Cash Discount vs Visa from Clevo Resellers

I've noticed that a large number of Clevo resellers offer a 3% 'cash discount'. It makes sense as they don't have to pay the visa fees and pass a portion of that along ot the customer.
I am a Canadian customer looking to purchase from an American Clevo Reseller. I have been looking at reseller ratings as well as BBB and have made a choice to purchased based on that, as well as these forums.

So for my question, if you go for the cash discount payment method vs visa, do you end up exposing yourself to any additional risk that you wouldn't if you were to use Visa instead (again I'm a Canadian buying from the US).


Thanks for any input!

 

Well, let's just put it like this. If you don't know what ur doing, as in you haven't paid those ways online before my personal experience is if I could have done it over, I would just have gone with the Visa. Sure u save $60 or so, but in my experience the hassle wasn't worth it. Next time I'll just pay with Visa.

 

If I recall correctly Canadian credit card users are protected against fraud, and American users are not. I.E. if you buy X product and the merchant never delivers it to you you're SOL.

 

The only hassle, as long as you're dealing with an established company, is having to wait a little longer. An extra week wait for 3%? yesplz.

One could theorize that it's less safe, because you don't have the option of a chargeback. I'd say you 'safest' bet for the cash rebate is via Paypal eCheck, which you MIGHT be able to dispute. (I'm unsure.) But if it's an established reseller like Xotic, Malibal, LPC, Myth, etc... I wouldn't be too worried.

You could also deal with Canadian resellers, like Reflex (Above. =P) or Fortnax, who would probably be able to pricematch you within 5% of the FINAL cost of the laptop. (Which might be a little more then you'd think. See here: http://www.thefinalcost.com/)

I'm pretty sure both have Chargeback options for combating fraud. Mind you, it might depend on the card.

 

If you pay with a Paypal eCheck, then you will have protection against undelivered goods. With a bank wire, check or other cash payment - you will not have this same protection. So if you opt for the cash discount, I would recommend using a Paypal eCheck for payment, because it's the safest way to send cash.

PayPal Purchase Protection

 

Paying by eCheck can hardly even be considered a hassle, unless waiting is considered as such. Many of the resellers communicate your order on the date it was placed, not the date that payment clears. Additionally, most, if not all, of the time, the eCheck clears before the end of Sager's lead-time, so there is not any delay in order progress anyway.

Now, if one opts to mail a paper check, or a money order, etc, then it is obviously a different matter altogether.

 

Silly statement ... SOL? seriously?

Fraud Prevention & Identity Theft Protection ? Visa Security | Personal | Visa USA

Credit and Debit Card Protection | Credit and Debit Card Benefits | MasterCard

 

It is a little bit of a hassle considering the hoops you need to jump through to use it via Paypal. They'll only let you pay via eCheck if you have no credit cards or debit cards linked to your account; and sometimes--like with me--they won't let you remove all your cards because of an invisible "pending transaction." So you need to call them up and they'll remove these invisible pending transactions, but it still won't work; so you have to call them up and have them remove all the cards for you.

 

I can pay by eCheck, instant transfer, or credit card right now. You sure it isn't just you doing something wrong?

Infact, why wouldn't you have gotten them to just remove the cards the first time you called? That sounds silly. I've never had problems with Paypal.

 

I had the same issue, but then I was able to get my credit cards removed. However, then I couldn't have a 'confirmed shipping address' which was required. Gave up and did a wire transfer that cost nearly as much as the discount anyways. Much easier to just do credit card unless you have echeck already working.

Edit: This is for business eCheck, personal eCheck works fine.

 

Paypal echecks are the safest way to make a cash type payment as mentioned but check to make sure the reseller you chose to go with will accept a Canadian Paypal account.

Other then that bank wires are quick but check with your bank for any fees they could charge as that could wash out out any savings for the cash type payment.

Check/Money order would be your next option but they can take much longer to clear.

Several credit card companies offer extending the manufacturers warranty when you use their card to make a purchase so the ~$60 might not be worth it when you look at it that way. You'll want to check with your card company to see if they offer this

 

huh? What are you talking about?

 

Like Hutsady was saying, I know for sure American Express offers double the Manufactures warranty up to 1 year. For me that's worth the extra ~60.

