When you’ve had some time with them, I’d love to hear your favorite/least favorite uses?! Marty

@@SHUTUPANDRECORD I will definitely let you know, I’m going to record snare top and bottom and a guitar amp with it next month. Takes so time but I’ll let you know when I got the tracks on the console 👍🏼

@@LewisMcDonaldBass Thanks! It came out pretty good. I actually did 17 mics that day… so I can and will probably do a bunch more head to head comparison vids. Just wanted to get that 545sd done because people had wanted to hear it against the Behringer. ! Appreciate the view and the nice comment! Thanks again!

@@zsn1gman great info. Thanks. I have often lamented how the ability to bargain a better cash price has been lost in the age of online shopping… but it’s always worth a phone call and asking for a better deal. It happens. When it doesn’t, you’ve got a personal experience to judge the store/salesperson in a way that may inform future purchasing decisions. Thanks again for the comment and great point. Marty

@@michaelpond6386 Somebody is going to say inflation… but that increase is not aligned with inflation. Most of it boils down to “because they can”. That’s why as the market, our best (and really only) recourse, is to stop spending money with them. Find alternative, other options. If they aren’t here now… they will be as soon as the tide turns enough. A crucial element is making sure they know, tell them why you’re going a different direction. It has to flow up from sales to management… to the top. Thanks for commenting and sharing your experience! Marty

@@Newbomb_Turks_Punch it’s recent. And if your card is from Synchrony… it’s there.

The promo fee will apply to all new accounts or on the 1yr anniversary of when you opened your account with that merchant or retailer.

@@JohnOBryan Where does it say this? (Thanks for the comment!) Marty

@@SHUTUPANDRECORD Usually this information can be found on the merchant or retailer's website. Existing Synchrony card holders are bound by their existing agreement. Synchrony's agreements are updated annually. I'm the manager of a large retail company and we've been dealing with this mess for months. Hopefully the ruling gets overturned in court.

@@SHUTUPANDRECORD The promo fee applies to all new accounts created after 7/16/2024

@@matthewgaines10 I’m not sure if you watched the video, I’ll assume not. Synchrony has increased its revenue by double digit percentages for the past several years. Synchrony IS getting paid for the credit they issue. They ARE being paid for the “risk” of lending money to people. This is a case of a money grab. Plain. And simple. It hurts the stores the cards are issued for, and will increasingly cost them money until the stores themselves reject the tacked on fees. I’m not sure of anybody that isn’t affiliated with the issuing bank that argues the fees aren’t a big deal, and are a fact of life. Years. And years. Synchrony Bank making these promo deals without the 2% fee AND having their business expand exponentially year after year. Just public record facts. !!

@@WawakGuitarThe credit card company is making 15% higher revenue each and every year (according to public records… even with an adjustment for inflation the CC company is making a significant profit annually) and this is BEFORE the 2% fee, AND the regular interest rate is 29%… there is zero, none, NO reason outside of greed for this 2% fee… It’s nice of you to worry about the Credit Card Bank making money though! Haha. It doesn’t take too many customers rejecting the increase and boycotting purchases with the card to annihilate any potential increase in revenue. Cat is out of the bag at this point.

@@SHUTUPANDRECORD I think you are missing my point. Before this new fee was instituted, I called my salesman at Sweetwater and he gave me a heck of a deal on a scratch and dent item. I asked about the no interest program. He said, "Since we are giving you such a great deal we are going to have to charge you a fee if you want to do the 48 months no interest because they charge us everytime we do that promotion. " What I am saying is Sweetwater has always paid that 2%. The vendors just decided to pass that on to us.

This is somewhat accurate. All credit card companies charge the merchant or retailer a fee for every purchase. Most are starting charge this "processing fee" to the consumer at the time of purchase. Additionally when you earn points, flyer miles or when a merchant or retailer offers 0% interest, the merchant or retailer is the one paying for the benefits. The "promo fee" is being charged directly to the consumer by the financial institution.

