The Ultimate Guide to Credit Cards
Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Pottery Barn Credit Card Review (Feb. 2024)

Pottery Barn Credit Card Review
Brittney Mayer

Written by: Brittney Mayer

Brittney Mayer
Brittney Mayer

Brittney is a Credit Strategist and Finance Expert who has spent years honing her knowledge of the credit industry both personally and professionally. Brittney applies her more than a decade of research experience to crafting in-depth consumer guides designed to help CardRates readers make better, more informed financial decisions.

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Edited by: Lillian Guevara-Castro

Lillian Guevara-Castro
Lillian Guevara-Castro

Lillian Guevara-Castro brings more than 30 years of editing and journalism experience to the CardRates team. She has written and edited for major news organizations, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the New York Times, and she previously served as an adjunct journalism instructor at the University of Florida. Today, Lillian edits all CardRates content for clarity, accuracy, and reader engagement.

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Reviewed by: Ashley Fricker

Ashley Fricker
Ashley Fricker

Ashley Fricker has more than a decade of experience as a finance contributor and editor, and has specialized in the credit card industry since 2015. Her credit card commentary is featured on national media outlets that include CNBC, MarketWatch, Investopedia, and Reader's Digest, among many others. She has worked closely with the world’s largest banks and financial institutions, up-and-coming fintech companies, and press and news outlets to curate comprehensive content and media. Ashley holds a bachelor's degree in multimedia journalism from Florida Atlantic University.

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Advertiser Disclosure

The year was 1949 when Pottery Barn first opened its doors in Chelsea, New York, to sell slightly-damaged pottery goods and tabletop closeouts. Since then, Pottery Barn has expanded its products to include quality homewares for all rooms in the house. From sectional sofas to wall art, consumers look to Pottery Barn to create a special space that’s stylish and unique.

The Pottery Barn Credit Card is designed to relieve shoppers of some of the financial pressure that can come with decorating a home. The card provides special rewards for loyal customers and exclusive promotional financing deals. But, with a high APR and deferred interest, the card will only add to your expenses if you don't pay it off right away.

Better Cards to Use at Pottery Barn

If Pottery Barn isn’t the only place you shop for home furniture and décor, the store card is unlikely to provide much value. Though you can get an impressive 10% off at checkout on large purchases, you won’t be able to use it at other retailers beyond the Pottery Barn brand family because of the card’s closed-loop nature.

What's more, the elephant-sized APR and deferred interest terms make it a risky choice if you have a habit of carrying a balance on your account from month to month.

Try applying for an open-loop credit card that delivers money-saving perks not just on Pottery Barn purchases, but also on transactions you make everywhere else. Plenty of cards provide cash back and travel rewards on every purchase, so your saving opportunities aren’t restricted to merchandise from Pottery Barn brands.

Cash Back

Cash back credit cards are a favorite among many consumers thanks to their simplicity. Cardholders can earn cash back on every purchase — including those made at Pottery Barn — and easily redeem rewards for a statement credit, with no brand restrictions or other limitations.

And, to make cash back cards even more appealing, you’ll notice that most come with lower APRs than what the Pottery Barn Credit Card offers users, particularly if you have good credit or better.

Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card Review

at Bank Of America'ssecure website

CASH BACK RATING

★★★★★

4.9

OVERALL RATING

  • $200 online cash rewards bonus after you make at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.
  • Earn 3% cash back in the category of your choice, automatic 2% at grocery stores and wholesale clubs (up to $2,500 in combined choice category/grocery store/wholesale club quarterly purchases) and unlimited 1% on all other purchases.
  • Choose 3% cash back on gas and EV charging station, online shopping/cable/internet/phone plan/streaming, dining, travel, drug store/pharmacy or home improvement/furnishing purchases.
  • If you're a Bank of America Preferred Rewards® member, you can earn 25%-75% more cash back on every purchase. That means you could earn 3.75%-5.25% cash back on purchases in your choice category.
  • No annual fee and cash rewards don’t expire as long as your account remains open.
  • 0% Intro APR for 15 billing cycles for purchases, and for any balance transfers made in the first 60 days. After the Intro APR offer ends, a Variable APR that’s currently 18.24% - 28.24% will apply. A 3% Intro balance transfer fee will apply for the first 60 days your account is open. After the Intro balance transfer fee offer ends, the fee for future balance transfers is 4%.
  • Contactless Cards - The security of a chip card, with the convenience of a tap.
  • This online only offer may not be available if you leave this page or if you visit a Bank of America financial center. You can take advantage of this offer when you apply now.
Intro (Purchases)
Intro (Transfers)
Regular APR
Annual Fee
Credit Needed
0% Intro APR for 15 billing cycles for purchases
0% Intro APR for 15 billing cycles for any balance transfers made in the first 60 days (Balance Transfer Fee 3% for 60 days from account opening, then 4%)
18.24% - 28.24% Variable APR on purchases and balance transfers
$0
Excellent/Good

Additional Disclosure: Bank of America is a CardRates advertiser.

