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Bad Credit Won’t Hold You Back from Getting the Music Equipment You Need
Looking to get music equipment with no credit check? There are lots of options out there for you, even if you have bad credit, but, in my opinion, not all of these are equal. Let’s dive deep into the fascinating world of no credit check financing options and see which of them come out on top.
How I Found Myself Looking for Financing with No Credit Check
Confession – back some time ago, I had somewhat bad credit. Ok, it was really gawd-awful. I wanted to buy a digital piano, but I was young then and not basking in the huge piles of gold that I have now, so I didn’t have the financial means to go out and buy the $2000 digital piano I desperately wanted. As a music major, I felt like my life was totally incomplete without the ability to make music – yet at the same time, I was kind of disgusted with the idea of buying cheap crap that would sound so bad that I’d probably smile smile when it inevitably broke down from being so poorly made.
I Spent Weeks Researching the Best Payment Option to Fit My Needs
After a lot of frustrating Google searches for super-low-budget music equipment and listening to audio samples that made me cringe, I eventually came up with the idea of looking for some kind of financing options for people with bad credit that were available with no credit check so I could get what I really needed on payment terms that worked for me. I just couldn’t resolve the idea of spending any money or time playing an instrument that sounded like a kazoo that had been run over by a Mac truck.
Here’s What I Found in My Search
What I found initially during my search is that there are loads of places that want to lend you the money to get what you need right now, but many of these are also absolutely ridiculous when it comes to the kind of deal they’re giving you.
‘Rent to Own’ Could Wind Up Costing You Way Too Much Money
I saw a lot of ‘rent to own’ venues that would double, triple, or even quadruple the price that other stores had offered years earlier when the instruments were actually stocked. I’m not sure why most of the things these stores seem to carry are so outdated. My best guess is that in many cases they’re probably refurbs and by offering things that no one else carries anymore, they can make the somewhat misleading claim that they have the ‘lowest prices’ on them. Anyway, that didn’t work for me so I kept looking. While this is an option for getting music equipment with no credit check, it’s not one I can highly recommend.
The Payday Loan Thing Just Felt Way Too Shady
Then there is, what I consider to be, the relatively shady loan advance industry that will often charge ridiculously high fees to front you money, but they will front you money for music equipment with no credit check. Only once in my life, in my early twenties, was I in dire enough straits to resort to one of these places and the experience was pretty unique. I can’t remember the man’s name that I worked with, but it definitely could have been Louie…he looked like a Louie anyway. I recall fixating on his many tattoos as he smoked and walked around my car, inspecting it carefully. Finally he stopped and took a deep breath. “How much you say you need for that down payment on your apartment, Kid?” “Five hundred,” I said. He walks around my car again – this time, he looks at it even more discerningly. Keep in mind, I had paid just under 4k for my car half a year earlier. “Tell you what I’m gonna do. You seem like a nice kid. I’m gonna loan you the whole five hundred you need, ok?” “Alright,” I say. We then went inside and did something that felt eerily like me signing my soul away. After I ‘d given Louie the legal ability to forcefully take my car away should I become unable to make a payment on my loan, he welcomed me to “the family” and as I was heading to the door, he said “now you be a good kid and make sure you make that first payment in two weeks, ok? Don’t make us come out there to take your car away.” “Of course, Louie,” I say as I walk to the door, then drive home in a car that no longer feels like it’s mine.
Despite being fully committed to paying off my loan as soon as I got my next paycheck, I couldn’t help but imagine my legs being broken by Louie and friends and then I inevitably pictured myself lying there helplessly as he towed my car away, laughing fiendishly.
As you probably already guessed, as soon as I got my next paycheck, I rushed back to see Louie and paid off my loan off in full. I’ve never looked back after that, but I’ve always felt like I was violated in some way that I can’t fully explain. I guess in retrospect, if it’s your only option, it’s probably better than no option at all. Just be sure you are able to make the payments on your music equipment or you may just have to deal with the wrath of “Louie.”
Store Credit Cards Can Be a Great Option, but Difficult to Qualify for with Bad Credit
Store credit cards can be a great option for purchasing musical instruments that you make monthly payments on. The problem is that if you have bad credit, store cards can be difficult to impossible to qualify for. I’ve yet to find a store credit card that guarantees credit to people with bad credit scores. The other issue is that applying for a bunch of store credit requires multiple credit checks and being rejected can significantly impact your credit score, which is definitely not something you want to do if you’re working on improving it.
After Lot’s of Searching, I Found the Perfect Musical Equipment Payment Plan
After pursuing a lot of options that just didn’t seem to work for me at the time, I discovered zZounds and a handful of other legitimate music stores that offer store-backed payment plans to their customers. I wrote an in-depth comparison of what I consider to be the top four options for getting music equipment without a credit check. Here’s why I choose zZounds over all the others:
- zZounds let’s you finance music equipment on easy to make payments with no credit check so you can get your gear even if you have bad credit
- zZounds actually promise the best price on everything they sell
- They have a vast selection of all the major brand name instruments you’d ever want
- Their support is home grown and awesome to work with – they not only lived up their best price guarantee with me, they’ve significantly beaten the prices of competitors
- They provided me with the opportunity to make easy payments every month so that I could afford the digital piano I had been dreaming about.
- I’ve never had a problem with anything that I’ve ordered from them, ever.
- They don’t charge a bit of interest, you just pay a very small initial fee to get started and you’re good to go!
If you want to check them out, click on the big button below to be automgically whisked off to their website.
Before heading off there though, here’s a quick break down of the payment plans zZounds is currently offering:
| 4 Payments: Split your order into 4 payments with no credit check on items up to $1000 ($59 order minimum). |
| 6 Payments: Split up to $3000 of your total order into 6 payments on most orders over $249. |
| 8 Payments: Split up to $3000 of your total order into 8 payments when you purchase qualifying items. See individual product pages for item eligibility. |
| 12 Payments: Split your total order into 12 payments on qualifying items. For qualifying items under $3000, 12-Payment Plans are limited to $3000 in total merchandise. For qualifying items over $3000, 12-Payment Plans are limited to $4000 in total merchandise. See individual product pages for item eligibility. |
And here are the fees based on zzounds current pay as you go plan information:
| Order Total | 4, 6, and 8 Payment Processing Fee |
|---|---|
| Less than $600 | $3.95 |
| $600 to $1,000 | $5.95 |
| More than $1,000 | $9.95 |
| Order Total | 12 Payment Processing Fee |
| Less than $1,000 | $14.95 |
| More than $1,000 | $17.95 |
