It is no secret that our hardware products are not only high-quality but also involve a lot of R&D overhead to make the Librem laptops and phones possible: our software & firmware development and support (and any additional R&D to enable us to grow and better serve you) has to be paid out of the margins we make on each sale, whether from the base configurations or the accessories and upgrades. It’s the reality of our cost structure as a manufacturer involved in providing a turn-key, integrated hardware+software solution, so these are simply the economics we have to deal with. Our business model isn’t cheap to run.
Most people find our offering to be of great value and are willing to vote with their wallets without hesitation, but there are also those who, while they are supportive of our goals and hold our products in high respect, simply cannot financially (or emotionally!) afford to shell out the money “all at once” to make a purchase. Some people have tighter cash flows and need to manage their budgets over the long term, and that’s quite understandable.
So today, I’m happy to announce that we have made a leap forward in catering to those who need more flexibility, by using SplitIt to offer split payments as an option. We are hoping to also add other financing partners in the future if we see interest from our customers, so let us know if this is a positive change for you or the people you know.
What this system allows you to do is to get one of our products and pay it over time, interest-free (to the extent that you honor your credit card payments, otherwise your credit card company will charge interest to you, of course). We are not the ones handling the split payment, SplitIt and your bank or credit card company do.
So, as an example, if you buy a Librem 13 “base configuration” at the regular price of $1399 (remember, today is Black Friday and we have a sale going on, so it’s actually less than that), instead of paying the entire amount in a single transaction you can choose to pay the same amount divided by twelve months, that is 12 payments of roughly 117$ on your credit card. Of course, financial responsibility still applies and you need to make sure you can afford the monthly payments for the duration of your chosen term (6 or 12 months, depending on what you choose).
We hope many will find this new feature useful! Of course, if you choose to make use of this payment strategy, please make sure to read the “Customer’s Terms and Conditions” section of SplitIt’s Terms & Conditions page.
— Jeff, on behalf of the marketing and finance departments