@@bo-bodad8253 Thanks for the comment and the wise words. The 0% interest promos have been used by tons of people for a long time by people and definitely increases sales for Sweetwater… it’s the gouging 2% on the top few to use the credit that’s the issue here… and causing me personally to halt my normal use of the promos. People using the 0% promos ARE buying it outright, but getting the gear up front instead of having to sit and save up. It works for lots of people. Really not advantageous if you do t make the payments in time though!

Sweetwater has 0% financing. That’s the opposite of usury. After inflation you’re paying less money overall than if you paid cash. And if you wait years until you can afford something then you don’t have access to it for years and the price will likely be higher.

@@jazzsax357 yeah it’s hard to find a place not using synchrony. Although they are out there and exist.

@@Barflew1 Awesome. I have a feeling if you take the time to call and lay it out like that… they’ll wiggle. Awesome comment thanks so much for the view and participating in the discussion! Marty

@@Zolar_Czackl Nope. Because let’s be real here, there are zero politicians not taking money from corporations that have a chance to actually be elected. This is not rocket science. You fix this by not giving the companies that gouge or exploit people, your money. Then, you certainly need to advocate and activate and support candidates who would reform , no doubt no doubt. But the answer to THIS situation is a vote with your wallet. Thanks so much for the comment ! You aren’t wrong! Marty

@@gabrielr4329 not in its own… it’s up to the market to establish a line that it doesn’t pay to cross. For me, it’s a 2% fee. Now all I need is 10,000+ other customers to feel the same and stop using the card for a while. Haha. Thanks for the view and the comment! Marty

@@mcpribs I’ll have to look for those. I’ve had plenty of fun and spent many hours messing with eq trying to get two pieces of gear to sound the same… every time I’ve been both totally convinced I’ve nailed it, and utterly despondent at how hopeless the task is. Hahah. Ultimately, it helps to remember when you get that track in a song, and if the song is interesting… nobody gives a single Haha Thanks for the view and the awesome suggestion. I will def be looking for that! Marty

@@Charlie-e1v and luckily, Capitalism works ON them too. Thats why eventually, the MARKET always beats the business attempting the strong arm. Always. All it takes is a bit of patience to get enough customers awake and on the same page… from there you’d be amazed at how quickly a trend in sales can alter operational methods and strategies. !! Thanks for watching and the comment! Marty

@@marks8437 Yup. Fighting the practice is as simple as enough people changing their behavior. Magically, you’ll start getting the “no fees!” Commercials! Just have to spread the message and stick together! Thanks for the comment! Marty

@@dodgingrain3695 hahaha. Ok. But let’s hear the reasoning here? How do you make large dollar purchases of gear, are you 100% cash? If we’re talking a business situation a business loan is obviously a better idea, but seriously… if a zero interest promo gets paid off according to the terms… what would have been a better option? Not asking with sarcasm. Sincerely interested how you do it, or suggest other people do it?

@@davidkastin4240 I predict it will be like a withdrawal for me. I’m so used to just grabbing what I need and not thinking about it. It’s an opportunity to both be a bit more mindful of little purchases that add up.. and to really pursue purchasing from smaller businesses as much as possible.

