Heritage -- Layaway with interest???
DMWJR
Posts: 6,008 ✭✭✭✭✭
Maybe I don't know so much, but this was surprising to me. I buy some coins from Heritage, and have been satisfied with the coins and the service. So don't take this as a heavy bashing.
Is this common practice to charge interest on a layaway item that you don't even get yet??? I can't figure out what the interest is for since you don't have your money and you don't have the coin. Further, why would they say "almost anyone can qualify" when they don't let the coin go until they have the money? Who would NOT qualify under a scenario like that?
Here is the relevant portion of the e-mail I got about it. I'm sure many of you got the same one.
6 Month 6% June Layaway Special Heritage is proud to offer a special LOW
INTEREST Extended Payment Plan (EPP) on any inventory invoice totaling $2,
000 or more during the month of June. The premise is quite simple and
almost anyone can qualify for this program. (Available only for purchases
from Heritage Rare Coin Galleries and not for auction purchases from
Heritage Numismatic Auctions.)
* Minimum $2,000 per invoice.
* Minimum down payment is 20%.
* You may take up to 6 months to pay the balance (monthly payments of at
least 1/6th of invoice total).
* Interest is calculated at only 1/2% per month (6% annually) on the
unpaid balance, and must be kept current.
* There is no penalty for paying off early.
Is this common practice to charge interest on a layaway item that you don't even get yet??? I can't figure out what the interest is for since you don't have your money and you don't have the coin. Further, why would they say "almost anyone can qualify" when they don't let the coin go until they have the money? Who would NOT qualify under a scenario like that?
Here is the relevant portion of the e-mail I got about it. I'm sure many of you got the same one.
6 Month 6% June Layaway Special Heritage is proud to offer a special LOW
INTEREST Extended Payment Plan (EPP) on any inventory invoice totaling $2,
000 or more during the month of June. The premise is quite simple and
almost anyone can qualify for this program. (Available only for purchases
from Heritage Rare Coin Galleries and not for auction purchases from
Heritage Numismatic Auctions.)
* Minimum $2,000 per invoice.
* Minimum down payment is 20%.
* You may take up to 6 months to pay the balance (monthly payments of at
least 1/6th of invoice total).
* Interest is calculated at only 1/2% per month (6% annually) on the
unpaid balance, and must be kept current.
* There is no penalty for paying off early.
Doug
0
Comments
This is their best idea since charging some outrageous fee for returning auction coins with bad pics and adding 15% to their Exclusively Internet auctions which is mainly their unsold inventory anyway. LOLOLOLOL
Dragon
I too received that E-mail and had to laugh.Heritage makes some poor decisions.
Registry 1909-1958 Proof Lincolns
Rich
Heritage is slowly starting to price themselves out of bus. (IMO)
...and there is only one coin I would ever concider paying interest on, a 56 flying eagle. It's a coin I've always wanted, and rarely can afford. If I ever complete a full set of cents 1793-date, I might would concider financing a nice no problem 56 eagle. A more likely senerio, however, would be me saving up to buy one.
David
Sean
It is the little things that help make any sales-geared business successful imho.
They should take a lesson from Mitch in the way he has set up his business to deal with his customers its real simple honest and fair,
by the way Mitch when are you going to change that POR, on your site?
"Because I can"
myurl The Franklin All Old Green Holder Set
"Because I can"
myurl The Franklin All Old Green Holder Set
The guy I dealt with was very nice, answered all my specific questions about the coin before I committed to it, and offered to hold the coin several weeks instead of the layaway route. I went layaway because I knew that it might take some time to get the cash for the coin. Overall though, my experience was postive.
Funny how perception is 90% reality.
Buyer's Fee on Internet Auctions: Why charge a buyer's fee if the coins are already in their inventory? Just like other auctions with a buyer's fee, I figure what I will pay and then back the fee off of it for my bid. It certainly isn't a good marketing strategy by Heritage. I am going to bid a certain amount for a coin whether there is a fee or not. What I BID depends on whether a fee is charged or not. Personally, I liked their auctions with no buyer's fee. I can tell you that they are not making anymore money selling me coins with a buyer's fee.
90 day layaway with interest: It's just too much! By locking in a purchase price with 10-20% down, they have avoided short term market volatility. Most of the time when I tell a dealer that I would like a coin but "will have to wait until next month to pay for it," they offer a layaway with no interest.
Something else that makes me suspicious: A lot of the time when I have bid in one of their auctions, I get the coin at the very top of my bid. I don't know whether they can see my bids if I bid well before the auction ends or not. In the last auction, I bid $100 on a $20 coin just to see what would happen. I got it at $25, so it acutally made me feel a little better, although $25 was top price for the coin.
They need a marketing makeover. I'm not saying they are sharks, but you certainly do smell them in the water. It just makes me extra careful when I look at a coin that they have offered.
First, I have bought several coins from Heritage and have been reasonably satisfied. Have had no problems returning things I didn't like.
I don't buy things on lay away. If I don't have the cash I usually don't buy it. However, I don't think their policy is totally absurd. Assume they could sell the coin away from you. By holding it for you they lose the use of the money they could have sold it for. Plus they risk you walking away from your down payment if the coin drops in value. 6% interest does seem high, but some interest seems reasonably. Do they charge interest on the paid amount or just the unpaid balance? It should just be on the balance. Basically, they want to sell coins outright. Lay away is an accomodation. If it doesn't make economic sense to you, then don't buy it that way.
Concerning Mitch's comments, I absolutely agree that customer service is what coin dealing is about. I buy over 1/2 my coins from a dealer who offers me the following customer services:
1. Free overnight shipping on all orders regardless of amount.
2. If I reject the coin, I ship it back for free from my office using the dealer's insurred Fed Ex Account.
3. Receive all coins on approval. I don't pay until I see and approve the coins.
4. Up to a month to pay for large purchases with no interest. If I need more than a month, dealer offers reasonable financing terms, and I keep the coins in the meantime.
4. I maintain a want list with this dealer and actually get regular calls when they get something on my list or find what I need.
5. The dealer knows my standards and does not send me over described junk. Sometimes I will see a coin on the website, and call to order it. Sometimes I am told that the coin is not up to my standards and that I shouldn't buy it.
6. Coins are always priced at or below those offered by other dealers.
7. Will always, always, always, take my lower grade trade ins at fair value (usually 10% to 20% under retail). Will always buy other things I want to sell even if I am not buying.
That's way I buy about 2/3rds of my coins from this dealer (duh!) and about 2% from Heritage.
PM me if you would like to know who this dealer is, though I am sure there are other equally good dealers.
Greg
Greg
sales background is catalog, newspaper, or telephone sales
STILL don't fathom the impact on internet selling! More people
IMHO are actively buying and selling than ever before; it
is easier to find people who want coins, so BE THEIR FRIENDS!!!
It's win-win all the way around.
If you want a high-end coin (these are for coins over $2K as I recall), what's wrong with the holder of the coin asking you for a fee to keep it for you? sort of like a lease-option on a house or a stock option --- you pay money for the right to future transaction.
And yes, I agree with Greg, there are dealers who, if you buy regularly from them, will make the kind of accomodations he indicated---I've certainly been very happy with the willingness of a couple of dealers on this board to work with me, hold coins, accept returns (which I have never had to take them up on, because the coins were always at least as advertised), etc.--but if it is Heritage who has the coin you want, your options are limited.
Pete
Dennis
Looking for PCGS AU58 Washington's, 32-63.