Buying on Credit: Difference between revisions

# It is forbidden to pay for a sefer in advance before the printer published the sefer.<ref>[https://www.yutorah.org/sidebar/lecture.cfm/900500/rabbi-hershel-schachter/dinei-ribbis/ Rav Hershel Schachter (Dinei Ribbis approx min 40)]</ref>

# Using advanced discounted payments for a yeshiva or non-profit tzedaka organization is permitted since this is only a rabbinic form of interest.<ref>[https://www.yutorah.org/sidebar/lecture.cfm/900500/rabbi-hershel-schachter/dinei-ribbis/ Rav Hershel Schachter (Dinei Ribbis approx min 40)]</ref>

#Generally it is forbidden<ref>Rambam Malveh Vloveh 8:1 clarifies that it is only rabbinically forbidden to charge more for buying on credit since it is presented as a sale not a loan. Shach 173:4 agrees. Brit Yehuda 12:2 based on Shach 173:6 writes that many poskim hold that it is considered Biblical interest if they specified that there is a higher price for buying on credit.</ref> to charge someone extra for buying on credit.<ref>Gemara Bava Metsia 65a, Shulchan Aruch Y.D. 173:1, Brit Yehuda 12:1, Torat Ribbit 8:1</ref>  

#It is forbidden to make up a contract that if the buyer pays at the end he should pay a certain amount and if he wants he can pay earlier less.<ref>Torat Ribbit 8:2</ref>

# If in a certain market the majority or all of the sales are down on credit and the standard price is the credit price then it can established that the regular price is the credit price and paying up front can be discounted.<ref>Torat Ribbit 8:15 based on Imrei Yosher 1:107, Vaomer Yizchak YD 56, Bet Avi YD 131, Brit Yehuda 22:8, Kitzur Dinei Ribbit of Rav Shternbuch 7:7. He explains that since this market is paid on credit it is considered like a rental (see Shulchan Aruch Y.D. 175:6).</ref>

# If a Jewish store has a different price for buying with a credit card than if you buy with cash it is forbidden to buy at that store with a credit card.<Ref>Torat Ribbit 17:29 based on Shulchan Aruch Y.D. 173:1, Mishpatei Ribbit 1:26:6. The reason to forbid it is that when paying with a credit card the payment is delayed to the seller and certainly for the buyer. Therefore charging more for buying on credit is rabbinic interest. However, see Rav Yehuda Aryeh Diner in Mayim Chayim p. 28 who permits paying more with credit card since when there is a sale with a credit card it is effectuated and transferred to the seller immediately. It is only a loan between the credit card company and the buyer. Kuntres Ezrat Eliezer Ribbit p. 11 points out that in reality the money is not immediately transferred to the seller. [https://www.creditcardprocessing.com/2013/12/long-take-merchant-receive-funds/ creditcardprocessing.com] describes it as taking between 24 and 72 hours. Rav Zeev Cohen in Kuntres Poalim BShabbat by Chicago Kollel p. 10 writes that there is no problem to charge extra for the credit card fee since the seller isn't charging less for buying on credit but rather because they are paid less by the credit card companies and to offset that they charge extra.</ref>

# If an item doesn't have a fixed price then one can charge more for it when the buyer pays later than the delivery date. The reason is that since there's no established price the seller can set the price of the item at the higher price that the buyer will pay later. However, if there is a market price that is known<ref>Tosfot b"m 63b, Rosh b"m 5:22</ref> or the seller specifies a price for the item if one wanted to pay now and another price for buying on credit it is forbidden.<ref>Gemara Bava Metsia 65a</ref> Therefore, having a two tiered pricing system for buying regularly and buying on credit is interest and forbidden between two Jews.<ref>Shulchan Aruch Y.D. 173:1</ref>

#Even when there's no clear price, the market hasn't established a price, and the seller didn't specify a price, the seller can only increase the price a little. There is a dispute as to this amount:

# If something doesn't have a clear price and the market price fluctuates frequently even if there is currently a market price it is considered eligible for the leniency of charging more for buying on credit as long as the seller doesn't specify a price for purchasing it up front.<ref>Chavot Daat 173:3, Chelkat Binyamin 173:31</ref>

# If the price isn't clear and sometimes is sold for one price when sold in the market and another price when sold at a private home, it is permitted to charge a higher price when selling it at the private home even if the buyer is buying on credit.<ref>Shulchan Aruch Y.D. 173:2</ref>

# If the buyer's intention is purely to buy the item on credit in order to sell it immediately for a cheaper value that is considered a prohibited since it as though the cheaper price is stipulated as the value of the loan and yet he agreed to repay a higher amount.<ref>The Ritva b"m 65a cited by Bedek Habayit 173 writes that if someone purchases a commodity on credit it is permitted if the price isn't clear. However, if the buyer immediately sells it for less it shows that the loan obligated him to pay more than the value of the item and is interest. Chatom Sofer YD 137 follows the Ritva and writes that one can't bring a proof from Shulchan Aruch 163:3 or Taz 163:6 who imply otherwise since they didn't have the Ritva.</ref>

# A buyer and seller agreed upon a price for buying on credit and the sale was validated with a complete and formal acquisition. Then they renegotiate that if the buyer pays right away he doesn't have to pay as much that is permitted.<Ref>Shulchan Aruch Y.D. 173:3</ref>

# If a seller sells a product on credit he can't continue to use the product after he sold it. Doing so would be a form of interest since he sold the product he is entitled to be paid, therefore, letting the buyer pay later is a loan and the seller using the buyer's product is interest.<ref>Rama 174:1</ref>

==Contracts with a Delivery Man==

# A Jewish journal or magazine which offers a discount for those who purchase a subscription in advance should present it as the price for a year or half a year and not that it is the price for paying in advance. A newspaper which uses the money for investments should offer the subscriptions with a [[heter iska]].<ref>Malveh Hashem 1:9:40</ref>

==Transactions Established with Interest==

</ref>

==Sources==

<references/>

[[Category:Ribbit]]