Layaway expands for holiday shoppers - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

The holidays may seem far off, but many shoppers are planning now. And certain retailers are catering to customers looking to finance big ticket items ahead of time.

Long before you will see the ads for discounted holiday items, you're going to see the promotions for layaway.

On Wal-Mart's homepage, they just released their new deal starting September 16th, running through December 14th. That's 90 days earlier this year than last, so you have more time to pay off a large purchase.

Layaway provides a way to buy something at its current price, then pay for it over a time frame that works for your budget.

It costs $15 to open a layaway account and make a down payment of either $10 or 10% of the item price, whichever is greater.  

Wal-Mart offers layaway for in store items only.

But there's plenty of other retailers offering online layaway. On Kmart's website, you can shop online and put your purchases on layaway.

That goes for Sears as well, which has thousands of items on layaway year round.

Then there's websites like e-layaway, which contracts with several different retailers where you can shop online, set up layaway, make the payments online, and get the item shipped to you from the retailer.

So, is layaway a good option?  If you have limited access to credit, or want a popular item you fear is going to sell out, layaway is a good option.

It also encourages us to only spend what we can afford, as opposed to putting purchases on a credit card.

Finance experts from the Indiana University School of Business say it depends on what kind of consumer you are.

"If you're the kind of person that pays their credit card in full, that item is probably going to cost you more in layaway than it would simply by paying with a credit card," said IU's Todd Robertson. "If you're the kind of person that only pays the minimum balance, than layaway probably makes a lot of sense."

So check the layaway fees and finance charges to make sure they make sense for what you are spending.