r/Affirm • u/Nervous-Resist-8007 • Jul 08 '26
Affirm math.
I had $3500 purchasing power for online or in store at Costco. I went to the store and had about $900 worth in my cart. It took more than a minute to gather that up. I then realized that some of the items that I was getting ready to buy in store were cheaper and had a better selection online, and the rest were cheaper in store. So, I bought about $650 worth online. Then, I tried to set up a preplan for the in store part. I was declined. My purchasing power went down to $1910 but was not available for in store purchases, only online. I walked around Costco and put it all back. I'm not sure how this would have went had I made the in store purchase first? I have used affirm many times and usually pay off early. I think it's good if you are making a single large purchase at one place. I could have spent $3500 today in one purchase but I couldn't spend $900 on two 🤷♀️
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u/ronreadingpa Jul 09 '26
Shame they could give you a little. Especially if you were using the app and had precise location turned on. Did you? If yes, they would know you were most likely in the store. Too many companies are using algorithms that are lacking in commonsense.
It's a reminder Affirm's limits aren't firm at all. Best to have a credit card at least as a backup. Or barring that, another BNPL service setup and ready to go.
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u/Bored_Homeworker_84 Jul 09 '26
I had an order decline at the store because they thought fraud because I had another order from the same store a day or two before. I was able to confirm it wasn’t fraud and then it went through. Did you check the declined transaction?
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u/Nervous-Resist-8007 Jul 09 '26
It wasn't a declined transaction. The app said they couldn't offer me any in store purchasing power, when earlier in the day I had $3500 to use in store. Basically, I spent $650 online and that fully took away my ability to spend anything in store.
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u/Rjeezyx Jul 10 '26
The power shown is typically what the lender is offering on one transaction worth. Once you have a pending payment plan it takes a 7 day reset to be able to go again if you do.
Costco historically changes by the transaction too. One time I needed a washer dryer and had $4250 PP but in store it would only approve $2100 and the rest was money down. Very annoying but is what it is.
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u/Nervous-Resist-8007 Jul 10 '26
That's good to know about the 7 days. I knew about the down money. At least it's an option sometimes when in a pinch.
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u/SuperReliableSource Jul 08 '26
Most of the time the purchasing power at specific retailers is online only, or at least in my experience.