Store cards good & bad experiences?

[Traveler101]

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@Aim_High wrote:

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@CorpCrMgr1 wrote:

@credit_economist  **bleep**'s  Sporting Goods. I was getting back into golf. Purchased about $200 of golf paraphernalia for about $125 after the card approval discounts ...

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@CorpCrMgr1, I'm simply appalled!  You really should stop using such foul language on My FICO since the website filter auto-edited out your profanity!  I suggest in the future you use more appropriate language and reference "Richard's Sporting goods" instead of d ! c k $.  lol

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Shame on all of you. Let's forget about the sporting goods and head over to bass pro. Grab a pole off the shelf and go play in the trout pond. Could you imagine management? Lol. But I suspect it's been done before. 

[FicoMike0]

I had an interesting experience last Christmas season. I had just gotten the wf visa with 2% plus $200 sub for $500 spend.  I went to best buy and doubled the spend in one transaction. They had a deal for $100 off my $1000 purchase for applying  for their card. I didn't want another hard pull and knew my reports were all frozen. Immediately turned down for card, still got $100 off.  When wf cc posted, got $200 plus $20 (2%).  Wf also paid off $325 checking sub same statement! Christmas in January.

Sorry, got a little off track, I have no store cards,lol.

[moto4man]

I have two, and they've worked out well.  From what I remember learning on here though is, the initial hit is a little harder on your FICO, then standard cards.   I may be mistaken... it has been  a while since I've dug through the forums here.

Synchrony Discount Tire Card - 5% off all the time, and 0% interest for 1 year on all purchases.  With 20" tires on a full size pick up, and a tandem axle RV.  It adds up quick.  

Wells Fargo Micro Center Card - 5% off everyday, and 0% interest for the first year on all purchases.   I do some high end PC gaming, and I was beyond an upgrade.  1 and done on this card I think, but I was happy to get my foot in the door with WF.  Mostly just for the fact that I'm on the better side of recovery efforts at this point.

[Thomas_Thumb]

I have a BBY store only card. Had it since 2011.

The good:

Was getting 6% back toward future purchases for everything purchased thru BBY. It changed to 5% when BBY dropped their elite and elite plus member programs in 2022.

Easy apply and good SL. Fairly high CLs are achievable.

Decent customer service.

The bad:

Only 1%  back on purchases made outside BBY if you get the co-branded Visa card. I stayed with the pure play store only card when offered a no credit check conversion

CLIs required a hard pull. Not sure if that changed since Citi took over managing the portfolio.

[AskPatient1281]

The Sears' Shop Your Way card seems nice.

[ptatohed]

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@AskPatient1281 wrote:

The Sears' Shop Your Way card seems nice.

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It is very nice!  But I really don't think of it as a Sears store card at all.  It doesn't even say Sears anywhere on it.  It's a MC accepted everywhere.  There is nothing special about it as far as using it at Sears.  It's one of the lower point redemptions at Sears - 2% in points.  It's 5% for gas and 3% for Groc/Dine.  But it's a great card! 

[xenon3030]

There are several cards in the market that give ~3-5% on either online shopping or in-store (digital wallet). So, there is no need to get store cards, unless there are concerns on cap.

Since some store cards might get managed directly by the store or by a 3rd party, instead of banks, there might be concerns on discrepancies like incorrect payment, late payment or AA and fixing them might be a hassle.

PS: My only active store card is Chase Amazon (my Walmart CC is in SD forever).

[Anonymous]

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@xenon3030 wrote:

There are several cards in the market that give ~3-5% on either online shopping or in-store (digital wallet). So, there is no need to get store cards, unless there are concerns on cap.

Since some store cards might get managed directly by the store or by a 3rd party, instead of banks, there might be concerns on discrepancies like incorrect payment, late payment or AA and fixing them might be a hassle.

PS: My only active store card is Chase Amazon (my Walmart CC is in SD forever).

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As already discussed, there can be many benefits above any discount rate, e.g. Target's free shipping and other cards the offer some special pricing etc.    Many major store cards are managed by banks so I don't know that that is really something to be concerned about.

FWIW (nothing!) I would still reserve "store card" to mean non-network cards, e.g. Sync Amazon rather than Chase.   But I guess we still call say the Citi AA Exec an airline card, so it's murky1