Poll: Do you buy coins on credit?

RYK

I do not need everyone's personal finances on display here and am happy to keep this anonymous. I personally do not buy coins on credit, but I suspect that a lot of us do ("not that there's anything wrong with it."--gratuitous Seinfeld reference). I can imagine a scenario in which a really special coin came along, and I was light on cash and might be tempted--it would have to be really special. Credit cards, Paypal, dealers, and auction houses all offer credit terms. Do you partake?

Don't worry...my next poll will not be to ask you if you are "master of your domain."

ziggy29

Define "credit." I put coins on my credit card all the time. I always pay it off each month and pocket the airline miles, though. If you mean installment payments for a coin, no -- I haven't done that.

whitehotmorgans

No.

Do you buy Morgans?

RYK

Define "credit." I put coins on my credit card all the time.

I mean revolving credit, where you pay interest on your purchases. I do not mean charging the purchase and paying off the purchase when the bill comes. I am trying to get an idea of we here are contributing to a coin bubble, akin to the widely accepted "housing bubble."

Lakesammman

Bad idea, in general, but I do have a LOC for that special coin....

LincolnCentMan

I do, but I never pay intrest. Most commonly, I put coins on the credit card. I get a 1% kickback on it and I pay the bill off every month. I have made large purchases a couple of times on the credit card, and then done a balance transfer to 0% for a year with no trasnfer fee. I have yet, in my thirty years, to pay a cent to a credit card company in intrest. I have put a couple of coins on lay-a-way in the past. I always strive to pay them off as soon as I'm able to muster the money. Even though they're set up as 3 month deals, I usually get them paid off within a month or month-and-a-half. Most reciently, I bought a coin using ebay's line of credit. I have a good sum of money coming to me in January. The line of credit is for no payments/no intrest as long as it's paid off by January.

So I use credit as long as it doesnt cost me anything.

David

ziggy29

<< <i>I mean revolving credit, where you pay interest on your purchases. I do not mean charging the purchase and paying off the purchase when the bill comes. I am trying to get an idea of we here are contributing to a coin bubble, akin to the widely accepted "housing bubble." >>

Okay. Voting "no," then.

BAJJERFAN

I voted rarely; but I can't ever recall having purchased a coin on credit.

LincolnCentMan

...akin to the widely accepted "housing bubble."

My house is the best thing I've ever bought. It's worth every dime (to me) even if the bubble pops and sinks to the bottom of the tub.

David

RYK

I voted rarely; but I can't ever recall having purchased a coin on credit.

That's a "no" in my book. Can you sign on with your alt id and take the poll again, please?

Longacre

No to each poll question

RYK

No to each poll question

moosesr

I almost always do, but I never pay intrest. I put coins on my credit card and earn points and I pay the bill off every month.

Charlie

K6AZ

I've made a few large purchases and paid interest for a couple of months in the past. These days, I will not buy anything I can't pay off when the bill comes.

Coin Finder

Sometimes it is needed to reach out for that coin that may not come around for awhile and when it does it may be more....or less.

Tbig

Numismanic

Much too often.

my3cents

it's a hobby. I don't do hobbys (ies?) on credit.

mrearlygold

I probably finance 10-15% of my sales on a short term basis ( 1-3 months) and every now and then I accept longer terms on a blockbuster coin.


Tom

MrEureka

I'll happily use my credit lines to buy things for my collection and I happily extend credit when selling coins. Why wouldn't I? As a collector, I can't possibly expect the right coins to become available at exactly at the times when I am flush. Why should I expect my customers to be any different?

On the other hand, since the purpose of the thread is "trying to get an idea of (whether) we here are contributing to a coin bubble", I can say that my personal credit use has decreased over the past few years, and the amount of credit I have extended to others has not increased as a percentage of my sales volume.

monsterman

i do all the time...in fact i carry a loc with a hefty balance....but i do with coins that i think will go up faster than the interest costs me...my loc is a ny prime..and its costing more nowadays

monsterman

Outhaul

Nope, never...totally bad Idea. But then again, I don't use credit cards at all.

Cheers,

Bob

Oh, yeah...and I'm King of the county...

