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Electric Scooter Financing – A Detailed Guide
The price of electric scooters has fallen sharply in the past few years, but even the electric scooters that are considered cheap today are still not cheap. More importantly, most people want a higher quality scooter, and the price of these scooters is often close to or more than $1,000, which is already a considerable amount of money for most families. This is why financing has become a very popular choice for buyers. Today, there are many good options, but if you are considering electric scooter financing, you should also pay attention to some things.
Can I buy an electric scooter in finance?
Electric scooters are usually easy to obtain financing. The easiest way to get financing is through online merchants that sell scooters, because they often work with financing companies to easily complete the entire transaction online with just a few clicks. This is called a buy-and-pay financing method, or installment loan point. Or, you can get a personal loan to buy an electric scooter, although this is a more complicated procedure.
How does financing for electric scooters work?
The best e-scooter merchants cooperate with third-party financing companies to make e-scooter financing very easy, and in my opinion, it is very fair in many cases.
Generally, merchants in North America will offer their customers the option of obtaining financing through Affirm, while merchants in Europe will offer Klarna as the main option. However, this is just a general rule, because both Affirm and Klarna are international companies working in most parts of the Western world. However, these companies may not be able to obtain financing for your scooter in other parts of the world, and this may have to be done by obtaining a loan.
Electric scooter financing and Affirm
The best online motorcycle brands in the United States like Voromotors, FluidFreeRide and EWheels, will provide declarations through financing options. To use this option, you must choose to use Affirm to pay at checkout. If you don’t have an account yet, create an account with them and get approved. This usually doesn’t take too long (but the approval process needs to be between two Between 1 day and 7 days).
They are one of the earliest and fastest-growing buy-and-pay companies. They provide very transparent and easy to understand terms of service (the founder Max Levchin is also one of the founders of PayPal).
Affirm calculates the annual interest rate (APR), which is the interest rate you will pay. It considers your credit score to determine it, but it also considers some other information. There are no hidden fees, and the costs and interest rates you pay are predetermined. They offer the option of paying within 3, 6, 12, 18, 24, or 36 months, but usually 3, 6 or 12 months.
If your credit score is good, you may not pay any interest rate through Affirm. A deposit may or may not be required. Affirm is also known for not charging late fees and not requiring credit cards because they lend directly to merchants.
Please keep in mind that Affirm may report omissions or default payments to the credit bureau, which may affect your credit score.
The following is a way to finance some of the most popular electric scooters in North America through merchants that offer Affirm as a financing option, assuming you get full approval and do not require a down payment.
Katapult rental electric scooters
Voromotors is currently the only company that provides easy financing through Affirm, but also offers lease-to-own options through Katapult (Affirm’s partner company), and is a simpler financing method (usually, customers who have not been approved through Affirm) , Approved by Katapult).
Basically, Katapult’s customers sign a lease-and-buy contract, which is an agreement to lease the product and choose to own the product. After you get the product, you can choose the advance purchase option, which will allow you to pay only for the product and buy it, or you can continue to pay the rental fee every week, every two weeks, or every half month. The first payment is done at checkout.
When evaluating the lease agreement, Katapult considers the cash price of the product, the state where the customer lives, the maximum period the customer can lease the product, and the state/city sales tax rate.
Katapult does not even check credit history in many cases, which makes it very attractive to many customers with bad credit. The evaluation and approval process is very fast, and you can obtain financing for a loan of up to $3,500 within a few minutes, which will cover the vast majority of scooter purchases.
However, the interest rate for leasing with Katapult may be high, and you may end up paying more for the product.
Let’s take Voromotors’ EMove Cruiser as an example. At a price of US$1399, Katapult’s initial payment may be around US$45. If you pay off the lease within 90 days, the scooter may end up costing you more than US$1,500, which is not bad. However, the total cost of ownership, including all lease payments within a year, could end up as high as $2,845, more than twice the original price of the scooter.
Therefore, if you finance your scooter through Katapult, make sure you can pay it off in 90 days or less, otherwise, the price may become too high.
Electric scooter financing in cooperation with Klarna
Popular scooters and stores in the EU and the UK such as PureElectric and GeekBuying will provide financing options through Klarna. Obtaining financing through Klarna only involves choosing the option of using Klarna to pay at checkout.
Similar to Affirm, Klarna provides point-of-sale loans. What makes Klarna stand out from other larger point-of-sale loan companies is that most of their plans are interest-free. They also have some interesting plans, but they mainly profit by charging a small late fee.
The two most popular installment plans offered by Klarna are Pay in 4 and Pay in 30. With Pay in 4, the payment is divided into 4 equal payments, which are due once every two weeks. Late fees can be as high as $7.
With Pay in 30, you don’t need to pay anything when you buy a product, and then you have 30 days to pay in full. This option is perfect for customers who just want to try the product and believe that they may return the product or request a refund.
In addition to these two plans, Klarna also provides customers with options to obtain financing. Customers can choose to repay the loan at any time from 6 to 36 months. The interest rate can sometimes be 0%, but up to 29.99%, although most loans have an APR of 19.99%.
In addition, the “Pay Now” option available through the Klarna app can sometimes help you spot price drops and pay less for the product.
Klarna does consider credit card history when deciding whether to approve new customers, but there is no minimum credit score requirement, and you don’t need to accept credit cards. In addition, Klarna will report to the credit bureau that it has failed to pay on time.