@@Skoora Hey I hear you. I don’t have any problem with 0% promos as a concept. I’m just exactly like you in that there have been many times I was not going to be able to buy the thing, without the promo. Totally true and fair. The 2% fee is where I personally have realized I’m going to draw the line. Because 2% will absolutely become 5% . It’s not even speculation. The point is that, despite the easy out of “well, I wouldn’t have this gear if I didn’t utilize my Synchrony card” is not 100% true. It’s just not. Nobody (myself included) likes to hear that I could have done any number of things that wasn’t spend on the Synchrony card, and still achieved the big picture goals. Wants and needs are very rarely the same. You wanted the gear, you needed to pay that vet bill. It’s just a false and self-defeating argument that you (and I) only had/have two choices. Reminding people of this is never a bad thing, it’s going to annoy and embarrass and frustrate more people than actually find the discipline and will power to change the mindset/behavior BUT people will. It’s drops in the bucket that matter. Drops is drops. The beautiful thing here is that the other false idea is that it’s all or nothing. I’m certain the biggest dent to Sweetwater from me will be the day to day stuff I’ve been sending through the card out of laziness/convenience. I didn’t have to. I just did because the credit was sitting there and oh yeah guess what? When I could drop $100 and it doesn’t come right out of my bank account/pocket… it’s pretty easy to rationalize and say… “well, I’ll pay it off next month”… and before you know it, you’ve just moved into a larger balance… THIS is why we see people commenting trying to downplay the idea that 2% isn’t a big enough deal to worry about. What’s 2% of a billion dollars? Lol. That’s just a bunch of little drops in the buckets in one place…. Somebody else’s bank account. There IS a valid, achievable result to voicing objection to arbitrary price increases. Any suggestion otherwise is not coming from the people PAYING the prices.

If it wasn't for synchrony I would not be able to finance my business! Things that I would have to save for could not be purchased immediately which in many cases gets me enough money to afford that thing. Be it a drone,. action cam, camera body/lens or audio equipment.

@@RealHomeRecording yep. Same in a lot of cases. It is the immediate access that made it worth it. 0% deals. Now, it’s the 2% fee making that 0% deal not the deal it was. Got nothing to lose here in trying to get that fee gone. Nothing. Like literal 0%. Haha. The stuff about Synchrony cancelling and reducing limits on cards people were in good standing on is a bigger deal to me. Say you’ve worked hard and been the good customer you’ve been… and you are counting on that limit you’ve worked hard for to be there… but you wake up and they’ve reduced to a a 1/4 of what it was, or even worse… simply closed the account. There are countless stories of this stuff happening. Moral of the story is, the market NEEDS low interest credit and financing and when it’s there, record sales happen… it’s a strange time now though and anything the consumer can do to fight back against increases in costs the consumer should! IMO. Thanks for watching g and the comment. Marty

@@SHUTUPANDRECORD I appreciate your video and all of the writing that you did in the comments. I agree with you we need to band together as consumers and just withhold our money until we get our way!

@@panicrev555 sure sure. But debt is a normal part of business and many times is the wisest avenue to take. It’s all relative and situation dependent. Just to be clear… Do you own a house? The percentage of Americans who’ve paid cash for their house is beyond tiny. As an example when a private citizen might need to employ credit. Now… to be extra fair…. Gear Acquisition Syndrome is not a wise use of credit, in most if not all cases. Hahah. Thanks for the comment! Marty

Go tell that to the federal government!

@@maidenthe80sla Yes, it’s useful for them to keep the little guys like us believing there’s nothing we can do… but Sweetwater is not a little guy. Nothing to sneeze at and more importantly, the industry leader… everyone else, admit it or not, looks to Sweetwater for insight and strategies to jump onto. We don’t have to slay Synchrony, we just have to convince Sweetwater it’s not worth the bad press and feelings to keep that 2% fee… and somebody figures out a way to make the SW customer base happier until the next time! This is achievable. Thanks so much for watching and commenting!

@@thewrongneighborhood7847 Now THIS is a good comment. Appreciate the perspective you’ve introduced. You claim definitive knowledge of SYF’s ‘20 v. ‘23 numbers… is it safe to assume you work for SYF or at least in the industry? Or are you just analyzing from the outside? Here’s a question…. The percentage increase in the gross revenue, when compared to the inflation rate looks like?

@@SHUTUPANDRECORD its a publicly traded company bud. if you think the only way for someone to have those numbers is to work for them or be an industry insider you shouldn't be speaking on this topic.

