Clever maths people - help please!!

[Chickadee]

Hi All

I am pretty useless at anything basic maths, so can anyone help with this please?

Base price of product is £449, over 3 years at £4.19 per week total price equals £653.64.

What percentage would the interest be please?

Thanks guys

[factor-fiction]

A lot! Nearly 47% APR.
http://www.prudentmin...m/apr-calculator.html

[Harry-Wragg]

45.58%

[The Builder]

interest = £653.64 - £449 = £204.64

divide by 3 (years) = £68.21

% = 68.21 / 449 x 100 = 15.19% per year

[Prudie]

45.56% more than the original price

[Harry-Wragg]

45.576837416% to be exact

[factor-fiction]

I'm not so sure about that, the builder. I think your calculation assumes teh amount owed is always £449 but because the money is being repaid over a 3 year period the average balance is much lower.
My figure of nearly 47% may very slight;ly out as I used a monthly repayment whereas in practice it's weekly.
But the actual APR may be a little higher if there's actually 157 weekly repayments rather than 156 (since some repayments have a payment at the start of week 1 and another at the end of the final week, meaning an extra week's payment).
Anyway the APR remains at 45-47%

[Prudie]

sorry my eyesight - 45.58% to 2 dec places

[ubasses]

The builder is right the total interest is for a 3 year loan so APR is 15.19% this is assuming the loan is calculated like a bank personal loan where the interest is calculated on the full amount over the full term of the loan and then divided into weekly or monthly repayments

[factor-fiction]

Yes the overall interest amount is 45.6%.
The usual measure though where regular repayments are made is APR.
I'm wrong (and ubasses is wrong) with the APR figure.
I just used an APR calculator site (see my link) and this gave an answer of 47%. But I've worked it out myself now and I calculate the APR to be 30.5%.
This is double ubasses and The Builder's figure. Thats because they have not taken account of the reducing balance. The overall interest of £205.64 relates to an AVERAGE outstanding balance of approximately HALF of the £449 loan amount.

[Maydup]

I don't know the mathematical answer to this, but whatever it is, its very high.

If its a real situation, try a bank or building society instead.

[gingejbee]

...or you could borrow the cash from one of those on-line sharks at 4000%+ !!

[starone]

I always save up and buy when I have enough cash. I cannot bear the thought of putting all that money in someone else's pockets. I think I am basically a scrooge, but it's the way I was brought up - that's my excuse anyway, and I'm sticking to it. I blame my mother.

[Chickadee]

Thanks for all your answers guys.

Wasn't going to buy the item, was just curious about the rate of interest being charged.