One in Five Americans Use Buy Now, Pay Later to Afford Groceries
bloomberg.com
bloomberg.com
The Bloomberg article links to a LendingTree Survey[1] that states, "21% of BNPL users say they’ve used one of the loans to buy groceries." But also that "46% of Americans saying they’ve used one of the loans"
Worrisome, yes, but also overstated.
1: https://www.lendingtree.com/personal/bnpl-ends-meet-survey/
>It’s been helpful for Amber Kincade, who’s been using the installment option on the food delivery app Instacart.
Why, oh god WHY, are you buying delivered food on Instacart if you are so poor you have to use BNPL to stay alive? Why are you not saving money by going to the store yourself? Are people so desensitized to the idea of debt they think going into it for conveniences, or for fashion, are smart decisions?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Layaway
There is a fairly long history of micro financing clothing purchases, with clothing stores being some of the most prominent.
Instacart is more expensive, but BNPL costs less money at the time of purchase than going to the store.
The BNPL for clothing and shoes likely isn't the same people that need it to pay for groceries. These services allow you to buy more trendy clothing now at the expense of saving and buying it later.
Is that "smart?" Absolutely not. But it uses the same logic as a lot of advertising: that you'll be missing out if you don't watch/buy something very soon.
Sure, but this is hardly a valid excuse. Ads are very easy to ignore, more so clothing ads. Everyone sees multiple advertisements every day for things they don't even consider buying.
It's not like clothes are usually expensive; you can get good clothes for a reasonable price. What I don't fully understand is if this is just people that normally use credit cards switching to BNPL...if so, then there's likely no cause for alarm.
Any way, coming from a country where virtually no one uses credit cards, taking on debt to buy clothes is very strange.
Why do you think some people on HN are getting paid $400k to spam advertisements at people every minute? [manipulating them into making more purchases]
My question is what % are they paying for financing.
I've financed several things with BNPL. Every time it was for 0%. At a time when inflation is whatever absurdly high number and banks are paying ~4% for cash deposits, not taking a 0% loan would be silly. It's free money and my bigger surprise is why aren't 100% of consumers financing everything.