Amazon Layaway: Don't Forget About the Items You Reserved During the Big Spring Sale

Amazon's Big Spring Sale ended on March 25, and if you reserved any items with Amazon Layaway, you may want to know when your payment is due. Amazon Layaway can be useful if you're making a big purchase or you're waiting for payday to arrive before shelling out all at once for something you want to buy. It's not the same as Amazon's Affirm payment plan, which also lets you buy now and pay later -- we'll explain below.

Keep reading to find out more about how to use Amazon Layaway. And check out these Amazon Prime benefits, how to sign up for Amazon Prime and how to get ready for the deals.

Read more: Buy Now, Pay Later vs. Credit Cards: Which Is Right for You?

How to use Amazon Layaway

If an item you're looking at is eligible for layaway, you'll see a tag that says Reserve with Layaway -- you may also see this when you add it to your cart. If you don't see it, your item likely isn't eligible for layaway.

Once you add all eligible items to your cart, select Reserve with Layaway at checkout next to each item you'd like to place on layaway. If you're using Amazon Layaway you will not have to have your credit checked, so you won't need to worry about this program affecting your credit. 

Currently, Amazon's layaway program isn't available for orders shipping to Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington, DC or outside of the US.

How does Amazon Layaway work?

Amazon divides the total price of the product you're buying into five payments -- not including tax and shipping. You'll pay 20% upfront and make four additional 20% payments on the scheduled dates Amazon assigns. Your bill will come due every two weeks, for a total of eight weeks. Taxes and shipping costs will be included with your final payment, so it'll be a bit more than the other payments.

When you make the first payment, Amazon reserves your item until it's paid off. Once you pay it off, Amazon will ship the item to you. You won't be charged interest while making payments, as you're not financing your order.

What if I forget to make a payment?

If you forget to make one of your scheduled payments, Amazon will send you an email letting you know your payment attempt was unsuccessful. If you don't make the payment before the next scheduled date, Amazon will cancel your layaway plan and refund all the money you've paid so far.

You won't be charged any fees for overdue or canceled layaway plans. Also, if you have an overdue layaway plan, you won't be able to start a new layaway plan.

If you decide to pay the balance in full ahead of time, log in to your Amazon account and go to My Orders > Order Details > Manage Payment Plans, and then click on Pay early.

How is this different from Amazon's Affirm payment plan?

Using Amazon Layaway has no additional fees: Your only charges are for the product and any shipping costs and taxes. The Affirm payment plan lets you buy now and pay later, but you get your items immediately. This is because it finances your order, which means you'll have to go through a credit approval process first.

However, with Affirm, if you miss a payment, it could potentially harm your credit score since Affirm reports some payment records, positive and negative, to the credit bureaus. Plus, it could come with interest, causing you to pay more in the long run -- Affirm payment options can range anywhere from six weeks to 60 months. Some transactions may also be interest-free. 

If you can wait eight weeks for the items you've ordered to be delivered, we recommend going with the layaway plan and avoiding buy now, pay later programs.

For more, here's how to make the most of your Prime membership.