0% APR

Don’t let special shopping rewards blind you — hefty interest rates can be enough to cancel out any savings you earn with a store credit card. What’s scary, too, is that the Pottery Barn Credit Card's special financing can lock you into big fees even if you have so much as a dollar left on your balance after your promotional period ends.

Instead of special financing with lots of fine print, you may want to give a 0% APR credit card a shot. Cards with intro-APR offers can be an ideal solution if you’re seeking a financing option that will save you only interest without charging you with major fees if you don't pay off your card right away.

Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card Review

at Bank Of America'ssecure website

0% INTRO APR RATING

★★★★★

4.8

OVERALL RATING

  • $200 online cash rewards bonus after you make at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.
  • Earn 3% cash back in the category of your choice, automatic 2% at grocery stores and wholesale clubs (up to $2,500 in combined choice category/grocery store/wholesale club quarterly purchases) and unlimited 1% on all other purchases.
  • Choose 3% cash back on gas and EV charging station, online shopping/cable/internet/phone plan/streaming, dining, travel, drug store/pharmacy or home improvement/furnishing purchases.
  • If you're a Bank of America Preferred Rewards® member, you can earn 25%-75% more cash back on every purchase. That means you could earn 3.75%-5.25% cash back on purchases in your choice category.
  • No annual fee and cash rewards don’t expire as long as your account remains open.
  • 0% Intro APR for 15 billing cycles for purchases, and for any balance transfers made in the first 60 days. After the Intro APR offer ends, a Variable APR that’s currently 18.24% - 28.24% will apply. A 3% Intro balance transfer fee will apply for the first 60 days your account is open. After the Intro balance transfer fee offer ends, the fee for future balance transfers is 4%.
  • Contactless Cards - The security of a chip card, with the convenience of a tap.
  • This online only offer may not be available if you leave this page or if you visit a Bank of America financial center. You can take advantage of this offer when you apply now.
Intro (Purchases)
Intro (Transfers)
Regular APR
Annual Fee
Credit Needed
0% Intro APR for 15 billing cycles for purchases
0% Intro APR for 15 billing cycles for any balance transfers made in the first 60 days (Balance Transfer Fee 3% for 60 days from account opening, then 4%)
18.24% - 28.24% Variable APR on purchases and balance transfers
$0
Excellent/Good

Additional Disclosure: Bank of America is a CardRates advertiser.

Travel Rewards

Saving up for a weekend getaway or an international trip? You can do just that by opening a travel credit card that earns rewards every time you shop — including mundane grocery store runs or when filling up your gas tank as well as redoing your décor with Pottery Barn finery.

Travel credit cards allow you to earn points or miles that can be redeemed toward travel-related expenses, such as hotel stays and airfare, putting you that much closer to your next trip.

Discover it® Miles Review

at Discover Card'ssecure website

AIR MILES RATING

★★★★★

4.9

OVERALL RATING

  • UNLIMITED BONUS: Unlimited Mile-for-Mile match for all new cardmembers - only from Discover. Discover gives you an unlimited match of all the Miles you’ve earned at the end of your first year. For example, if you earn 35,000 Miles, you get 70,000 Miles. There’s no signing up, no minimum spending or maximum rewards. Just a Miles-for-Miles match.
  • Automatically earn unlimited 1.5x Miles on every dollar of every purchase
  • No annual fee
  • Turn Miles into cash. Or redeem as a statement credit for your travel purchases like airfare, hotels, rideshares, gas stations, restaurants and more.
  • 0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases. Then 17.24% - 28.24% Standard Variable Purchase APR will apply.
  • Discover could help you reduce exposure of your personal information online by helping you remove it from select people-search sites that could sell your data. It’s free, activate with the mobile app.
  • Discover is accepted nationwide by 99% of the places that take credit cards.
  • Terms and conditions apply.
Intro (Purchases)
Intro (Transfers)
Regular APR
Annual Fee
Credit Needed
0% Intro APR for 15 months
0% Intro APR for 15 months
17.24% - 28.24% Variable APR
$0
Excellent/Good

Even if you zealously shop with the Pottery Barn Credit Card, it simply doesn’t offer much in savings unless every purchase is a large haul. As enticing as that 10% back may be, the need to spend at least $250 per transaction to reap its benefits severely limits its utility.

Worse yet, you can end up paying more for your Pottery Barn purchases if you aren’t quick to clear your card balance, even — or especially — if you use the card's special financing offer, which will charge you deferred interest if you don't pay off your full promotional purchase in time.