 

For the most possible protection when buying from any seller (and I'm not just talking Sager resellers, I mean any seller of anything), you should pay through PayPal with a credit card. Here's why-

If a problem comes up, your first recourse is to contest the charge with PayPal. This will usually be sucessful because PayPal heavily favors the buyer over the seller. Should PayPal rule against you, you can then contest the charge through your credit card company. This will almost always be successful becase PayPal is extremely lax in pursuing the case with credit card companies. With most of their seller accounts it's just easier for them to debit the seller than put time and effort into trying to fight it with the credit card company.

That being said, I just bought from the highest rated Sager reseller using my credit card. I didn't use PayPal because I hate those leeches (LOL!), but I did use my credit card because even the bluest of blue chip companies can go belly up in the blink of an eye.(;>D

 

Cash is king. PayPal eCheck just adds about a week delay, that was the only inconvenience I noticed. If you have some good rewards on your credit card, it may be worth buying with the credit card, not to mention many will extend manufacturer warranty of the laptop by a year if you use your credit card for the purchase. So I'd say weigh your options, but I'll take the $60 thanks.

 

But my delay was almost 6 weeks! Oh wait, that was SB recall

Yeah, eCheck takes about a week to clear. In most cases, that is unlikely to delay order progress.

 

do debit cards extend warranties if you have visa on it?

 

Dunno. Call the number on your card and ask. I doubt it though. I do get like 0.5% back by using my debit card, but not really offset by the 3%!

 

The cash discount is nice, but if you're a in rush to get a laptop (I mean like a few days), a CC is better since the cash discount types of payment can take a little while to clear (at least in Canada)

Unfortunately I was always in a super rush to get mine and never had the chance to benefit from the 3% since I used my CC everytime

 

i know my charge was $25 to me for the wire transfer fee through chase. and myth also got charged a fee for receiving a wire.. kinda dumb lol

later i used paypal to buy the screen from them (to replace my dell screen. you know it has a terrible screen if you looked at my comparison shots in the owners lounge). never used paypal before. super simple, super fast, no fee. that's what i'll use next time lol

 

Yeah wire transfer costs money and really isn't worth it unless you don't have PayPal or credit card. That's why PayPal eCheck is the best because it's free and gets you a 3% discount.

 

Using eCheck is simple. Customer Service will deactivate your card, and they'll put it back on after you send the check.

The check cleared in 3 business days and saved me $70 off the top. They'll also verify/confirm an address for you, immediately.

Wire transfer makes zero sense, as far as saving money goes, and you have zero protection.

 

I'm not doing anything wrong, you can ask the Xotic guys yourself and the check the Paypal forums regarding eChecks. The Paypal help agent insisted that everything was fine over the phone after the "pending transactions" were removed. My fault for believing her, I guess. She was real nice though.

 

I have a question. I've had this status on my order for the past couple days:

"Your PayPal eCheck has been received, and the payment is pending clearance."

I saw my bank account was charged soon after submitting the echeck a couple day ago. Doesn't it work like a normal check, whereas when you see it charged, that means the company got the payment already?

 

It takes time for PP to receive the funds from your bank account and then deposit it in the sellers account. You will see it say Pending Cleared until it goes to "Cleared"

 

Okay. It didn't take much time for PP to receive the funds from my bank account, but it is taking time to deposit it in XoticPC's account, apparently. Just wanted to make sure it's normal. Thanks Justin.

 

It's really the same as with any checks. Before Paypal clears the payment, the withdraw has to hold up as good. It's very possible to bounce an eCheck.

 

I'm in Phase 2 now, sweet. Is it possible this thing gets to me by May 1st?

 

It will probably depend on if you got a custom skin or screen that would add build time. Should only take a week or 2 if not.

 

Nope, don't have either of those . Hope so, I travel on May 2nd.

 

My eCheck went in in the 6th, cleared on the 11th, and on the 12th XoticPC called me and said that my machine was built at Sager, ready to ship to them for the screen upgrade. So, I probably would have had it this week, if not for the screen.

If Sager is really pumping them out that quickly, something crazy would have to happen, for you to not receive by May 1st.

 

Awesomeness, can't wait