Klarinet Archive - Posting 000617.txt from 1998/09
From: "Kevin Fay (LCA)" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Buying Clarinets on Time
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 11:46:16 -0400
Rent to own is a great plan for a beginner who may or may not buy the
instrument. For artist level instruments--where the purchaser KNOWS that
they will buy and keep the horn--it's not so good from an economic
perspective. The typical plan calls for the buyer to pay the full retail
price, which if recast as street price + interest @-----.
Economically, you're not renting the horn, you're renting the store's money
to buy the horn--and the store will charge a much higher rate of interest
than a bank.
Now I'm not, not, not saying this is unfair. When I was 18, I bought my
first A in precisely this manner. Roy Kennelly here in Seattle rented me
the horn/loaned me the money when a bank would have laughed at me. Mr. K
knew me, knew my teacher and knew that I would rather die than have to give
the horn back, so gladly let me buy that way. The fact that he made a
profit off me doesn't bother me a bit. (Note that his profit wasn't that
big, either--not the rate of interest, but only the difference between the
rate I paid him and the rate he had to pay his bank).
The bottom line is that it's cheaper for you to borrow the money from a bank
or other financial institution and pay the street price. It's often better
for the retailer, too, because he or she won't have to borrow the money
while selling to you--reducing their profit. They can even stock another
horn that they can sell to the next person.
kjf
-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Hausmann [mailto:bhausman@-----.com]
Subject: Re: [kl] Crack warranty
At 06:37 PM 9/16/98 EDT, Kaylen Walters wrote:
>What does everyone think about Schmidt Music's rental plan? I am using it
>right now, and think that it's a good deal ( you pay a certain amount every
>month and then when the amount of rent equals the retail price then it's
yours
>to keep), but I wanted to hear some other opinions.
>
Just for your information, our company does it in a similar fashion. Our
rentals are on a 36 month rent-to-own contract. We take the retail price
of the particular instrument (lowered if a previously rented one) plus tax,
add a monthly maintenance fee which includes all repairs and even
replacement in case of theft or fire (for clarinets $3.00/month for student
instruments, or $108.00), divide that by 36 and that is your monthly
payment. Make your 36 payments and the instrument is yours. There is NO
interest charged. You can quit at any time by just returning the
instrument, assuming your payments were current. I think it is a very fair
arrangement. An almost identical program is available for intermediate and
pro instruments.
Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
Essexville, MI 48732 http://members.wbs.net/homepages/z/o/o/zoot14.html
ICQ UIN 4862265
If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.
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