What credit score is needed for zzounds?

· 29 posts · 16 authors"If they do, depending on how bad your credit score is, you still may be able to get The words "I can't afford it" tell you all you need to know."Play as you pay... Zzounds? - Gearspace - Gearslutz""Online stores EZ payment plans - with NO credit checks""Zzounds vs. Sweetwater vs. Musicians Friend - Page 3""Play as you pay... Zzounds? - Gearslutz

With a credit check, zZounds will allow you to spread out a purchase over 12 Sam Ash now offers a "no credit needed flexible payments option" that + Currently, according to their website 'credit bureau scores don't matter.

As a brand, they don’t have the type of household name status that the likes of guitar Center and Sweetwater enjoy, so newer shoppers might (quite rightly) wonder whether or not zZounds is legit, and a is it trustworthy place to shop online?

In this KillerGuitarRigs Guide we’ll be taking a close look at zZounds, bringing you the background and answering the question, “is zZounds legit?” Keep reading to see what we found.

We can confirm with confidence that zZounds is not a scam site. This is a long running business, and was in fact, one of the first online music retailers in the world. This is backed up by a 100% Trustscore on scamadviser.com

While zZounds is not a scam, they don’t have a particularly stellar customer service reputation, either. From 44 reviews on Trustpilot, they earn an overall score of just 2.2 stars out of five, which carries a rating of “Poor”. Frequent complaints include poor handling of returns, unreliable communications including long hold times to speak to reps, and receiving open box or returned items when new items had been ordered.

On Sitejabber the picture isn’t much better. They received just 2.77 stars out of 5, zZounds ranks 28th out of all musical instrument retails with reviews on the site, with reviews like “This company is a joke”, and “PLEASE DON’T DO IT”, serving as warnings to prospective buyers to perhaps look at shopping elsewhere.

zZounds was born in the Chicago area in 1996, started by a businessman named Ray Campbell. Campbell founded the company with a vision of being a reliable online shopping resource for musicians, but as online-only retail businesses were so incredibly rare at this time, Campbell and his partners decided to open a physical location in Chicago to supplement their bourgeoning business, in order to be taken seriously by vendors.

As time went on and online shopping became more popular, their store, the zZounds Music Discovery Center was shuttered, and zZounds became what Campbell had always intended it to be – an online only retailer.

zZounds will not only match, but beat the price of any competitive retailer if you find the item you’re looking to buy listed for less elsewhere. This also includes any shipping costs from the other retailer, too.

If you’ve already made a purchase from zZounds and you happen to notice the item listed cheaper elsewhere within 45 days of initial purchase, zZounds will refund you the difference.

zZounds are very transparent when it comes to shipping costs. Wherever additional fees for shipping apply, they make a point of showing it on the product listing, which ensures that there are no surprises at checkout time.

For customers in the lower 48, shipping is actually free on all items, with the majority of products being eligible for 2 day shipping. For items not eligible for free 2 day shipping, free commercial ground shipping will apply, with purchases arriving within 5 business days.

One of the big draws to zZounds for many is their “Pay as you Play” plan. This is a payment plan that almost all new items are eligible for. Approval requirements aren’t strict, so the vast majority of applicants are approved right away, and there is no interest on the repayments.

If you’re not happy with your purchase from zZounds, they provide a 45 day window in which you can make a return for a 100% refund. The return policy in general is (on paper) quite generous, with very few exceptions in comparison with other stores, but there are of course some limitations.

zZounds offers some of the fastest shipping in the business – they run a 7 days per week operation at their warehouses (except for holidays), which means that as long as you order prior to 4pm Eastern, your item will ship the same day.

Also increasing the shipping speed is their network of distribution centers. There are 4 warehouses that zZounds use, meaning that over 95% of all orders placed arrive at the destination in 1 to 2 days after purchase.

If you’d like to guarantee delivery in 1 day or 2 days, you can also upgrade to next day or 2 day air freight.

Yes – when buying anything using the Pay as you Play plan, zZounds will request a credit report from Experian. This check may well affect your credit score, so it’s good to be aware prior to applying. zZounds does not, however, report on time payments to the credit bureaus, so you also won’t recover any lost points with on time payments.

zZounds offers a range of clearance options that can help you to save money if you’re OK with not receiving a factory sealed product. They break down the levels of condition as follows:

Warehouse resealed items are most often products that have been purchased and returned, and contain all manuals, parts, components, and accessories. The item itself will be in close to like new condition.

