Advisory : Payment Method - Cash or Credit Card or Instalment Plan

[Andrew Tay]

not all brands(models) of watches have the same discount structure. i have also mentioned before, different customers are offered different discount structure. if i buy 40k worth of watches from AD a year, the discount i get is probably X, if i buy 400k worth of watches from the same AD, im sure my discount will be X+Y. how much discount the SE wants to offer to customer depends on the relationship between both as well.

not all retailers will pass on savings on cash purchases to customers. it depends on the company itself. company A may choose to offer additional discount up to ~3% to customer for product I if paid in cash while company B may choose not to offer the similar discount to customer for the same product even if cash payment. this is because operating costs are different. business policies are different.

recently i made an inquiry for a tag heuer. if it is card payment, it is about 25%, if it is cash, it might be slightly better discount. so i can definitely see the difference in using cash and credit card. if i ask for a rolex, discount is fixed regardless of cash or credit cards.

i agree that credit card offers points which allows the card holder to redeem points for various types of products. take for example, if we just look @ amex dollar to points $1.60 = 2 points. *ignore the X10 as i dont want to complicate calculation.* this is also the same as 1 point = $0.80

so let's look @ a 233 purchase @ $16500 *estimate for AD price assuming you are their A-list customer* this would get you 20625 points.

looking @ the amex catalog for a sony DSC-WX1(cost ~$460), it requires 90700 points. this means it needs a card member to spend $72560 or in other words, need to buy about 4 pam 233 @ $16500. how many of us can do so? also if u equate $460 to 90700, it means 1 pt is acutally $0.005. we buy 1 point for $0.80 but when we redeem, it is worth $0.005. so who is in the winning position?

if i were to use cash to buy a BNIB 233 from PI, it would cost me $14500. difference in savings of ~$2000. i can buy another 4 cameras(sony DSC-WX1), or buy 1 camera(sony DSC-WX1), spend 700 @ tung lok, i still got spare cash of ~$800.

bottom line is if my AD tells me no difference in cash or card, i pay card. this is because if you are in business, cash flow is important. if there is a difference i pay cash.

i would be more concern when i want to buy a particular watch and my AD offer me 28% regardless of payment mode but my friend who buys watches of value lower than me can get 28% discount and pays lower if cash payment.

dear mr cheng.

when i bought my GO during THG sales last year.....i used my amex....$5454 is the price. $1.6 = 1 point. so i got 3408 points....but i have to multiple it by 10....so it is 34,000 points. so ur calculation is off.

when i bought my pam....same, using amex. $16,500 divide 1.6 = 10,312 points.....multiple it by 10 times again....woh....103120 points. i used it to redeem an olympus dig cam.....think abt 60k points.....tug lok 100 bucks vouchers......around 13,800 points....

walau....where to find.

[triton]

im still learning. different people have different experiences, that is why it is important to keep an open objective mind.

one of my ex-colleague thought me about linking within sheets in one workbook in excel. with that skill, i managed to link multiple sheets, multiple workbooks. as the chinese saying, there is always another higher mountain.

so many things to lean. thanks to all for all the valuable inputs

[triton]

dear mr tay,

in case you miss, i have highlighted for you in bold.

i agree that credit card offers points which allows the card holder to redeem points for various types of products. take for example, if we just look @ amex dollar to points $1.60 = 2 points. *ignore the X10 as i dont want to complicate calculation.* this is also the same as 1 point = $0.80

dear mr cheng.
so ur calculation is off.

[triton]

base calculation
2 points = $1.60

X10 caluculation
20 points = $1.60
2 points = $0.16

u use 13800 points to redeem $100 tung lok vouchers means every
2 points = $0.015

amex is still ahead.

tug lok 100 bucks vouchers......around 13,800 points....

walau....where to find.

[caeden]

Standard Chartered Manhattan card offers a cashback rebate of 5% for all accumulated purchases within the same billing cycle, amounting to $3001 & above.

Just to share...

[Cessna]

Just sharing

Hi guys! i think we are also missing a point on the insurance of paying by Credit card and Accountability issues. The AD will be protected even though the card is counterfeit or stolen as normally the card holder will have to bear the cost ( if I am right! ). As for dealing with huge amount of money everyday, too many security concern and "trust" have to be in place, such as ability to identify counterfeit notes by "workers/staff" and also having a lot of cash in shop to return any balance change to the client. For instance, if i pay for a S$5000/- watch using a S$10,000/- note, the AD will have to provide a change of S$5000 in cash. Imagine, if their daily transaction is so huge everyday, then it would be a security issue for that company. What is the customer pay in foreign currency, then it would be even more tedious right! Nowaday, cashless is better and moreover the vendors/ AD will have lesser accountability. Lately, there was a news that a money changer in indonesia lost quite a lot of money by exchanging with some fake singapore money. The money changer lost S$196,000.....
Frankly, nowadays, bank has become less stringent with issuing credit nowadays compare to last time. They want people to spend and make more mistake with this easy and cashless money to generate their revenue. So must pay in time.

[triton]

good tip. but i dont have leh.

Standard Chartered Manhattan card offers a cashback rebate of 5% for all accumulated purchases within the same billing cycle, amounting to $3001 & above.

Just to share...

[caeden]

good tip. but i dont have leh.

Haha, apply lor!

[Cessna]

Forget to add

Ops! forgot to add. The staff that lost the exchange money have never seen a Singapore S$10,000/- note before . Therefore, i think most shop would prefer credit card than cash. Therefore, i think no difference if whether you pay cash or credit.

While I was in malaysia. I also heard that next time in malaysia, you cannot pay with normal credit card without the chip. is it true!

[triton]

Not in time leh.

Haha, apply lor!

[caeden]

Not in time leh.

Aaaah...Not in time for THG Sale!?!...

[triton]

is it?

Hi guys! i think we are also missing a point on the insurance of paying by Credit card and Accountability issues. The AD will be protected even though the card is counterfeit or stolen as normally the card holder will have to bear the cost ( if I am right! ).

[noahjiawei]

By the way Mahantten card by Standchart is most wu hwa if yr instalment plan is like 3k a month. because the rebate is cap at 300 dollars per 3 months and only elgible for 5% rebate if u spend more than 3k per month.

[buihia]

am i missing something ? i thought payment by installment plan doesnt earn you any points?

[edsonchan]

By the way Mahantten card by Standchart is most wu hwa if yr instalment plan is like 3k a month. because the rebate is cap at 300 dollars per 3 months and only elgible for 5% rebate if u spend more than 3k per month.

I think installment consider 1 charge. Doesn't mean you have a 36K divided by 12months - means you spend 3k a month.... I think only.. I may be wrong on this

By the way, the merchant gets the money in full by the way... it is between you and the bank in terms of the installment.