All in all, most shoppers stand to save more with one of the suggested cards above that provide rich and versatile rewards on purchases made at any store — not just at Pottery Barn.

Pottery Barn Card Overall Rating: 3.1/5.0

With plenty of Pottery Barn merchandise priced well over $1,000, shopping with the Pottery Barn Credit Card may seem like a smart move if you’re planning to fill a room from top to bottom — and it can be. Between purchase rewards and promotional financing, the Pottery Barn Credit Card can be a useful tool.

Of course, the card's perks have several strings attached that can take some of the glamour out of the deal. First off, that hefty 10% back in Rewards that cardholders can earn isn't as simple as it sounds; cardholders must spend at least $250 on a single transaction to receive Pottery Barn Rewards.

Pottery Barn Credit Card

  • APR: 30.99% as of Feb 2024
  • Annual Fee: $0
  • Rewards: 5% back on qualifying brand purchases
★★★ 3.1/5.0

But wait, there's more. Thanks to the card’s sky-high APR, you’ll get pinged with massive charges if you carry a balance on your account from month to month. And if you're thinking you can just use special financing to avoid the fees, you'll need to first consider the limitations.

Specifically, a card transaction will need to meet a $750 minimum to qualify for the 12-month special financing. Furthermore, cardholders are required to pay off their card balance within the promotional period to avoid interest fees. That means if any balance is left after the financing terms expire — even if its a few dollars — the cardholder will be charged interest on the entire amount of the purchase.

Another point to remember is the closed-loop nature of the Pottery Barn Credit Card. This limits users to only having benefits and financing on items at Pottery Barn and its sister brands, Pottery Barn Kids and PBteen. If you aren’t planning to shop the store often, or if you typically buy a single item at a time, you won’t see much in savings coming your way.

Approval Requirements & Application

The Pottery Barn Credit Card is known for being moderately easy to obtain. Applicants with fair credit scores report being successfully approved. You can head to your nearest Pottery Barn location to apply, or you can save time by tapping the link below to submit an online application.

What Others Say About the Pottery Barn Credit Card

Although Pottery Barn has a reputation for being a premium furniture and homewares maker, several cardholders report being surprised with the low-quality customer support they received when managing their accounts. Continue reading below to get a clearer picture of what reviewers have experienced when using the card.

CardCruncher.com
A review from CardCruncher.com says:

Besides numerous advantages of using Pottery Barn credit card, there lie few disadvantages that need to be attended. The credit card does only remain limited to shops and outlets of Pottery Barn, online and in-store services. Further, there remains various terms and condition in order to avail credit card facility which definitely requires attention and review. — CardCruncher.com

★★★ 3.0/5.0
CreditKarma.com
A review from CreditKarma.com says:

The 10% rewards are great but boy, do they make you work to get them. I'm considering closing the card because I'm sick and tired of fighting with customer service to get the rewards and gift cards I use for orders applied correctly to the credit card account. — CreditKarma.com

★★ 2.0/5.0
WalletHub.com
A review from WalletHub.com says:

The credit card is not straightforward and the charges are often unclear. Rewards are not honored and the customer service for cardmembers is horrible. Don’t fall for this card or you’ll regret it like I did. I bought so many things from Pottery Barn and the credit card is a rip off! — WalletHub.com

1.0/5.0

Is the Pottery Barn Card Right for You?

As a leading retailer and manufacturer for home furnishings and accessories, Pottery Barn is sought by shoppers of all tastes who want to stylishly decorate their living space. The store’s commitment to premium design and quality, however, means most items come with some pretty steep price tags.

The Pottery Barn Credit Card offers purchase rewards that can be redeemed for certificates that reduce how much you pay at checkout, and it also offers special financing to break up your purchase into reasonable monthly payments. But, unless you regularly spend big bucks at Pottery Barn to adorn your home, you’ll find yourself at a savings stalemate.

That's because cardholders can only tap into rewards if their transaction meets the minimum purchase threshold of $250, and the card's promotional financing applies solely to big-ticket transactions of $750 or more. With hefty interest rates and sticky deferred interest terms, you can likely find better savings with an open-loop credit card that earns rewards on every purchase, big or small, at Pottery Barn — and anywhere else you enjoy shopping.

Advertiser Disclosure

CardRates.com is a free online resource that offers valuable content and comparison services to users. To keep this resource 100% free, we receive compensation for referrals for many of the offers listed on the site. Along with key review factors, this compensation may impact how and where products appear across CardRates.com (including, for example, the order in which they appear). CardRates.com does not include the entire universe of available offers. Editorial opinions expressed on the site are strictly our own and are not provided, endorsed, or approved by advertisers.