If you are ready and desire to buy a new phone due to an existing dead phone, a lagging phone, even desperate, and various reasons, then you generally have few options to either pay cash one-off, pay monthly with an installment plan, or charge the payment to a credit card.
Paying with installment and credit card is actually paying the same amount in the end. However, the ways of payment can be advantageous for those who need them for various reasons.
In short, it may feel cheaper with an installment monthly payment at a smaller amount or with credit card, but the overall price is the same as the total price, like this you can get a premium smartphone even now with a limited budget.
Therefore, Is it wise to buy phones or gadgets with an installment plan or credit card?
It actually depends on your very own reason on why you need such a specific premium phone or gadget for work, features and many more. However, whether you can pay them in the upcoming month is very important, so make sure you can pay them, else go with option 4.
I need this premium phone with an installment plan, I can pay them off in one go in the following months.
I need this premium phone with an installment plan, I can pay them off confidently next year with a salary raise.
I need this premium phone with an installment plan, I want to buy it with installment and insurance to avoid damaged phones down the road.
You probably think that with a limited budget you should just solve your problem by getting an expensive phone via installment plan. To be honest with you, It can be painful down the road with insufficient funds if you buy more devices via installment plan as debts get piled up, you can be in big trouble by not being able to afford it. Therefore, you should not get an installment plan if you can’t afford it. You should listen to me, think twice or you could regret it.
However, there are a lot of alternative ways to buy flagship premium smartphones without needing to buy them at an expensive price. You can get an older version of a newly excellence quality refurbished phone at a much cheaper price than the new one. Read more about why you should get an excellent new quality refurbished phone now at a very cheap price.
What Are The Types of Installment Plans Available?
If you choose to buy new phones with an installment plan or credit, there are 5 general ways to proceed, which include credit card installment plan, retail financing installment plan, Samsung financing/Apple card, Flexi Payment Personal Financing options without credit card, and carrier service provider financing plan.
Credit card installment plan allows you to buy a phone with zero 0% interest for the longest period of 36 Months. The best part of paying with a credit card allows you to earn rewards, cash back and points, build good credit card points for future credit score, and more.
Flexi Payment is a type of flexible payment options for personal financing for those that do not have a credit card and even for small-medium business solutions to grow. You can enjoy the installment plan for up to 36 months with a fixed price. It is important to calculate the total price of the devices to ensure for yourself whether it is worth it or not. Take note that the price difference can be more expensive than a credit card installment plan with zero interest. Not all smartphone brands offer this kind of payment option, Apple does offer this kind of payment option for iPhone, iPad and MacBook.
3. Local Retail or Online Local E-Commerce financing installment plan
Local retail or online local e-commerce do provide financing installment plans for electronic device purchasing. Therefore buying phones from certain local retailers, eg, Best Buy, allows you to finance unlocked phones at zero 0% interest rate with installment plans using Best Buy’s credit card. The earning reward can be up to 10% when signed up with a new retail card for phone purchases.
4. Smartphone Company Card Installment Plan
There are certain big branded phone companies that come with their own installment plan using their own card, such as Apple Card or Samsung financing.
If you are a loyal iPhone person, utilizing the Apple Card phone financing is a great choice because this card allows you to pay most Apple product purchases over time with monthly installment and even at zero 0% interest. Thanks to the added bonus, you get to enjoy significant 3% daily cash back on Apple product purchases up front that would automatically deposit to your Apple card wallet app. You can apply for an Apple Card with an iPhone wallet app.
Samsung offers the Samsung Financing option, which is a line of credit with 0% APR (no interest) up to 24 months. After 12 months, if you wish to upgrade to a new Samsung phone, with just credit of up to 50% of purchase price, you can trade in with your current phone that is in good condition. Beware of monthly payment must be paid accordingly, else if you missed that, deferred in interest can be applied to the Samsung financing option similar to others as well.
This option has been around for quite a long time, where the bill of phone purchase is bundled with the account you have with your service provider (telco). You pay with a monthly fixed amount of contract you applied for bundling your service provider package with a smartphone as is 0% interest free.
What Options Are Available If You Choose Not To Go With An Installment Plan?
Paying cash is definitely not an option to buy a new phone if you have a limited budget to begin with. Therefore, there are 4 great alternatives to installment plans if you have a limited budget.
A refurbished phone includes a demo phone at retail, or returned phone from customer due to faulty issue or they simply changed their mind. Usually they consider refurbished phone is a lot better than used phone because the parts have been replaced with new one or being conditioned to new. You can buy your premium flagship phone at a slightly lower version of the model at a cheaper price so that you can buy them one-off with cash or with much cheaper installment plan if you like to affordably.
Though this may not sound as glamorous as getting a new phone, but this option is a great way to get a phone at a lot cheaper price than a refurbished phone. You need to check through the used phone to ensure the minor scratch on the screen or body of the phone has no issue for you to buy in. Most of the time, people would go with refurbished phone instead of used phone because the parts such as screen, body or battery can be close to its lifespan, which is different for refurbished phones at near to new condition since it was factory refurbished quality. However, there are websites that sell used phones at a quality aspect of control with returnable at unsatisfactory condition.
There are numerous branded smartphones that are flagship and price at budget range. Xiaomi, Realme, and few more are one of them that packs with good specifications while priced at a reasonable budget. If your requirement does match with the specification phone of other branded phone, just take that option instead of the premium price tag phones.
Saving up money to buy the desired phones or gadget can be the most wise way. With sufficient budget, you can get the desired phone you want easily one-off without any attached plans that you have to worry about every months.
Summary
Installment plan and credit card financing plan can be very addicting, therefore ensure you are aware of your financial plan when buying phones or gadgets to avoid overspend. However, if you decide to go with an installment plan, make sure to go with a zero 0% interest installment plan to avoid an expensive total price of the devices that you purchase. This is wise advice where you can’t find it at other sites, so kindly take this effort to share it out for those who are also in this difficult decision stage if this advice has helped you to make the right decision or at least provided you with alternative options.
