The final payment to own the machine is where they get you. That takes the total price over the normal to-buy price for the machine.
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Best Buy's 'Upgrade+' Program Lets Customers Get a New Mac Laptop Every Three Years With Monthly Financing
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The final payment to own the machine is where they get you. That takes the total price over the normal to-buy price for the machine.
No it doesn't if you should buy it and make the final payment it's for the original price , I don't mind if your not a fan but do a little research before making comments
If you read the rest of the thread you’ll see what I mean. That’s as much as I can be bothered to explain.
This entire topic/thread is from 2022 and now in 2023 we can easily see why it's a bad idea: The payment plans remain based on the old pricing, for the $999 Macbook Air it now says "Based on original price of $999.99" even though it's been available for as low as $749 on sale with $799 having been the regular price for months now.
There are no discounts for the 14" and 16" M2 Pro base models even though these have been discounted through Amazon and other retailers in the past couple weeks.
This is merely supposed to incentivize customers to replace their devices earlier than they need to. And it's no good for enthusiasts either who upgrade every 6 months to 2 years and skip at most one device generation. For them the 3 year period is too long.
It is inflexible too since you need to keep it for the full three years and ownership does not transfer until you make the final payment.
So you are stuck with a device that you do not own and cannot sell even if 2 years down the line you realize you need more performance, or you need the money back. If you sell it and stop paying the installments, Best Buy is entitled to get the device back, so nobody in their right mind will buy it knowing they might lose the device if you stop paying the loan.
Now some users here might claim that it is perfectly fine to sell it which goes to show you shouldn't sign contracts you don't understand especially when you are going into debt.
And finally, finally, conveniently nowhere does Best Buy prominently mention what happens if you can't make your payments. There is no need to check, the answer is always that it gets more expensive. You can get all your devices on a loan and just pay the monthly fee with zero interest, but the moment something unexpected happens and you can't pay these bills just for a single month you're hosed. Payday loans anyone?
There are no discounts for the 14" and 16" M2 Pro base models even though these have been discounted through Amazon and other retailers in the past couple weeks.
This is merely supposed to incentivize customers to replace their devices earlier than they need to. And it's no good for enthusiasts either who upgrade every 6 months to 2 years and skip at most one device generation. For them the 3 year period is too long.
It is inflexible too since you need to keep it for the full three years and ownership does not transfer until you make the final payment.
So you are stuck with a device that you do not own and cannot sell even if 2 years down the line you realize you need more performance, or you need the money back. If you sell it and stop paying the installments, Best Buy is entitled to get the device back, so nobody in their right mind will buy it knowing they might lose the device if you stop paying the loan.
Now some users here might claim that it is perfectly fine to sell it which goes to show you shouldn't sign contracts you don't understand especially when you are going into debt.
And finally, finally, conveniently nowhere does Best Buy prominently mention what happens if you can't make your payments. There is no need to check, the answer is always that it gets more expensive. You can get all your devices on a loan and just pay the monthly fee with zero interest, but the moment something unexpected happens and you can't pay these bills just for a single month you're hosed. Payday loans anyone?
Isn't that the same with anything you buy on credit ? If you want to trade it in you need to keep it but you can make bigger payments and get it paid off faster ... If you read the terms you buy it from best buy who is then paid by citizens pay aka citizens bank you set up auto payments if you want and pay the minimum or more ...and it's not just laptops I purchased the iMac 24" on it .....
You are purchasing it if that's what you want you can set up automatic payments for more than minimum and pay it off anytime you want the only thing that's affected is the upgrade you still have to wait 36 months so if you get the 0% interest pay it off early and keep it ..They are now doing this with Imacs too....
That is true, however if you do pay it off faster the entire "upgrade plus" is off the table. Let's say you wanted the $999 Macbook Air. You could buy it with this Best Buy program and however long it takes you to pay it off the total sum you pay will be $999. The catch is that you could still buy it with a 12 month financing from the same place, Best Buy, and pay $62 monthly and your total sum will only be $750.
So even if you want to buy it on credit anyways, you'd still be paying an entire $250 extra just for that useless "upgrade" option.
Your math is not sound , If you opt to purchase an iMac for 1500 from best buy and use this program you pay 1500 if you want to keep it and you want to upgrade then you pay less minus the final payment If you buy it via a best buy credit card you will pay the same 1500 .I looked at all the options this was not a gimmick or scam , If you just prefer to buy it you can still use this program just make the payments a little higher and keep it ...
Best Buy offers the $999 Macbook Air M1 for $749 currently. You can pay off the $750 with 12 monthly payments of $750/12. The upgrade program loan has a total cost of $999. $999 > $749.
I got my iMac from them it was on sale, I payed $1449. + $93 MA tax total =$1542 which is what I payed ? now I can divide it x36 + final payment or divide 1542 X 36 and just keep it since I don't change out my iMacs every 3 years .. So for me it's a good deal ..I guess it's up to what you plan on doing
You cannot get sales pricing for purchases with the upgrade program. So that's impossible. You either paid the full Apple recommended pricing same as in the Apple Store, or you didn't buy it through the upgrade program. This is precisely my point, that you have to pay the full price and cannot make use of sales.