A bank loan can look cheaper on paper. The rate is lower, the term is longer and nobody mentions the six weeks it takes to hear back.
Price the delay
Take the margin you would make on the stock you cannot buy yet, and multiply it by the weeks you wait. For most seasonal brands that number is larger than the difference in fees.
Waiting also has a second cost: the supplier slot you lose to someone who paid sooner. That one rarely shows up in a spreadsheet, but it shows up in December.