Blemished items are usually items that have been purchased and returned, but have some noticeable imperfections. They are usually smaller areas of damage, are typically superficial, and in no way affect the performance of the item. Blemished items, like warehouse resealed, do come with all accessories and still retain the manufacturer’s warranty.

Scratch and Dent products tend to have the highest levels of damage. They have either been damaged in transit, or have been returned in such a condition. Again, they still retain the factory warranty, and will come with all parts and accessories, and zZounds provides a guarantee that they have been tested and will perform to the manufacturer’s standards.

zZounds and American Musical Supply are not the same company, but they do work with one another. If you’ve looked at the website of both stores, you might have noticed that their stock looks incredibly similar – this is because they share an inventory. A third store, Same Day Music, also shares this inventory with zZounds and AMS.

By sharing an inventory this way, as smaller retailers, they can all benefit from bulk orders and pass those savings along to the customer. It’s often worth shopping around between the 3 sites as they tend to offer different specials.

Sales tax is collected by zZounds for customers living in all states except, Alaska, Delaware, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon.

What credit score do I need in order to use a payment plan? Your credit score is just one of several factors we consider, including your past payment history with

FlexShopper has flexible credit score requirements and won't require a financing option available upon checkout. zZounds logo 5. zZounds

I bought a guitar from Zzounds using their Pay while you Play program. wanted to know first because I would just rather not make the credit inquiry Another little tip to improve your credit score in a hurry is to get a low limit

Another great place to get musical instruments without a credit check is Sweetwater. While their best financing option is currently the Sweetwater Card, which does require a credit check, they also offer a 3 Easy Payments option for financing most of the items they sell, including their guitars. Sweetwater offers a super high threshold on their 3 Easy Payments option — it’s currently up to $4,000, but you’ll need to be able to afford paying as much as $1,333.33 per month if you want to push this to its maximum limit. This is also another place I’ve personally shopped before. In fact, I purchased several guitars from them. While not every experience has been perfect, they have gone out of their way to make things right when problems arose.

American Musical Supply is another music supplier that offers interest-free monthly payments through their EzPay plan, which currently doesn’t require a credit check if the purchase is between $49-$1500. While, like Sweetwater, we do wish they’d offer longer payment terms without a credit check, this is still definitely one of the best options for people looking to finance a guitar. I’ve personally shopped with them and my experience has always been a positive one. It’s cool that AMS offers up to $1500 in credit check free financing — $500 more than zZounds does currently, but keep in mind that if you choose to finance more, you’ll have to be able to make higher payments over a 3-payment term to swing it. AMS also offers 5, 8, and 12 payment options, but they do require a credit check and approval.

Eastwood Guitars now offers interest-free credit-check-free financing on guitars as well through their Play Now, Pay Later option. While we weren’t able to locate the specifics regarding their minimum and maximum qualifying order amounts, it does appear that they currently offer payments spread out over a period as long as 6 months, which is pretty exciting because it makes getting more costly gear much more attainable for consumers. While I haven’t personally shopped with them and I wasn’t able to locate BizRate survey information on them, they do appear to have lots of good customer feedback on their website.

Lane Music also offers financing with no credit needed through their Progressive Leasing option. According to the information currently provided on their site, Progressive Leasing allows you to pay off music equipment over a 90 day term -or- make low payments over the course of a year on purchases up to $2,500. It’s worth noting that you do not own the musical instruments you buy from Lane Music until they are entirely paid off. While they claim to have ‘no up-front-fees,’ it’s unclear from their current info page whether or not fees are charged at some point or interest is applied. Given the generous 1-year term for payment, it may be something worth writing or calling them about to check into.

Alto Music is yet another online musical instrument store that allows you to finance finance a guitar on a payment plan. However, if you’re looking for payment options without a credit check, Alto Doesn’t offer a true pay as you play option. Instead, they offer terms up to 6 months on layaway, allowing you to pay for the instrument and receive it after it’s paid in full. AltoMusic also offers Progressive Leasing, which they currently claim does not require a high credit score. They also let you make payments via Affirm or the AltoMusic card, both of which require a credit check.

While you’ll only have access to Kiesel brand guitars, Kiesel does currently offer a 90 day payment option with no credit needed through their Progressive Leasing option. You can quickly apply online for approval for this in-house financing option and Kiesel does appear to make some pretty badass guitars so you likely won’t be disappointed.

While Reverb doesn’t currently offer any payment options without a credit check, they do offer financing on lots of new and used instruments, including electric and acoustic guitars, through Affirm. According to NerdWallet, Affirm currently has no minimum credit score or minimum credit history requirement so this may be a good guitar financing option for people with low credit scores, but we can’t say for sure.

