Prime Day is approaching, and Amazon has a helpful payment option called Amazon Layaway that allows customers to reserve their desired items by paying a portion upfront and the rest through a payment plan. It enables customers to make partial payments towards a purchase and reserve the item until it’s fully paid off. It offers a convenient solution for those looking to make larger purchases or those waiting for their payday before paying in full.
When using Amazon Layaway, the total price of the item is divided into five payments, excluding tax and shipping. Initially, a 20% upfront payment is required, followed by four additional 20% payments on scheduled dates assigned by Amazon. Payments are due every two weeks over an eight-week period, with taxes and shipping costs included in the final payment. Once the first payment is made, Amazon reserves the item until it’s fully paid off.
Upon completion of the payment plan, Amazon will ship the item to the customer. It’s important to note that interest is not charged during the layaway period, as this is not a financing option. If a payment is missed, Amazon will cancel the layaway plan and refund all the money paid up to that point. The good news is that no fees are charged for overdue or canceled Layaway plans. However, it’s worth mentioning that having an overdue plan will prevent starting a new Layaway plan until it’s resolved.
It is important to note that Amazon Layaway is quite unlike other buy-now-pay-later schemes including Amazon’s Affirm payment plan. For one, there are no additional fees included with Layaway. Rather, you only pay the actual product price, shipping costs, and taxes. In contrast, Affirm allows you to buy now and pay later, but it involves a credit approval process and almost always includes interest charges. Missing payments with Affirm can potentially harm your credit score.
However, the one advantage with Affirm is that the product gets shipped right after you make a purchase while with Layaway, it gets shipped only after you have cleared all your dues. You also have the option to clear all your dues at once if you so want. That said, Amazon Layaway is not available for all products or in all states, eligible items are clearly marked with a “Reserve with Layaway” tag. It is important to check for this tag before proceeding with the layaway option.
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.
