My computer is still being an asshole since Windows 11 has been installed and so is my internet connection for some reason (still) and I am hoping that sometime soon things will get straightened out but today is not that day. I am still kind of new to the whole buy now pay later scene. For the longest time, I was only able to get my foot in the door with Afterpay and I have been using that for about 3 or 4 years. Thus far, it seems like Afterpay is still the easiest to get your foot in the door with. I still can't get my foot in the door with Klarna, Paypal pay in 4 or Affirm and I am okay with that.
In the past couple months, I somehow managed to get my foot in the door with Zip and Sezzle and I was never able to beforehand. I haven't used Sezzle yet but I have used Zip. There is a reason that I am reviewing Zip today. Some of the reason why I wanted to use Zip was for the times where I need to pay my cellphone bill and didn't quite have the means to pay it. Afterpay has never let me pay my Verizon bill through them. I can buy cellphones, gift cards and giftcards if I went to Verizon through the Afterpay app but was never "allowed" to pay my cellphone bill for some reason. With Zip, I have the ability to do that.
While it is a great thing that I can pay my cellphone bill on Zip and I am sure that I probably could pay other bills through Zip, I have only a $150 limit. To get a higher limit, I would have to pay off 5 orders. I am working on my last 2 orders to pay off and even then I wouldn't know what kind of limit I would have afterwards and it would raise my limit to probably $200. It kind of helps but it doesn't, I would rather pay my entire cellphone bill if I need to on Zip but a $340 cellphone bill is quite a bit. I have the top of the line cellphone plan and 3 brand new cellphones that I am paying on. But I have been able to pay at least part of my cellphone bill with Zip and this is mainly what I am going to be using Zip for.
There are some big differences between Zip and Afterpay in terms of getting things. More often than not, Afterpay doesn't have a minimum threshold when using Afterpay. If I spend $15 at Ulta and use Afterpay, I am only paying $3.50 every two weeks. With Zip, the minimum threshold is $35 but the biggest thing that I have noticed with Zip, there is a $4 surcharge with every purchase that I would make and have made. Let's just say that I am a little hesitant to use Zip because I am not exactly so willing to pay an extra $4 for every purchase that I am thinking of making. So if I am making a $35 Walmart purchase, I am actually paying $4 on top of that $35. Yes, for every order, Zip tacks on an extra $4 surcharge for every order that I make using Zip. I haven't used Sezzle yet and don't know if they do the same thing. But Zip is giving me more of a credit card kind of vibe without really being a credit card.
I am intriged though on when I pay off my two other orders on what my limit would be afterwards. I am not expecting too much of an increase. With Afterpay, the limit increases start out pretty small. When my limit was $100 and after about 6 weeks my limit was raised to $200 and was increased by $100 until I hit $1,400 and then I was looking at $250 to $500 increases in one sitting and I am thinking that Zip might be more of the same way but I haven't been using Zip that long or that often. For me, Zip does have a purpose but it's probably not going to be my primary BNPL go to, that's why I use Afterpay because I am not a fan of surcharges or added fees tacked on to my purchases. While I might be okay with having what I have with the whole BNPL, which is the fact that I have options if I need them.
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