How many layaways have you done concurrently?

I'm very anti-layaway. I have bought exactly one doll from a private seller on layaway while I was underage. I am no longer willing to use layaway. If I don't have the money RIGHT NOW, I don't need the doll. If I am concerned about money at all, there is no reason for me to buy ANY doll.

That's it. That's all.

 

Only 2. Years ago when I was new to the hobby I had 1 doll on layaway with the company that made it, and ended up buying another doll from a friend that she didn't bond with.

These days, I'm unlikely to do such as finances are a fit better

 

@Forever We Are Young The layaway went absolutely fine. Nothing was wrong with it. I wasn't financially stable as a kid with an income of $20 per week, but my mother was there to back me up if something had gone wrong.

I just don't feel like layaway is a choice everyone should make for a completely unessential hobby. I highly value financial stability over impulsive choices and debt. Paying rent and eating is far more important than any doll. I'll save some money on the side now in case a doll I need appears rather than order it and pay it off later.

 

I only use layaway pretty much. I’m very bad at saving up large sums of money, but I’m very good at making monthly payments in smaller amounts that fit into my budget. Plus I buy only new dolls (not secondhand) so if they’re going to take a long time to be made, why not? I think the most I’ve had at once is 6? But three of them were very small payments stretched over long layaways with BJDivas.

I would say just to make sure you don’t get in over your head. I’ve done it several times, and while I never missed a payment or cancelled the layaway, sometimes I’ve had to sell doll things to afford the payments. It’s an absolutely horrible and stressful situation to put yourself into, and I would try to avoid that at all costs. I haven’t done that to myself in several years, live and learn. Just my best advice is to not take any more than you can handle and go over your budget thoroughly before you make the commitment and buy a doll on layaway.

 

I've done two at once, and that's a happy medium for me. I didn't plan to, but one doll had a release sale that was for a limited time shortly after I started the first one. I can't speak for other people, but 2 at once worked for me and my budget.
I like layaways because I have a set budget each month for "fun money" that i can spend on whatever I like, and having a layaway helps me not end up spending that money on more frivolous things, which I'm prone to do when I don't have a bigger purchase I'm actively paying on. It's more tangible to me than setting the money aside each month to save up for a doll. I've found when I say I'll do that, I end up using it on other things, whether they're fun things or not.
I also have very specific ideas/plans for the BJD's I plan on owning though, so I don't really have to worry about getting excessive with purchasing them. If a doll doesn't fit the plan I have, no matter how pretty they are or how much I like them, I won't buy it, whether by layaway or not.

 

Me and my husband love doing layaways, but usually we don’t buy a doll that we don’t have the money for upfront - even if it is a layaway. It makes him less stressed about money to only see a little come out of our spending account as opposed to having a full amount gone all at once. layaways also help me keep spending down because I know that that money is going to come out later so I have to budget that in.
I will say, it’s rare that we buy a doll we don’t have the money upfront for - and that might be the difference. If we’re ever in a tight financial situation, we put a full stop to spending. For me though, I love layaways, they work really well for my lifestyle and overall keep my spending down.

 

The most I’ve done at the same time was two but it was only because Little Monica announced they were closing while I already had one going. In general I have a personal rule to only have one layaway at a time.

Most of my dolls were bought on layaway as it’s a lot easier for me to afford than paying everything all at once. Occasionally I will pay everything up front for a doll if I have the spare money from one of my side gigs but I usually only do that if I’m buying direct from a company or it’s a doll in stock. For most companies they take a few months at least to produce dolls so I might as well do a layaway for them since I won’t get the doll any quicker paying it all off up front.

I’ve never done layaways for secondhand dolls as there’s more of a chance of things not going well. When it comes to secondhand if I don’t have the money I don’t buy the doll.

 

1. No more than two. See point two below.

2. If you have to go more than two, then you might want to re-evaluate if you really want the doll(s).

3. Never will have this issue because of point 1.

4. I'd rather pay in full....one and done.

5. Pros of lay aways: You can secure a spot for a limited time/quantity doll if you can't come up with the funds in full.
Cons: You can get carried away with buying too many dolls on installment plans...probably not sustainable financially.

6. I've done 12 month layaways and...I didn't have to. I always paid it off when the doll came...so unless this is absolutely the only way you can afford the doll, then do much shorter lay aways or pay in full if you can. I say this in part that the longer you wait to pay off your doll, it's possible that you'll lose interest and all the time was spent for naught.

