Wal-Mart Ending Its Layaway Program

[kddani]

I don't know. I was raised to not buy things you can't pay for. Hence why i'm not in credit card debt like many people.

Layaway charges a fee. During the time your stuff is on layaway, there's a good chance that it will get marked down out on the floor.At least when I worked at TJ Maxx in HS, we would not mark down your stuff. Doesn't seem real economical.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by kddani

Layaway charges a fee. During the time your stuff is on layaway, there's a good chance that it will get marked down out on the floor.At least when I worked at TJ Maxx in HS, we would not mark down your stuff. Doesn't seem real economical.

Layaway at Walmart is free, and if it gets marked down, they give you the discount.

[kddani]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

Layaway at Walmart is free, and if it gets marked down, they give you the discount.

Obviously i've never done layaway at Walmart.

But knowing that, sounds like a business decision. Layaway costs money to staff and storage space and packaging for all that stuff.

[blueangel]

Originally Posted by kddani

I don't know. I was raised to not buy things you can't pay for. Hence why i'm not in credit card debt like many people.

Layaway charges a fee. During the time your stuff is on layaway, there's a good chance that it will get marked down out on the floor.At least when I worked at TJ Maxx in HS, we would not mark down your stuff. Doesn't seem real economical.

Exactly. I am, however, a big fan of credit cards-- IF you pay them off each month. I like the float. And.. Discover Card Platinum has zero fees (if you don't carry a balance)-- plus you get some really good cash back deals. You can even get gift cards instead-- some of them will even double your cash back. With partners like Crabtree and Evelyn, The Gap, etc.. it's a great deal. They even have a special Gas credit card (you can have more than one type of Discover Card free), you get 5% back on gasoline and car repairs. There's a milage card, and a student card. https://www.discovercard.com/cardmem...a-card/compare
But, I only recommend this IF you are disciplined and IF you don't carry a balance.

Back to Walmart... Not being a Wal-mart customer, (there are none near me) I don't know much about the store personally, however.. I just did a story on this very subject yesterday.

The bottom line: All is not lost for those of you who shop at Wal-mart. Some of the hot shots in the company say they're working on some alternatives. And-- right now-- if If you're a current Wal-mart credit card customer, there apparently is zero interest offers for six and twelve months.

[ASUADPi]

I see both sides of the arguement but let me say my 2 cents...the Walmart I live near and go to the most often, I'll notice during the holiday season that families are putting like two shopping carts full of stuff on layaway. I mean, to me if you're putting stuff on layaway you don't have the money for it at that moment in time, I'm wondering if they'll have the money 30 days later. And I'm not talking two carts full, I'm talking crammed full of crap, every possible space used and brimming over.

I mean to me it's "keeping up with the Jones". I have to wonder, how much of that merchandise isn't even bought in the end? That is being held in layaway, so therefore no one else can purchase it.

That's the downside, Walmart can't sell the items until the 30 days are up and either all the items are paid for or not.

I'm not sure I'm making any sense right now.

[33girl]

A lot of people put things on layaway because:

1) If you wait for it to get reduced it ends up being gone and your daughter throws a fit because she didn't get the Bratz Lil' Hobags Playhouse;

2) People receive Christmas bonuses.

This is an extremely bad PR move for Walmart. They've got enough money to pay the staff and deal with the storage issues. This is going to make them look like they don't care about the people who use layaway.

[AlphaFrog]

I know a huge portion of that is what Walmart calls "Blitz Day" - which is the day after Thanksgiving, where you can get 1000" Plasma TV for 69.95, and so people load up on deals at 4:30am and put them all on layaway so they'll still be there when they actually have the $$ for them.

Oh, and I just thought of another one: I put a crib on layaway because it was the last one they had, and it wouldn't fit into my Chevy Aveo...so I put it on layaway, and paid for 90% of it, and my dad came back the next day with his truck and picked it up. Not a compelling reason to keep Layaway alive, but a semi-amusing story.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by 33girl

A lot of people put things on layaway because:

1) If you wait for it to get reduced it ends up being gone and your daughter throws a fit because she didn't get the Bratz Lil' Hobags Playhouse;

2) People receive Christmas bonuses.

This is an extremely bad PR move for Walmart. They've got enough money to pay the staff and deal with the storage issues. This is going to make them look like they don't care about the people who use layaway.

It may be a bad PR move for Walmart, but it's probably a ridiculously good business move - shifting all of these transactions to some sort of 'zero-interest/6 mo' deal on a Walmart CC will keep the same low-end buyers, eliminate overhead and allow the low-end buyer to hang themselves over the altar of bad spending habits when they inevitably run through the no-interest period.

It's exactly the same deal that turned Capital One into a juggernaut - there's no reason for Walmart not to utilize the same model, they certainly have the ability.

[jhujenn]

K-Mart still has layaway kids, so things may start to look up for them at least around here.

[Kevin]

K-Mart left my state.