People these days have a certain need to procure things at a bargain.  Paying for less than the retail or sticker price continuously creates some sort of sense of satisfaction and the feeling of being wise with our expenditure.

Haggling and shopping during end of sale periods are just few ways of paying for less but there are various schemes which entice a lot of individuals to sign up assuring them good discounts that will be beneficial for them but will demonstrate to be the opposite.

One such infamous scheme are store cards.  They are a lot like credit cards but store cards can just be used on particular stores and their branches and credit cards have a more versatile use.  Most of a store card’s appeal lies to its guarantees to provide a shopper up to ten percent discount on all of their purchases. 

Marketing store cards ordinarily occurs via store personnel presenting you promising deals in discounts on their store.  This usually happens when you enter or leave the store but given that store staffs get some type of commission on these deals, it could occur at any place and anytime inside the store. 

In addition to the initial discount, signing up for a store card can even provide shoppers free gifts and quarterly magazines get delivered to you for free.  But in the long run, you may have trouble with your finances due to the very high interest rate attached to it.

More than 25% interest rate can be charged from a store card holder, that’s more than half the regular rates for credit cards.  A lot of individuals are drawn into getting these store cards because most, if not all, of the stores that offer them often don’t tell customers everything they ought to understand, especially the most critical details.

So why is there still a lot of people getting duped into getting store cards?  Non-transparency for one.  They will only tell unsuspecting customers about the reward and benefits tied to their store cards and won’t tell them about the high annual percentage rates (APR.)  Furthermore, the common candidates being targeted by stores are younger shoppers with jobs. 

Store cards can easily bring about debt and they can even incur a much bigger debt than credit cards.  If you are the type of individual who has a track record of not paying your balances in full, maybe signing up for a store card is something you should steer clear of.

People age 21 and beyond are believed to own store cards and only 2/3 of them pay the monthly bills in full.  The remaining 1/3 who do not pay-off their overall monthly balance have a tendency to keep their store card debt.

If you plan to get a store card, think about other alternatives that might be more fitting with your finances.  In some ways, using a credit card will be much easier since it has a much lower rate. 

You should also study the form carefully and make sure you understand each and every paragraph especially lines that have words and figures such as rates, percentage (%), monthly and annually, and numbers.  If you do not understand some lines, take the form with you and ask someone who knows about these things such as a financial advisor or debt experts.

If you really like to have a store card, make sure you’ll be able to pay it in full each month.  If you’re an existing store card holder and already have debt from it, you can opt to transfer it to a credit card that offers low or 0% rate.  It is certainly possible and it can make a big positive difference in getting you to pay-off your debt much faster and more efficiently.