Are you gearing up for the upcoming holiday shopping season already? Well, so is Walmart! They’ve just announced that the Walmart Layaway plan will be back again this year. Starting Friday, August 28th, Walmart shoppers can start putting items on layaway. That’s a full two weeks before last year’s layaway program started, and just before its first ever Toy Week, which highlights some of the top toys this holiday season. The beginning of the Walmart Layaway program also comes just before the release of the new Star Wars toys at Walmart on September 4th.
How Can Walmart Layaway Help You?
I know it can be pretty frustrating for consumers to see the holidays creeping in earlier and earlier every year at stores, but the early Walmart Layaway rollout can be a good thing for some shoppers. I swear!
By instituting this program earlier, Walmart is giving shoppers more time to pick up holiday gifts. This means that you won’t have to scramble around and scrape up extra cash just before the holidays. Instead, you can shop a little earlier and make payments on your holiday gifts. While this may not help you save by cashing in on amazing deals during the upcoming Black Friday sales, it can make holiday shopping a little easier and less stressful.
If you’re planning on using Walmart Layaway this year, there are a few things you’ll need to know…
Walmart Layaway 2015 Terms
If you’re itching to get shopping and start a Walmart Layaway, here are a few things to keep in mind…
- Walmart Layaway orders can be placed staring August 28th.
- Layaway is available in stores ONLY. Online shoppers can not start a Walmart Layaway. That means actually hoofing it to the store.
- Items on a Walmart Layaway must be $10 each or more. Unlike Kmart, you’ll need to spend at least $10 on each item you put on a Walmart Layaway. Although this is lower than the $15 minimum from last year, this is still a bit of an annoyance and may be a deal breaker for some consumers. This minimum means that stocking stuffers and less expensive items (including anything priced at the ever popular $9.97) can’t be put on layaway at Walmart. BOO!
- Walmart Layaway has a minimum purchase requirement. The total of your Walmart Layaway order must be $50 or greater.
- Expect to pay a down payment. Although there’s no opening fee, don’t think you can walk into a store and start a Walmart Layaway with no cash at all. When you start your layaway, you’ll be required to put down a payment of either $10 or 10% or your total, whichever is greater.
- You can only shop in certain categories. If you’ll be starting a Walmart Layaway, you’re pretty much limited to toys, electronics, auto electronics, furniture, small appliances, jewelry, and select sporting goods. That means no new clothes or bed and bath items on your layaway. It also excludes wireless phones that require contracts.
- Walmart Layaway is not available on November 26. This is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, which has also become the start of the big Walmart Black Friday event in recent years. With the layaway option unavailable on this day, don’t expect to be putting any of those awesome sale items on layaway.
- Make payments at any register. You must start a Walmart Layaway at the store pickup desk, usually located at the back of the store. However, you can make layaway payments at any register.
- Pay on your own schedule. There are no scheduled payments to make on your Walmart Layaway. You can make payments every week or every two weeks, for instance, or make no payments at all and just pay it off and pick it up by the cutoff date.
- Pick up your items by December 14th. Any orders not paid for and picked up by this date will be cancelled and the payments will be refunded.
- Expect a cancellation fee. If you are unable to pay off and pick up your Walmart Layaway by December 14th, payments will be refunded, but you’ll get socked with a $10 cancellation fee.