 

I think layaway can be dangerous if you're not good at budgeting, or if you have an unrealistic idea of your income and expenses, but I don't think it's irresponsible on the whole. It exists for a reason, and companies wouldn't allow it if they thought no one could keep up their end of the deal. There's nothing inherently wrong with it. Just tossing that out there.

Basically, I think you should make sure you're financially mature enough before you start opening layaway orders, but it's a lot like credit cards. They're very helpful and even life-saving for some, but disastrous for others. Just be careful you don't fall into a deeper hole than you can dig out of.

Personally I use layaway not when I can't afford a doll, but when I'm more comfortable letting go of the money in increments. I'm paranoid about things happening unexpectedly (and that paranoia has been proven time and again) so I always want to keep as much money on hand as I can. Layaway allows me to do that while still working toward a purchase. It also gives me a way to track the progress of the order, though that's just a side-effect, not a reason to use it.

I've technically had 4 concurrent layaways, though that lasted only a month. Two were paid off at the same time that two more were starting. This was actually very recent; you might notice by my current signature that I've got a lot on order right now lol. I was briefly between jobs (not just jobless, but knowingly transitioning between jobs) and while I wasn't out of money or anything, I felt more comfortable if I could lose it in smaller chunks since I temporarily had no steady income. So I guess for me it's more of a peace of mind thing. That said, I would not recommend opening 4 layaways at the same time, not unless you're positive you can put up the whole amount if you had to. I don't personally regret it since it made me comfortable with getting several heads/dolls I wanted, but it was a very difficult decision process and I didn't take it lightly. Like I said earlier, it can become a disaster quite easily.

I guess my advice is just... be careful. Don't open too many layaways at once if you can't for sure pay up, Layaways and payment plans make life livable for a lot of us who don't have high-paying jobs, but they can quickly destroy your finances if you aren't cautious.

 

Like @nyaaain I am not in favor of myself using layaways because I need the financing. I only ever did one layaway before and it was at a very indulgent time when a doll on my wishlist appeared in stock in my country but I had just received another new doll in order to appreciate each arrival I put her on layaway to delay receiving her.
I probably won't ever use layaway for long term financing. I could see doing it because there was a doll I already was wanting released for a very limited time and I couldn't quite make the whole payment immediately, but I'd feel more comfortable expecting to pay the balance easily within one month or less.
Different things for all of us

 

I think I've done three at once? I try to pay things off within two months if I can. I get paid biweekly so I usually make four payments.

 

I'm on a fixed income and layaway has enabled me to have a considerable collection of dolls. I've currently got two year long layaways close to payoff (they're Ringdolls, so who knows when I'll actually get them!), and during this time I've done a couple of short MP layaways as well. But the Ringdolls are probably my last really long layaway-I'm reaching max capacity for dolls. I'm thankful for layaway, but it does have to be used carefully.

 

My husband and I have a reasonably small but steady income, and I’m very good at maintaining a budget, so layaway makes perfect sense for my particular situation. Through my many years in this hobby I’ve managed to bring home roughly 3 dolls per year by consistently using layaways, which adds up to a wonderful collection I can truly be proud of. It’s not unusual for those 3 layaways to overlap somewhat, and in fact, I’m currently juggling 3 at the same time right now. 2 were for smaller dolls that just happened to be released at slightly different times, and one was an expensive grail that was suddenly re-released by the company with with a special sale and a very limited window of purchasing opportunity. It’s not something I plan for certainly, but knowing what you can comfortably pull off financially makes such things possible and enables me to get a dream doll I would be unable to obtain otherwise. It’s not a problem because it all comes out of the “fun money” portion of my budget, which is usually spent on doll stuff anyway…so I just won’t spend anything on fabrics, doll supplies, or doll clothes while paying these 3 layaways off.

 

I'm not a fan of layaways, myself... I'd rather proactively put funds into my "Fun Money" account regularly, and then just buy whatever I want outright when it comes along.

That said, I have done one through a dealer on a doll that I knew it would take forever to actually receive. My DZ Sawarieda, bought through Mint on Card... In her case, it just seemed to make more sense to give them $200 a month over the first half of what i knew was likely to be a year-long wait than just tossing out $1200 all in one go.

I can't imagine having more than one layaway at a time. That just sounds too close to spending money beyond what you can really afford to spare for a happy-fun-time hobby.

