What do you think about layaway fee?

What it comes down to is the fact that they have created an entire separate service, just for their customers. They had to go through the hassle of setting up a new system to catalog and keep track of all payments and information over an extended period of time.

They also run the risk of losing out on all of that hard work if you change your mind about your doll mid-payment. It's a lot of effort and risk for them. Why should they not get paid for that?

If you don't like layaway fees, set up your own savings. Put 20$ aside here and there until you have enough. In the end, it's not their fault if you aren't a good saver. It's something that people need to learn to do and until then, if they do the work for you, they're going to get paid for it.

 

If it is meant to cover extra expenses and hassle, it is logical to charge for it. However, if it is only one doll company charging extra for layaway, I think it's tricky. Of course, if people fall in love with a sculpt and absolutely want to own it, they'll accept the extra fee. Others would be likely to go for a similar looking model from another company. There are so many these days.
A company should be carefull not to price itself out of the market.

 

I didn't know about layaway fees until I read about them here and made some googling, and from what I see, sounds like a fair system. Now if you were forced to pay only on layaway then yeah it would be unfair, but otherwise, if you have the chance to do your own saving and this only works to those who can't, then it's probably great.

It's a way for you to save up slowly to get your doll, some interest is only fair on those cases...

 

I think as long as the company or individual is upfront about the fees being charged than yes, it is fair. Just think of it as a storage fee, ha ha.

 

i think it's fair for the companies to charge a layaway fee. i mean, first of all, the company has to keep track of how much you've paid and how much more needs to be paid. if it's a popular company, they might even have to keep track of quite a lot of layaway paid or whatnot. second, they're here to earn money, not to please you. of course for all the hassle they go through for your layaway, they'll charge extra. it's kind of fair and just, if you ask me. also, if they have to take the risk of making the doll and bear the cost of it should the buyer "disappear". all in all, layaway fees are justified, though personally, i'll just save up until i have the amount before i buy rather than do a layaway.

 

I have been in this hobby for about 3 years, I have not seen any company discontinue a standard doll without prior notice. They usually give you like a few weeks before they discontinue completely.

As long as what you want is not a limited edition, I still think that your best bet is to put your money away each month and when you save enough you can place your order.

This way, you do not have to worry about fee.

Even if the said company decides to discontinue the mold, if you start now, by then you will have enough for at least the down payment.

Good luck

 

If you are like me and don't like to pay lay-away fees then you really only have 3 choices - pay for the item (in this case the doll) in full, look for another store that does a no fee lay-away or not buy it. I generally will pay in full or look for a dealer that does no fee lay-away. However I do think that once I have entered into an agreement to buy something if I back out the company is entitled to keep a deposit or other agreed to amount/fee.

 

I agree with what people have said before me. Offering layaway is a service and a company may decide to offer that service for free as an aditional service, but they don't have to.

So far I've only seen Napidoll discontinue a head mold without notice (or maybe I just missed it), but most companies make an announcement whey they will discontinue a doll, because that usually results in some extra sales.

 

I think everyone in this thread so far has agreed that it's a "right thing."

It is not the doll companies' problem that some people find it hard to save money. They have no obligation to finance a purchase for someone just because they don't have the proper skills to save their funds.

Companies that accept layaway plans are taking a risk by making a doll for buyers who do not yet have the money to pay for it -- and may never have the money to pay for it. People lose jobs, change their minds, have medical emergencies, and so on. I doubt anyone ever intends to back out of a layaway, but it happens, and it happens a lot. The bottom line is that until all the money is in hand, no one ever knows what the future will hold.

Individual sellers in the DoA Marketplace take the same risk. Over the years I have arranged twelve layaways with buyers on DoA. Eleven of the twelve fell through when the person defaulted after the first or second payment. Further, ten of those eleven defaulters demanded their money back despite having agreed to non-refundable deposits. I wasted time and lost legitimate buyers while waiting for these people to get their act together, and what did I get in return? Nada. I learned my lesson. Now I no longer accept layaway at all.

IMHO, it is wrong to expect doll companies and individual sellers to take on risk for your own benefit. And to expect them to do it for free, with no guarantees, is even more wrong.

 

I would much rather save up for the money to buy something than go for the layaway route. I am of the attitude of "If I have the money to buy it then I can have it."

Everything else I will save up for.

As for the original question, Layaway is an optional service that cost the companies money to set up and maintain even before you factor in the risk of someone dropping out of a deal before purchase is complete, leaving the seller with product in stock that now sits on their inventory unsold. It is bad for business to have too much inventory in stock as the company still has to pay for this stock even if they have not sold it - whether they make the stock themselves or buy it in.

I swear that many of the comic book stores in the UK have gone bust partially because they didn't even ask for a deposit on a layaway item and lost loads of money through ordering stock from Diamond UK that they just could not sell. If they had the deposits then less of their layaways would have remained unsold and they would have survived and still be in business. If I ever start a UK BJD supplier I will not be offering layaway services AT ALL. Period. Too damn risky, too much work for potential gain, and the surest way of going bust in as short a time as possible in a business with expensive inventories.

Phil.

 

A layaway is nice and of course fees must be charged. Non-refundable deposit is necessary as well.

Another way to avoid that fee is just save up in full the price of the doll. But that isn't easy these days.

 

The only company I know of that does not charge a fee for Layaways is Bobobie, but you have to arrange it by email as it is not set up on their web site. Sometimes I think "Dennis" is too nice for his own good...

Phil.

 

I think that its perfectly reasonable of a company to charge a layaway fee. In a way, its basically like you're buying time, of course I think its preferable to the company that you pay up front, because there's this thing called life, and unexpected twists happen all the time. Layaway fees, to me, are just enforcing the fact that you're expected to make all of the payments, besides the fact that its somewhat more inconvenient to the company, and therefore you're charged a fee.

 

I think it's perfectly reasonable and justifiable for companies and individual sellers to charge layaway fees. Of course, the fees shouldn't be outrageous, unless the idea is to scare buyers off using the option. Like others pointed out, there's a risk involved with offering layaway; a buyer can flake on payments and the company is left with an unsold doll that is now sitting on the shelf and yellowing.

On a personal note, I used to offer layaway option without any fess as a convenience for fellow collectors, but after being flaked on a few times, I decided it's just not worth it, fees or not. I wasted time, energy and missed out on potential buyers while chasing down the layaway flakes. I did have one good layaway experience, the buyer paid on time and even paid it off early, but I learned that this is exception rather than the rule. When I see listings on the Marketplace with layaway fees, I fully support those sellers.

 

To me Layaway is a form of credit given to the buyer by the seller. As it's usually a (too) generous form of credit as no interest is charged. In my opinion layaway fees should be the rule, not the exception. So, in my opinion, layaway fees are WAR FAR from abusive. It's not asking for them that it too generous in my opinion!

 

I looked at the layaway policies of a couple of companies just now,and I didn't see anything unreasonable about the fees. There shouldn't be a problem as long you order from a reliable and trustworthy site.