Does buying items from FingerHut improve your credit?

Question

I was looking at this FingerHut catalog my father had one day that comes in the mail once in a while and I seen that you can get items from their catalog or online and have to pay monthly payments. I think it sounds like a great idea for a company to do that, to a certain extent. I was wondering does anyone know if buying items from FingerHut helps improve your credit by paying your payments on time? And yes I know that they report you to the credit bureau if you don't pay them their money that you agreed to pay for the item you want. For extra information, I am 19 and would love to establish my credit early in life so I can get my own house in the future, but I need some ways that are easy to do and build it up from there. Also, I am a very responsible person and I can make monthly payments. So, again, I ask, does buying items from FingerHut improve your credit?


Thank you to whoever reads my question and answers it to the best of their ability.

^o^

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

http://www.fingerhut.com/help.aspx?quest…

Fingerhut.com does offer a credit account. Terms sound like the usual store credit account.

Personally never had one from them but it is an old established company. (I think everybody has an older relative with at least one catalog laying around in their house).

Is this really something you want to do? Does the merchandise variety appeal to you?

Before you sign up you should contact them by phone and get some questions answered:

Does this credit account report to the 3 credit bureaus?
Do they report the credit limit or only the monthly payments to the credit bureaus?

If the account reports to the credit bureaus and reports your total credit limit and then shows your payment history in detail... then yes, this is at least a beginner account that can help build your credit.

Go to their website and do your homework: Call them and don't be shy to ask those questions.

Answer 2

Well, according to similar old questions on here, Fingerhut is a reputable company, but their stuff is overpriced and they charge a lot of interest.

So yes, it probably would be a way to build your credit, but possibly an expensive way compared to some other options.

This page has some other ways you could build your credit that might be better ideas:
http://banking.about.com/od/loans/a/buil…

Answer 3

I don't honestly know whether buying from FingerHut can help improve your credit (although I'm sure you're right about defaulting on payments to them harming it), but I doubt it. My opinion is that a better way to establish credit is to open a Mastercard or Visa account with a bank. There are ways for people with bad credit to get accounts, so I'm certain that there are ways for a young person with no credit to open one. Then use your card responsibly - charge small amounts and pay them off every month. As you develop good credit by doing so, you can trade up to a better card (i.e. one with a higher limit or without constraints). Good luck!