@@thewrongneighborhood7847 LOL. I’m very acutely aware all of these numbers are public record, which amuses and confuses me as to why I “shouldn’t be talking about” this? It doesn’t take a genius to understand that if as you suggest, SYF bottom line is actually worse in 2024 than 2020… the more disgruntled sources of their cash flow that understand that THE BETTER for SYF, and of course the real X factor here… the companies using SYF to provide their credit ??? There’s some fault in the logic insisting people talking about and learning facts is somehow a bad thing, or at least something i “shouldn’t be speaking about”? Help me understand, where you… (who suggest you have no tie or affiliation) chimed in to talk about it, but me with no tie or affiliation should not? Now that’s silly I agree.

​@@SHUTUPANDRECORD If you're acutely aware of that fact why did you ask this question: "You claim definitive knowledge of SYF’s ‘20 v. ‘23 numbers… is it safe to assume you work for SYF or at least in the industry? Or are you just analyzing from the outside?" Don't want to be treated like you're dumb, dong play dumb, not that hard to grasp. as for this: "It doesn’t take a genius to understand that if as you suggest, SYF bottom line is actually worse in 2024 than 2020… the more disgruntled sources of their cash flow that understand that THE BETTER for SYF, and of course the real X factor here… the companies using SYF to provide their credit ???" I cant even parse your point out of that mangled English, maybe try to learn some basic sentence structure? "Help me understand, where you… (who suggest you have no tie or affiliation) chimed in to talk about it, but me with no tie or affiliation should not? " The affiliation isn't the problem, its your general lack of knowledge and obvious bias on the topic that excludes you from being taken serious. The numbers YOU posted in YOUR video when adjusted for inflation show they made less money in 2023 than 2020. Its just a fact buddy.

@@SHUTUPANDRECORD It has nothing to do with affiliation and more so your general display of lacking in regards to the topic. SYF's money is down because every ones money is down, and them charging a 2% fee isnt going to change anytime soon due to negative consumer trends. People presenting poorly researched arguments for an issue and presenting them as fact is absolutely a bad thing. Blaming companies for trying to make up for revenue lost due to the hidden tax of inflation is silly, considering literally every business in America is in the exact same boat regardless of size.

@@steve10471a yes, I hear you. But the question is… so are you able to pay off the promotional financing and avoid paying interest in each case of these promos? Because unless you did not and instead are paying all the interest anyway… you’re literally proving you CAN afford to buy this stuff in cash… just not as conveniently. You’re literally proving you don’t need the credit. That’s the boat I’ve been in. It’s a good boat. It just takes a bit of short term pain and then reset your timelines. If you’re not meeting the promo payoff deadlines… then you’re paying high interest rates like there never was the 0%… and that’s a totally different scenario! Thanks so much for watching and leaving a comment. Would love to hear some further details about your situation! Marty

@@hfbdbsijenbd I’m not sure I understand where you have determined enough about this stranger in the comments section of RU-vid to make a statement like this. Some fairly critical information and data points missing to make that assumption.

@@connor_flanigan I’m not sure who you’re talking to, but I hope you feel better. You sound like you needed a hug and somebody to point out you’re the kind of person who gets in RU-vid comments about recording gear and insults people you don’t know. Did you have anything actually relevant to the discussion or are you just here to act out?

@@connor_flanigan A. I am reallly cute. B. I hear what you’re saying, I’m just reminding everybody there are plenty of legit, smart reasons to use credit… especially (actual) 0% promo financing. C. Just FYI I do give out free hugs* *there is a 2% processing fee on any and all hugs

@@SHUTUPANDRECORD Yes. I wouldn't have made them otherwise. I always watch the payoff date and payment amount carefully to make sure it's paid off before the financing offer expires. For example, the three purchases I made had 48 month financing. That's a total of around $75-80 a month for 48 months. That's what makes it affordable.

