Warning -  I purchased a firearm through Grab-A-Gun at an attractive price.  I decided to take advantage of their Credova "no-interest" financing option, which then transferred to Monterrey Financial Services (their billing arm).  MFS adds an additional monthly fee, beyond their 18% APR, for processing payments, which would be understandable; however there is another, additional fee to pay off the balance early.  To add insult to injury using an on file VISA debit card attracts an additional $35 per transaction "decline" fee since VISA changed their billing relationship with MFS in July.  Paying off the balance with a check is equally problematic.  Any discussion of alternatives leads to a circular discussion, with threats to report late payments to the credit bureau, ironic since the discussion revolves around paying off an account early. Just like the iconic scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail - Run Away!

I do not understand,  why  businesses and people cannot  deal honestly with each other.  Ebay  is bad enough with all their  added phees  and BS

I like GRABAGUN

I've ordered a bunch of guns from them.

PSA, Buds, and others use Dredova.....and yes they suck

Sorry they got you. Anytime you use third party financing you NEED to look into them.

We all want this industry to succeed. I've ordered from Grab-A-Gun and from many of the companies mentioned above. (A brief follow-up and I'll move on.)  For the most part our relationship with firearms is based on trust.  Every time we go to the range, go hunting with others, load a round of ammunition, or participate in competition we trust someone.  A company is known by how it treats customers, but also by how it manifests ethics.  Working with a notorious predatory lender like Credova - MFS, one which provide kickbacks to the retailer in the form of "premiums", violates the trust compact that's essential to this industry.

Just avoid Buy Now, Pay Later. It's a predatory practice. It's widely offered with online purchases of any kind and it can be a trap.

Here is a great video on the subject explain some surprising details (like how it's often treated as a loan on your credit report).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdRa18EgLeE


Layway, paying off an item directly to the vendor without a 3rd party(like Atlantic Arms or Dissident Arms does, for example) is different and often quiet safe if the vendor is trustworthy and you make your payments as promised. Though it's still a bad practice and should be avoided.

Yeah Grabagun is good. I've purchased from them many times.

It's the 3rd party payment processors that do the Buy Now Pay Later that are scum.  The vendor you buy from gets paid by them. Then you have to deal with the payment processor, whatever rules and fine print you are agreeing too, and whatever damage they are doing to your credit history.   Plus it makes it a lot easier to get yourself in deep debt.

If you can't afford it...I'd recommend not buying it.

Just because you finance something doesn’t mean you can’t afford it. A lot of places now will offer added discounts and incentives to finance purchases. Obviously the key is to research who you are financing with and ensure there are no penalties or extra fees if you are paying off early. I buy a lot of stuff this way if I can get a good deal and just pay it off right away. I’ve never used credova though but I have read some not so nice things about them. On top of that I’ve never seen where using them to finance something had any added benefit to make it worth it.

Reasons like this is why I live by my rule of "if I can not buy it outright, I do without until I can"

Houses, cars, and other 5 to 6 figure things I completely understand financing and it is needed.
But financing a gun (unless it is a 5 figure machine gun) or other low dollar items I do not understand.

I have had lots of things over the years I wanted but could not afford. I just did without until I saved up the money to buy it.

This is a very informative thread, I considered using this financing through grab a gun, glad I didn’t, Aim also uses Credova, not sure if that is a subject to the handoff like grab a gun, I got approved with Aim through the Credova feature almost immediately for like 5k, never did use it, there is a shop local to me that has financing, 6 months same as cash, no fees or interest as long as you pay it off in the 6months, I use it for small purchases, maybe $350-500, pay it off in 6 months, never been a issue, been doing it for years.

This is true.

I use Sezzle quite a bit, and it’s a solid option, just breaks payments down into biweekly installments.


I used credova once, and paid it off in the 90 day zero interest window, but it took me calling them 3 times to process the last payment on time because they wanted to sandbag and get me with a late payment with interest accrued. Never again.

Does Sezzle report to the credit bureaus?

No, I don’t think so because it was not a bunch of shit to fill in like the Cordova one

THIS

I use Sezzle and Shop Pay a lot. No interesr, just 4 bi-weekly payments.

I almost bought something with Credova because it looked similar but spread it out over a year. As I wondered, how can they do that? I saw that the final price would have been almost double what the gun was selling for. PASS!