Wayfair Financing: 7 Options for Your New Home Decor

Wayfair is one of the largest sellers of furniture and home decor in the U.S. If you’re outfitting or making over your home, your Wayfair order can easily add up to hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Luckily, you have various options for financing your Wayfair purchase. Paying in cash is your cheapest option, but you can also choose from the company’s branded credit cards or loans.

Explore Wayfair financing options below …

1. Paying with cash
2. Wayfair Credit Card
3. Wayfair Mastercard
4. Affirm loan
5. Personal loan
6. Zero-interest credit card
7. Payday advance app

1. Paying with cash

Cash is often your best option for making purchases, as you’ll avoid accruing interest and possibly other fees. However, cash isn’t ideal if you’d wipe out your savings for your purchase; you should keep an emergency fund to handle unexpected expenses, such as a medical bill or car repairs.

If your Wayfair purchase can wait, you can come up with a game plan to save up for it. Some basic strategies include:

• Tracking your spending so you can identify costs you can reduce or cut until you can afford your purchase.
• Setting up a separate savings account and having a small amount of money automatically deposited into the account each payday.
• Picking up extra hours of work, such as by starting a side gig, and using the added income for your purchase.

If you can’t wait to save up for your purchase, the following Wayfair financing options may be a good option.

2. Wayfair Credit Card

If you are a frequent Wayfair shopper and want to get rewards points that are redeemable on future purchases, you may be interested in applying for one of their two branded credit cards: the Wayfair Credit Card and Wayfair Mastercard. (We cover the Wayfair Mastercard in the next section.)

The Wayfair Credit Card can only be used on purchases at Wayfair.com or the company’s four other websites: Joss & Main, AllModern, Birch Lane and Perigold. New cardholders get $40 off their first qualifying order of $250 or more.

Cardholders can choose to earn rewards on their purchase or select a financing or purchase plan:

• 5% back in Reward Dollars, which can be used at any Wayfair-owned property;
• 6 to 24 months of deferred-interest financing on qualifying orders; or
• 9.99% APR for 36, 48 or 60 months on your qualifying order

Reward Dollars you earn don’t expire, and you can redeem up to $2,500 in Reward Dollars per month. With Wayfair’s deferred-interest financing option, the number of months in which you can finance your purchase will depend on your purchase amount. If you don’t pay off your balance within the financing period, you’ll be charged interest from the purchase date.

Applying for the Wayfair Credit Card

You’ll have to be at least 18 years old, provide a physical U.S. address (not a P.O. Box) and have a Social Security number. The online application form also requests information such as your monthly housing payment and total annual net income. Wayfair doesn’t specify a minimum income or credit score requirement.

3. Wayfair Mastercard

Unlike the Wayfair Credit Card, the Wayfair Mastercard can be used anywhere Mastercard is accepted. In addition to being able to earn 5% back in Reward Dollars on your Wayfair properties, you also get:

• 3% back in Reward Dollars at grocery stores
• 2% back online; and
• 1% back everywhere else

The Reward Dollars you earn don’t expire but are only redeemable on Wayfair websites. As with the Wayfair Credit Card, new cardholders get $40 off their first qualifying orders of $250 or more. With your purchases, you’ll also have the option of choosing between 5% back in Reward Dollars, up to 24 months of deferred-interest financing or a major purchase plan with a 9.99% APR for 36, 48 or 60 months.

Applying for the Wayfair Mastercard

The Wayfair Mastercard and Wayfair Credit Card share the same application. You are considered for both cards when you apply. If approved for both, you can decide which card you’d prefer to have.

Wayfair doesn’t detail minimum requirements for either of their branded credit cards. However, expect the Wayfair Mastercard to come with stricter eligibility requirements as it is a rewards card.

4. Affirm loan

Wayfair shoppers may also be able to apply for an installment loan at checkout via Affirm. The point-of-sale loan servicer allows you to take out a loan for your purchase amount, with repayment terms from 6 to 12 months. Your payment terms depend on your purchase amount of up to $17,500.

To apply, you will select Affirm when checking out on the Wayfair website. (Affirm allows you to see if you prequalify with a soft credit inquiry.) As with any loan, your interest rate will depend on your credit and other financial information. A key benefit to using Affirm is that you may qualify for a 0% APR. Further, there are no fees, like an origination fee. However, a down payment may be required.

