How did you purchase your machine?

[Dee Gallo]

I've had four lasers and paid cash for each one. I'm not a fan of credit or owing money. As Dave said, you need a business if you want to make money. A laser is just another tool, not a magic wand. However, if you start out as a hobby, then develop your skills and technique, that hobby can turn into a business eventually.

That said, a laser is a wonderfully fun toy whether for work or play!

[Glenn Chua]

Agreed w/ points from Dan and Ross. In my case I do make sure to pay before promotion period is up and don't carry any credit card debt that is not at 0%.

I don't partake in any 0% credit card deals that charge a fee. If there is a fee Dan is right. Just purchase outright.

For my most recent purchase (yesterday) with Trotec they allow 25% down via credit card. I put this on a card with a 12month 0% promotional period on all purchases. The other 75% is put on a card which allows balance transfers with NO fee at 0% for 15 months. Tough to find, but they are out there from time to time. Since Trotec will only take 25% down via credit I had the credit card company issue a check from the credit card which essentially works like a balance transfer, but since this particular card has NO fee balance transfer I get a true 0%.

[Dan Hintz]

I don't partake in any 0% credit card deals that charge a fee. If there is a fee Dan is right. Just purchase outright.

For clarity, the fee I mention is from the laser company, not the CC company. I think on my last major purchase I got back 1% from the CC company, but that was overwhelmed by the 2%+ added to my bill by the product manufacturer for using a CC... they want checks, not CC, whenever possible, because of those fees. They're certainly not going to eat them (unless they can hide it in a heavily-inflated purchase price).

[Robert Tepper]

I paid 50% down with cash and got a five year bank loan at 2.2% interest for the balance. I am 39 months into a 60 month loan.

My payments are affordable and it has worked out well for my company.

Robert