PayBright Electric Scooter Financing
Some of the most trusted scooter brands operating in Canada, such as Apollo and UrbanMachina, offer monthly payments through PayBright. You only need to choose the option to pay with PayBright at the checkout.
PayBright is a Canadian buy-and-pay financing company that was acquired by Affirm a few years ago. There are many options, interested and not interested.
PayBright’s approval process is usually very short.
The interest rate for financing loans can be between 0% and 29.95%, and the maturity can be 12, 18, or 24 months, but sometimes even more for larger purchases, such as up to 60 months. In addition to interest rates, you also need to pay a monthly fee ranging from US$1 to US$4. These payments will affect your credit score, and PayBright needs to check your credit history for approval.
In addition, PayBright provides installment plans without interest rates, such as the Pay in 4 plan, which allows you to divide the payment into 4 equal bi-weekly payments without affecting your credit score. Although there is no interest rate for this plan, late payment will be fined $10, and failure to pay will be fined $30.
Use PayPal to finance electric scooters
One of the easiest and most common ways to obtain financing for your scooter is through PayPal. Generally speaking, every merchant that accepts payment via PayPal may allow you to pay on a monthly basis (this is the majority of online merchants today). You can split a payment of more than $99 over a 6-month payment.
If you pay on time, PayPal will not charge you interest, but if you do not pay on time, you may incur an APR of 23.99%, or a late fee of up to $40. They will also check your credit score, and if your credit score is below 700, they may not approve you.
Use ShopABunda to finance e-scooters on Amazon
Finally, if you are considering financing your scooter, one very useful company you should be aware of is ShopABunda. This is a company that provides financing for Amazon purchases in a simple way, and it may be the only company of this type. Since electric scooters are usually purchased through Amazon, and Amazon itself does not provide local financing options, ShopABunda is very useful and can help you achieve very low monthly payments.
Get a loan to buy an electric scooter
In addition to online financing platforms, obtaining loans to purchase electric scooters through more traditional financial institutions is also an option. The terms will depend entirely on your bank or the company that provides you with the loan, and the process may involve more, but if you can get a lower interest rate or better terms, it may be worth investigating.
Is it difficult to finance electric scooters?
Although electric scooters are not very cheap, they are not too expensive in most cases, so the financing amount is usually not too large. This is why it is usually not very difficult to obtain financing for electric scooters. However, it is possible to be refused financing, especially if your credit score is poor.
How long does it take to get an approved electric scooter loan?
Generally, it takes several hours to a day for an electric scooter loan to be approved. There may be some exceptions, such as some more complicated situations and loan applications (Affirm may take up to a week, while PayBright may take up to a month to approve the loan). After the loan is approved, the merchant will receive the payment within a few days.
What is the interest rate for an electric scooter loan?
The interest rate you pay for financing electric scooters varies by merchant, financing company, and most importantly, credit score. People with good credit scores choose to pay in a shorter period of time, and may even get 0% interest rates at some merchants and financial companies. However, for people with bad credit, the interest rate can be as high as 30% or higher.
What is the monthly payment for electric scooters?
The monthly payment for your electric scooter will depend on the cash price, the number of payments you must make, and the loan interest rate. So, if a scooter sells for $1,200 and you finance it at a 10% interest rate for 12 months, the monthly payment will be $110, for a total price of $1,320.
Can you pay a down payment for an electric scooter?
Most financing companies will allow you to pay a down payment for the purchase of an electric scooter. If you are getting financing for your electric scooter, it makes financial sense to put down as much as possible. In this way, you will eventually pay less interest. This is why many people just choose to wait a while and save some money so that they can pay for the scooter in cash or pay a larger down payment and pay less interest later.
Can I buy a scooter with a credit card?
You can buy electric scooters with a credit card. However, the interest rate may be much higher than the interest rate you get through one of the online financing companies such as Affirm or Klarna.
How do I finance an electric scooter without credit?
A company with no credit history can provide financing for electric scooters without credit. The company provides financing with little or no credit history checks, or does not require extensive credit history to approve financing. In this case, the best option may be the least owned program like Katapult.
What credit score do you need to finance an electric scooter?
Although not cheap, most electric scooters are not too expensive, and most do not exceed $2,000. This is why there is usually no minimum credit score required to finance electric scooters. Nonetheless, the higher your score, the easier it is for you to qualify and get better terms and lower interest rates, thereby reducing overall costs.
Do merchants prefer financing?
When you choose to fund your scooter instead of paying upfront, some merchants may make more profits. They may get a portion of the interest you pay to the financing company as additional profit.
Generally, this is more common for brick-and-mortar stores and distributors who may be trying to finance you through more traditional financing institutions. This is why it is recommended to know the price of the scooter from the retail store before letting them know how you intend to pay, because even if you don’t really need it, they may try to push you to get financing through their partners.
However, this is not common among online merchants because the two most popular online financing options, Affirm and Klarna, do not share interest with merchants, and online brands usually do not have any preference for the payment method you choose your skateboard vehicle.
Is an electric scooter a good investment?
Electric scooters are a good investment, especially for people living in developed countries with high electricity bills. Just reduce your transportation costs, ordinary electric scooters will pay for themselves in 4 to 6 months, and ultimately you will save 400 to 1,200 US dollars per year.
If you interest in electric scooter and have any other questions, please let us know in the section below.