nightnurse2

I've used layby in July and bought loads of the kids Xmas pressies and not had the trouble of trying to find hiding places for them

kar-kier

That is EXACTLY my plan!

micmay3_in_oz

It’s not just here that it happens. I bought my son’s pram from a store in Nottingham about 17 years ago and bought a bike for my other son on a similar premise in the UK about eight years ago. We put a deposit down and paid in instalments – the agreement with the bike was that it was all bought and paid for before Christmas Eve. Similar premise the only difference is that it wasn’t called ‘lay by’. I just think it’s more common here and I think it’s a great service for many.

Mx

MartinLuther

It's so you can spend your tax refund in July on Xmas presents. Without it you'd probably pee the money up the wall before then.

As for things that don't make sense (i.e. why not put it in the piggy bank?). That's just people. Take for example the tax refund cheque. People seem cockahoop to get them and really pissed off if they have to make up an underpayment. So in the 1st case the government had been using your money (obviously a cause for celebration ) and in the 2nd case you've been holding the government's money (obviously a pain in the butt ).

I've used layby once for when I needed lots of stuff the same (duvet covers for a rental). One store did not have enough. The lady at the layby desk rang a couple of local store and got them put on layby for 3 days (pay on pickup).

asprilla

Well, I'd say that's enough to make you our British Expats resident lay-by guru!

kar-kier

[QUOTE=MartinLuther;7773324]It's so you can spend your tax refund in July on Xmas presents. Without it you'd probably pee the money up the wall before then.

Without a doubt!!

RenShen

According to my mum, this was a common practice in the UK until about the 60s. You could "put something away" in the shop and then go in and pay it off. I think its a good thing and though I haven't used it yet, I probably will for Christmas.

Also I have been told that with Kmart and Target if you put something on lay by and its then reduced in price, they will give you the price reduction anyway.

ABCDiamond

I thought I could remember something like that... But then everyone started to use HP, and pay interest to get the banks and finance companies really up and running.

LayBy is really good for those things that you think you would like, but can't afford at that specific time, and would rather not use credit cards.

You get the shop to hold it, till you want to pay for it, with NO interest

And of course, if you change your mind or find it cheaper somewhere else, then you don't go follow through with the deal. Sometimes you will lose your deposit, othertimes you won't.

You should see the queues at the Layby desks on Christmas eve, where people are collecting the presents they have bought, and had conveniently stored at the shop till they were needed.
Kmart allow 12 weeks for layby, Target only 8 weeks.

MartinLuther