Elcontador

If I can't either pay cash, write a check, or charge a coin purchase and pay it off in full when the bill comes due, I can't afford the coin, so in that case, I don't buy it.

jshawaii

I'm with Eagle Eye.... On e-bay I only use PayPal and only with buyers that take Credit Cards and I love my United MILES!!!! But I pay it off evey month.... interest on this type of purchase sucks!!!

Big John

greghansen

Nope, never, no way. Havn't even THOUGHT about doing it. I admit to being a bit 'debt shy' but I'm not a crusader about it. I use credit cards as 'convenience cards' and generally always pay for my auction lots in that manner since it builds reward points. Card balances get paid each month as due. When I get one of those bills with a hefty balance, it shocks me back to my senses and I cut it out for awhile.

BAJJERFAN

<< <i>When I get one of those bills with a hefty balance, it shocks me back to my senses and I cut it out for awhile. >>



You got that right Greg
Kind of like a nasty hangover.

nwcs

I do put some on credit card. But since I pay my credit card balance every month it's more a convenience measure for me.

nwcs

Ahh, now that I read your definition I have to change mine to never. I would never pay interest on credit to buy a coin.

INXS

<< <i>Define "credit." I put coins on my credit card all the time. I always pay it off each month and pocket the airline miles, though. If you mean installment payments for a coin, no -- I haven't done that. >>

RYK

Lots of responses and the results have been pretty consistent since last night. About half never buy coins on credit, and about half occasionally or often finance their purchases.

I personally would not change my M.O. (not money order ). I must confess that I will occasionally borrow from myself. That is, I will take funds from a supposedly untouchable account to make a purchase and pay it back as soon as possible. I also try not to blow the wad completely because you never know when you will be offered that "must-have" coin.

DeepCoin

Like the others, I will use a credit card to make occasional purchases, but rarely will take an extra month to pay the balance back to zero. I do use my debit card 95% of the time for purchases.

Barry

<< <i>I do put some on credit card. But since I pay my credit card balance every month it's more a convenience measure for me. >>


Same here. Also adds to my mileage totals. Nice to get a free flight every once in a while from a coin purchase

Nysoto

Never. I do not have a credit card, just a bank debit card, paid my house off when I was 35.

When you have a family, you should never go into debt to finance your hobby.

RYK

When you have a family, you should never go into debt to finance your hobby.

I would take that one step further. You should never put your family in financial peril to support your hobby.

Shamika

If I don't have the money, I never buy the coin. Personally, I'm terrified that if I ever "crossed that line", I'd never return.

mgoodm3

No, I don't run a balance.

boiler78

Where does one go to get a line of credit for coin purchases? Just in case. My answer to your poll question is no not yet.

pharmer

Nope, just what I have cash for. Never use my credit cards for anything, sometimes use my debit card. House paid for, no credit card purchases, credit rating probably stinks.

IrishMike

I've lost count of the number or mortgages I have refinanced over the years due to credit card debt ranging from $30K to $170K. A friend of mine came to me once, a lady realtor with over $85K in credit card debt from excursions to Lake Michigan to play the slot machines. So she had no asset whatsoever to show for the debt. I suppose with coins you can offset some of the debt. 80% of the population has experience a credit hiccup at one time or another mostly due to job loss, divorce, alcohol and or drugs or a combination of those.

RYK

I've lost count of the number or mortgages I have refinanced over the years due to credit card debt ranging from $30K to $170K.

Mike, I take that do mean in your business, not personally. When I first read it, I thought that meant you personally.

A follow-up question, which might be worthy of a poll, is to ask those that replied "no" if they can imagine a scenario in which they might tap a credit source to make a coin purchase.

It would also be nice to hear some credit horror stories from dealers, if they have any.

tmot99

My dealer offers a no interest lay-away. If there is a really nice coin that he has that I just don't have the money for, I can put it on lay-away and make weekly payments.

cohodk

When I was a broker I had people asking all the time if they could buy stocks with their credit. They figured they could make 40% on the stock so it would justify paying 15% on their credit card. It was the ULTIMATE sign of a market to.