While it’s probably going to be harder to qualify for than options I’ve already listed, Sam Ash is an amazing musical instrument store with years of experience and tons and tons of guitars to choose from. I’ve had plenty of positive past experiences with them and still have fond memories of visiting their store at King of Prussia Mall. Sam Ash does currently offer some pretty exceptional financing options through the Sam Ash Card, but according to one of the forums I referenced, it does appear to be a harder card to qualify for if you have poor to bad credit. If you’re feeling luck or adventurous, it may still be worth trying to apply for.

Guitar Center is another musical instrument store I’ve had lots of positive experiences with. In fact, I bought my first guitar at one of their stores back when I was a teen. They also offer some pretty awesome financing options with their Gear Card, which does require a credit check. According to WalletHub, people with fair credit have a pretty good chance of getting approved for financing at Guitar Center so this may be a good alternative to the Sam Ash card.

While most people don’t think of Amazon as a place to buy musical instruments, let alone a guitar, the fact is, they have looooooads of options to choose from and some of the best prices out there. Amazon also currently offers special zero-interest financing in 6 and 12 month terms through the Amazon Store Card. According to WalletHub, you’ll need good, but not necessarily excellent credit to qualify for financing with them.

I haven’t personally shopped at Musician’s Friend, but people I know have raved about them for years. While they don’t offer payment options without a credit check for your next guitar purchase, they definitely do currently offer some pretty awesome options for financing, including 6, 12 , 24, and 48 month payment terms with no-interest through the Musician’s Friend Platinum Card. According to the forums I referenced, including HarmonyCentral, it appears that it’s not a very difficult to card to qualify for. This may be a good option for people who want longer payment terms with no interest, but have poor to bad credit.

Zager makes beautiful custom guitars that can be purchased directly from their website. While they don’t offer their own financing, they do allow you to pay with PayPal Financing. However, according to Pocket Sense, the average score for people who qualify is about 720, which is rather high if you have poor to bad credit.

Like Amazon, Walmart is another place that might not immediately come to mind when you think of financing a guitar. However, you’ll find they have tons of great guitars to choose from on their website. Another plus is that, according to WalletHub, you may only need to have fair credit to qualify for the Walmart Store Card, making this a potentially awesome option for people with less than ideal credit scores.

Kraft Music is another well established musical instrument supplier that offers a good selection of guitars to choose from at excellent prices. They currently offer a number of interest-free financing options including terms of 12, 18, and 36 months. They do, however, require a credit check. While I wasn’t able to locate any information on what kind of credit scores usually qualify, it might be worth reaching out to them by phone or email to see what sort of credit scores currently have a good chance of being approved.

Fingerhut is well known for offering a great store card that helps with rebuilding bad credit, but what many people don’t know is that they also have a decent selection of guitars. While there is a credit check required, WalletHub currently reports that people with bad credit can get approved. If you do a quick price comparison, you may find that Fingerhut tends to have slightly higher prices on their items than other retailers, but they’re a great store with a long standing history of helping people rebuild or establish a good credit standing, so they’re totally worth considering as an option for financing your guitar.

HSN is another store that’s fairly well known for their accessible payment plans. They offer 4 payments on most of the items they sell through FlexPay. While a quick comparison may show that guitar prices at HSN tend to be a bit higher than other options, their payment plan is quick and easy to qualify for and they offer a limited selection of Guitars. If you’re a beginner looking for something to start out on, this may be a good option for you to consider.

Quest Musique offers a great selection of guitars and other musical instruments. For financing, they currently have three different options, Pay in Full, a layaway plan with an 8 week payment term that doesn’t require a credit check, and financing through Desjardins Accord D Financing Program. It’s worth noting that the last option, according to the site, may require a well established credit history for approval.

The payments seem to come directly out of your debit/credit card of point.....so I wanted to hear some more recent experience from some people, if that's okay. I purchased a guitar and an amp last February from Zzounds, totaling a they can confirm their identity, so don't worry about a fair credit score."[Question] Is there any catch to doing financing with zzounds""Would you recommend using zzounds payment plan option""How can I submit a record of positive payment history to the""Has anyone ever financed a guitar on Sweetwater or - Reddit

With our easy monthly payment plans, you can get the music gear you need AFAIK Zzounds PAYP does nothing to establish or rebuild credit like a regular CC can The overall rating of the company is 2.9 and consumers are mostly neutral.