Applying for an Affirm loan

To be eligible for an Affirm loan, you must be at least 18 years old, have a Social Security number and provide a valid U.S. mobile or VoIP number and agree to receive text messages from Affirm. Residents in Iowa and West Virginia are not eligible to apply for an Affirm loan due to state laws.

While your credit score is a deciding factor, Affirm looks at other unspecified data points to make the final loan decision. That means you may be able to get approved for Affirm financing even without extensive credit history.

5. Personal loan

A personal loan is a fixed-rate installment loan, typically for $1,000 to $50,000 or more. These loans can be used for just about any purpose and can be secured or unsecured. An unsecured loan doesn’t require collateral, like your car or savings, to back the loan. As a result, unsecured personal loans can be harder to qualify for compared with a secured personal loan.

With rates that could be as low as 2.49% APR and repayment terms ranging from 12 to 60 months or longer, personal loans can be a good financing option, especially for those with strong credit. However, they may come with origination fees, which can be up to 8% of your loan amount. This common fee is either deducted from your loan amount or added on top of it.

Applying for a personal loan

To qualify for a personal loan, you’ll need to:

• Provide basic information, such as your permanent address
• Live in a state where your lender offers loans
• Meet the lender’s credit requirements
• Have a verifiable source of income
• Be at least 18 years old, a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, have a valid Social Security number or be here on a long-term visa

Because personal loans are typically backed by your promise to pay and not by assets, lenders look at a variety of factors including your credit history and income to determine loan terms. If you have fair or poor credit, your loan options will be limited, and you can expect higher interest rates. If you only qualify for a high rate, a personal loan may not be your best Wayfair financing option.

6. Zero-interest credit card

Credit card issuers sometimes offer introductory 0% APRs in order to entice new customers. These offers can last six to 18 months or longer. Unlike with the Wayfair Credit Card and Wayfair Mastercard, these introductory offers don’t charge deferred interest. If you carry a balance after the introductory period expires, however, you’ll be charged the regular APR on it.

Zero-interest credit card offers can be a great way to reduce borrowing costs compared with a personal loan, if you qualify and can pay off your balance before the introductory period expires. Expect strict credit requirements to be eligible for an introductory 0% APR offer, however.

Only borrowers with good-to-excellent credit typically can qualify for zero-interest credit cards. Be prepared to provide personal identifying information, such as your Social Security number and address. Depending on the card issuer, you may be able to apply for prequalification with a soft credit check.

A formal application will require a hard credit inquiry, which will result in a small but temporary ding on your credit. As an unsecured credit product, your credit health, income and other financial information will be heavily weighed when determining your eligibility.

7. Payday advance app

Payday advance apps allow you to borrow small amounts of money from your next paycheck. Although they may work similarly to payday loans, payday advance apps are not payday loans; apps like Earnin don’t charge the extraordinarily high fees that are typical with payday loans. Therefore, the apps make for an affordable and safer borrowing option for bad credit borrowers.

When you use a payday advance app, you’ll typically only be able to borrow a small amount. With Earnin, the daily cap is $100, and there’s a $500 maximum you can borrow per pay period. When payday comes, the amount you borrowed will be automatically withdrawn from your checking account. You may have the option of leaving a tip for the service.

Applying for a payday advance

You need a direct deposit setup with a bank payday advance apps work with so they can transfer funds to and from your account. You also need to provide a way for the apps to track your earnings so they can pay you for the work you’ve done. For instance:

• Earnin requires that over 50% of your direct deposit is sent to a checking account and that you have a regular pay schedule.
• For hourly employees, Earnin asks to see your online timekeeping system or a printed paper timesheet.
• Salaried employees need to provide a fixed work location so they can track when you go to work.
• If you are a Uber driver, Earnin can track your earnings automatically after you link your account.

With COVID-19 leading to the growing remote-working trend, Earnin has made a one-time exception to its work-from-home restrictions. To qualify for that, you will need to provide a valid employer-provided unique work email and the ability to access your work inbox and satisfy other demands.

And other payday advance apps may have different requirements. Klover, for instance, requires that you have at least three consistent deposits within the past two months with no gaps in pay with the same employer.