What Is Pet Financing?
First, what exactly is pet financing? Quite simply, it is borrowing money to pay for a pet. If you are interested, there are two main kinds of financing that you will find available to you. Financing from a retail store and financing online.
Retail Store Financing
Financing from a store will usually be with a third party lender. Most stores themselves do not directly finance, but instead work with a lending partner. The store and the partner handle all of the details, making this one of the easier ways to obtain pet financing.
Ease of use does not mean that this is the best way to get your pet loan however, because there are many problems working with a pet shop. Ethically speaking, there has always been some concerns about where a pet shop gets their animals and the care they receive before the sale. If you decide to go this route, try to determine where the shop gets their animals. You might think that these animals need rescuing, but this only perpetuates the cycle because the pet store will just buy more pets.
Next, you have to consider the inflated prices at pet stores. When you get store financing, you are a captive buyer and the store has little incentive to negotiate on prices. Many people fall in love at one of these establishments only to walk out with a mixed breed dog costing 4000 dollars or more.
Online Financing
Another option with pet financing is to get an online loan.
Online pet financing is not really borrowing to buy a pet, it is simply borrowing. These will be personal loans where you can use the money to buy anything that you want. At Loan Monkey, we can even help you get a personal loan that you can use for pet financing.
The biggest advantage to going with an online loan is that you can use the money wherever you like. You are not stuck buying from one store, so you will be free to look for the best value and to get the exact dog that you want.
Another advantage is that you can go straight to a reputable breeder and avoid the pet shop. This will allow you to get a healthier pet and avoid all of the ethical issues that come along with pet stores.
Should You Finance A Pet?
Now that you understand a bit more about what pet financing really is, should you pursue it? Here are some things to consider.
Cost Of Financing
A pet loan will be an unsecured loan. Although there have been a few leases in the past, they are not as common and should be avoided. Most pet financing will be a simple unsecured installment loan. Because your loan is unsecured, interest rates can be high. This is especially true if you have bad credit or a high debt to income ratio.
Before you sign for a pet loan, look at the total cost of the loan and make sure that it is really worth it to you.
Alternatives To Financing
Pet buyers should also consider whether or not there are better alternatives to financing.
There are thousands and thousands of animals in animal shelters across the nation. These pets need a second chance at life and adoption could give that to them. It also gives you a lovable companion for a fraction of the cost of buying one from a breeder or pet shop. Most shelter animals can be adopted for around 300 dollars and this price generally includes spaying or neutering.
Getting Your Pet Financing
After you have thought it through, you might still be interested in taking out a pet loan, so how do you go about it.
If a pet store is your thing, it will be as simple as walking in and filling out an application. Most of these stores use lenders that are familiar with less than perfect credit, so your odds of approval are good. Just be sure to read all of the details and make sure that fees or interest is not unnecessarily high. Also, be sure that your agreement is not actually a lease with a bumper payment at the end.
For those who want to work directly with a breeder, you simply need to fill out an online application, like the one at the top of this page.If approved, one lender will make you an offer and then deposit money directly into your bank account. you can then shop any breeder you want just like any other cash buyer. The benefits to having cash are many. You can negotiate price, get the exact breed that you want and, if necessary, you will have the ability to put down a deposit.
The Final Word On Pet Financing
So is pet financing a good thing? That depends on you. For many people, the idea of financing a pet when so many are locked up in shelters is appalling. For others, financing is the only way to get the animal that they have dreamed of. Make the decision that feels right to you and ignore what others have to say. It is your life and it will be your pet.