@@0711RC thanks for watching! And the comment! Marty

@@NunYa953 That’s A fact, however I think many people would argue that it’s a “fun” fact! In a serious note, credit is a normal, healthy part of running a business, in many circumstances so I can’t jump totally on board the “credit” is unnecessary… the important thing is to remember that not all credit is the same. It does bear repeating though, if you can save enough during the 0% interest grace period, you can save enough without taking the credit and just pay cash for it.. with some discipline and patience! Thanks for making this point! Marty

@@SHUTUPANDRECORD There's nothing wrong with using credit responsibly, but whining about the fees associated with using such credit is juvenile. In a capitalist society, making money is the only reason to open a business whether large or small. That small fee has a purpose and it's to justify the risk that the finance company is taking, not just pure profit.

@@NunYa953 Wait, so you ARE trying to defend tacking 2% onto these promos AND making record profits even before the new fee? Called it. Here’s a fun fact: whining about customers rejecting a raise in prices only happens from people who literally don’t understand what makes the free market the free market. Yes yes, tell us all again how we should just shut up and pay a junk fee. Lol

@@SHUTUPANDRECORD The record profits are from the increased interest rates. The 2% fee is to limit risk when giving people 0% interest rates. It's clear that you not only don't understand basic economics, you regurgitate anti capitalist talking points. If you don't like the fee, then don't buy anything. Stop whining like a petulant child.

100% how about we just got back to the times when there wasn’t a 0% APR CC issued by a music store? I remember when music stores would partner with local finance companies that would give you 12months to pay for it…at 7-8% APR.

@@DavidEidelberg It’s legal because they are not charging any interest. (Well, until you fail to meet one of the hoops you agree to jump through when you take out the financing). They’re charging a fee to obtain the financing. Thanks for the view and the comment!!! Marty

It’s a “fee”

@@SnakePool I’ve heard this a bunch. Basically, Synchrony does not appear to consider anything but their own bottom line. There’s a big difference between maximizing profits, and treating customers like an endless stream of disposable cash. It will catch up to them, it always does. Maybe we can help make it happen a tiny bit sooner! Thanks for watching g and sharing your experience! Marty

@@SHUTUPANDRECORD they gave me a short list of reasons and the main one was no home loan.... cutting those credit lines, kills our credit score...

Yep me too! Same thing!

Same thing happened to me. They lowered my $2500 GC limit by $500 and I’ve never been late and kept zero balance for most of the time I’ve had the card.

@@derrickj8424 almost like being responsible is a bad thing….

@@barackmycat9448 Yep. They’ll ride this as long as they can get away with it, which is part of my motivation for bringing the issue up. Hopefully people start mentioning the issue to the stores that use Synchrony. Thanks for the view and the comment! Marty

@@Nobox-eg7qu yeah I know. The thought definitely crossed my mind, if only to cement my hard won, expensive life-experience that tells me anything related to software is a short term and ultimately money losing investment. The trick is, does it help you make money (or at least enrich your experience) during the period of time that it isn’t obsolete? Haha don’t feel bad. Whenever I start to feel bad about something I’ve owned like that, I like to remind myself at least it’s not an old digital mixer that cost more than a car new, and sells for $587 local pick up only now!

@@SHUTUPANDRECORD thanks for the encouraging words…. Expensive hobby indeed for me. I wonder if I should just get the new fader mk3 and use that with the old mk2 console 1… i like that the new fader is more compatible with pro tools..

@@truescotsman4103 You do? Nobody told me that! Now, if it’s not a pedal or piece of shit gear, are the rules different? Also, is this my wife? Are you my wife? Why do you sound like my wife? Lastly, if the mancave is in a glass house?! Thanks for watching and leaving this interesting set of guidelines for people to consider adopting. -Marty!

Old guys already have good credit, plus we're more likely to use credit for the convenience and pay off the balance every month. We don't need their stinking cards.

@@raygunsforronnie847 One of the good parts about being old…!! Thanks for reminding me there are some of those! Thanks for the view and the comment! Marty

@@SHUTUPANDRECORD guilty as charged

@@raygunsforronnie847 I tried to do that and they kept lowering my credit I stopped using my credit all in together and now my credit is perfect