency.
- $1 million for Portland, Ore., to replace 100 aging bike lockers and build a garage that would house 250 bicycles.

Sources: News reports, Office of the Senate Minority Leader, Office of Sen. Tom Coburn

Maybe our leaders in Washington, DC need to think about Layaway for some of their shopping this season.

joe

November 3rd, 2009
2:09 pm

Hey Anita: quit your b!tchin’ and offer a better solution. Typical Republican.

Fred

November 3rd, 2009
2:26 pm

“$219,000 for Syracuse University to study the sex lives of freshmen women.”

Let’s not get too harsh. Maybe for once our government is allocating funds in the right direction.

Anita Mao Dunn

November 3rd, 2009
2:45 pm

Hey Joe… Where you going with that gun in your hand?

I’m going out to shoot anybody who disagrees with me…….

Typical Democrat…. Excuse waste, blame others instead of doing a self examination, ridicule those with a different opinion, attack those who disagree with your version of the truth, and above all ….. Never, never, never cut a government program.

Obama walks on water don’tcha know? Mmm, mmm, mmm.

DH

November 3rd, 2009
2:46 pm

I agree with Joe. If Anita can take the time to find the problems, maybe she can take some time and help find solutions, instead of complaining, which by the way, gets you nowhere.

Becky

November 3rd, 2009
3:18 pm

1.5 million for a fence to block would be jumpers..In my opinion, if they want to jump, let them jump..

A.S.Mathew

November 4th, 2009
6:04 am

The economic meltdown is an excellent lesson to save money. Lay away
is a great idea, we get the things and paid off. No more bills from
the credit card companies with 24% or 36% interest. In the long run,
the U.S. consumers are going to save billions of dollarsP: those
dollars we threw away as high interests to the banks.

Nativeson71

November 4th, 2009
8:12 am

I remeber my mother putting a winter coat on lay-a-way at Kmart for my sister.
Lay-a-way is an old practive that predates rampant consumer debt / credit cards.
It did not mean you were poor – it was just a way to buy things.
Then, consumer credit cards replaced lay-a-way…now everyone is poor.