It's a Layaway Time of Year

Author: Derron

  It’s that time of year again when people start looking for deals and ways to save money around shopping and the Christmas holiday.  One of this year’s returning features to many national chain stores is the Layaway option.  For a certain fee, stores allow the consumer to place their merchandise on Layaway, or a “hold”, until the full price of the purchase is paid.   Each store has its own set of guidelines that have to be followed when making a layaway purchase.  Guidelines can be anything from 10% down to a service charge to paying off the purchase in a certain time frame.  These fees can be costly if you are not careful but most believe the layaway option at store’s are an excellent way to save some money when holiday shopping.  Here is a list of a few of the bigger stores that offer layaway and some of the details related to layaway.

1.       Walmart-This layaway lasts from September 16^th through December 14^th.  December 14^th is the last day you can pick up and complete payment on your purchase.  There is a 10% or $10 dollar initial down payment (whichever is greater) and there is a $50 dollar minimum amount for the total purchase of the layaway.  There is a $5 dollar initial open fee that is refundable as a gift card at the time of full layaway payment.  If you choose to cancel your layaway, your down payment and any payments made will be fully refunded; however, the $5 open fee will not be refunded.

2.       K Mart-This layaway runs in weeks and is considered a contract.  There are 8 and 12 week options for the layaway at K Mart, with the 12 week option for purchases over $300.  There is a $5 dollar initial service fee for the 8 week layaway and $10 service for the 12 week layaway.  Both require payments made at least once every 2 weeks, which completes the full payment in either 8 or 12 weeks.  Your initial down payment with K Mart is $15 or 10%, whichever is greater.  There is a cancellation fee if you choose not to complete your purchase.

3.       Sears-Theirs is similar to K mart in the fact that they do 8 and 12 week layaway options.  The main difference is there is a % dollar initial service fee for all new layaways and $20 or 20% initial down payment, whichever is greater.  The 12 week layaway option is for purchases of $400 or more.  There is also a $15 cancellation fee with Sears.

     All of the stores listed above also offer layaway online.  Some of the other stores that have offered layaway in the past and still offer it at some locations include Toys R Us, Best Buy, Babies R Us, Kohl’s, TJ Maxx, Marshalls and Hallmark.  There are more options out there for Layaway and these are just a few but if you want to try to save some money and make payments over a given period of time, layaway may be the best option.