 

I'm also not a fan of layaways. I think it's better to set money aside overtime and pay for everything all at once. It's a frivolous hobby after all! Please focus on your bills and necessities first. I'm not a finance expert but I think if you choose to pay for dolls over a longer period of time, it's better to do it on credit card. Manufactured spending is a easier with small reoccurring payments. You'll get more from in return in credit and points than doing a layaway from the company, but it's important to recognize that the pitfalls are mostly the same and it can be dangerous. Individual layaway plans are reasonable and manageable, but it will quickly add up once you're doing several plans. It's much better to not to get used to spending money you aren't 100% sure you'll have. And even then life is always full of surprises. I don't think it's a good idea to do any layaways concurrently. Once you factor in the stress, you'll be happier using that money going to layaways to instead pay for one doll in full.

 

I'm willing to have only one layaway open at any given time (and I'm about to finish one within a week). Although I prefer to pay in full and even if I have enough to pay in full, the layaway option allowed me to split up a large sum so that I could further budget myself each month. Plus it's less stressful sometimes to see small amounts being paid over time rather than the full amount all at once from the bank account. Another point to make is that layaway can allow the buyer to secure a purchase of a time limited/limited quantity doll or item.

The best advice I can offer before doing layaway or multiple layaways is to make sure you'll be able to make the payments and don't get too carried away. Budget yourself accordingly; sometimes it's not worth the purchase.

 

1. How many layaways would you be willing to have open at the same time?
In the past, I've done up to four, but I didn't start them all at once. It was mostly like I had two going, they were almost done, so I started two more, mostly on dolls in the $200-500 range. Now, I'd do one at most, but try to avoid that too.

2. What is a reasonable or recommended amount of layaways to do concurrently?
I would say one. I used to do several because I had a secure job that paid well enough for me to handle it. My thought process was "It's going to take 3-6 months to get the doll anyway, why not pay as we go?" and it allowed me to start multiple orders at once instead of paying off one, saving up, paying off another, saving up, etc. Now, I have seen firsthand how life can change in an instant, you can lose a job you thought was secure, you can get suddenly ill and have lots of medical bills, a pandemic may hit and unemployment take a month to kick in....so many things can happen, and having so many layaways just feels irresponsible to me now, unless you have enough spare cash to pay them off. Defaulting and losing out on multiple dolls would just plain suck, not to mention put you in bad standing with dealers/companies/secondhand sellers, and you could have hundreds, if not thousands, lost.

3. Do you regret having many layaways open at the same time, if you did this?
I didn't regret it at the time, but I wouldn't do it again.

4. Would you rather pay in full or do layaways?
Definitely pay in full. If I don't have the money, I don't need the doll. I might make an exception on a very rare or limited doll that I needed to move fast to get, but otherwise, I'd pay in full if I had time to save. Also, PayPal won't always support refunding layaway payments, and even if they will, depending on the layaway, you could be outside the window to file a claim, and that worries me, just in case anything went wrong.

5. Any pros and cons of layaways?
Pro:
-paying off the doll over time makes the wait seem shorter
-allows you to buy a doll you can't afford immediately
-breaking up payments doesn't feel like such a big purchase all at once.
-may allow you to get in on a preorder, rare or LE doll you otherwise couldn't afford in time.

Con:
-you need to know for sure you'll have the money every month
-If you default, you will lose anything you already paid
-It can be difficult to keep up with multiple layaways, dates payments are owed, how much you've paid or owe
-Some sellers charge extra fees for layaway (mostly secondhand)
-Some sellers offer preference to those who can pay in full
-Life can change at the drop of a hat, you may lose the ability to keep paying
-It's easy to get into the habit of "I can do one more" until you're overwhelmed
-It tempts you to impulsively buy things you might not realistically be able to afford

6. Is there any mistakes you've made due to layaway? What would be helpful for others to know to avoid mistakes?
I haven't made any mistakes with it, but I got very lucky. Only do it if it's absolutely necessary to get a doll you can't save up for due to limited numbers or time, or a secondhand doll you can't easily find. Be absolutely certain you can pay this doll off if something goes wrong. Don't get tempted to start as many as you can afford, you never know when you might have an emergency. Be realistic--if you know your budget is extremely tight, don't do it. You need wiggle room, just in case. Let a friend or family member know about the layaway and how to pay it--in the case you have a long term emergency, like being hospitalized or a natural disaster, and are unable to make your payments, they may be able to be sure you don't default on them (I've done this for a friend before. If I hadn't known she'd had them going, she would have defaulted on more than one that were nearly paid off.).