re: 0% interest question

quote:

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I can tell you that I can go into Sears right now and buy a TV one of two ways:

1) $xxx in cash.

2) $xxx at 0% on my Sears card.

There is no discount there for how you pay. They are banking on you not paying it off on time.

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Couple things. First of all, you don't have a Sears Card, you have a Citibank card that has the Sears Logo on it. So Sears is not giving you 20% off for getting a new credit card with them, Citibank is. Sears will get the 20% back from Citibank. And if you think chasing credit card company brownie points is a smart way to build wealth, you're crazy. You may get 0% at Sears, but you'll get like 24% anywhere else you use that card.

Secondly, stores like Sears, Best Buy, HH Gregg Home Depot, etc; Do not have huge profit margins on their products. The majority of the profit comes from volume, extended warranties, and getting people to finance a purchase. So you're not gonna have much room to negotiate price with those types of stores, unless you buy something that's old and on clearance. I don't shop at those stores usually because I don't like to pay retail.

Jewelery stores, Furniture stores, high end clothing stores all have HUGE margins, 50% or more. So you have room to negotiate, and a stack of $100 bills is a powerful tool to take to a negotiation, much more powerful than a credit card.