this post was submitted on 06 Dec 2025

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218

U.S. consumers are so fucked up, that they put more than $1 billion on buy-now, pay later services during Cyber Monday (news.adobe.com)

submitted 13 hours ago by King@blackneon.net to c/lemmyshitpost@lemmy.world

39 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Usage of the flexible payment method hit an all-time high on Cyber Monday, driving $1.03 billion in online spend (up 4.2% YoY), as consumers looked for greater flexibility in managing their holiday budgets. The vast majority of BNPL transactions are happening on a mobile device as well, at 79.4% share on Cyber Monday (vs. desktop). In an Adobe survey of over 1,000 U.S. consumers (conducted Nov. 2025), respondents said they were most likely to use BNPL for electronics, apparel, toys, and furniture purchases.

Source: Adobe Analytics.

all 40 comments

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[–] jaykrown@lemmy.world 3 points 48 minutes ago

as consumers looked for greater flexibility in managing their holiday budgets

Yea, that's a really nice way to put it.

[–] nightwatch_admin@feddit.nl 18 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Remember kids: someone is making money off of this, and it’s not you. There’s a reason some European countries have (started to) put this BNPL under strict credit regulation.

[–] Echolynx@lemmy.zip 5 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

I'm glad at least some countries are taking notice.

[–] nightwatch_admin@feddit.nl 3 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

The Dutch national Financial Authority, for example, has a good explanation on why this is problematic and what exactly will happen per November 2026: https://www.afm.nl/en/sector/actueel/2025/juli/pb-marktupdate-BNPL-2025

[–] kungen@feddit.nu 2 points 57 minutes ago

A legally required age verification will be introduced. We want this to take effect as soon as possible to prevent minors from using BNPL.

Wait, it's legal to put minors into debt in the Netherlands? In Sweden, a minor wouldn't be liable to pay any such invoice, as minors can't sign any legally-binding agreements without their guardian's consent.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

So last year there was 40 million less in consumer debt generated over the shopping days? Am I mathing that right?

[–] winkerjadams@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 38 minutes ago

Just for 'buy now pay later', but yes

[–] LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 12 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

How does buy now pay later compare to credit cards. Like everyone used to have those, have they given out less, or is that staying the same/more?

[–] Denjin@feddit.uk 5 points 4 hours ago

BNPL generally has far less consumer protection than CCs. It's also vastly easier to access BNPL services as they're typically inserted into the payment process online, and don't do a very good job of informing consumers of things like repayment terms and interest charges.

There's definitely a case to be made that they deliberately target those who are less financially aware who are most vulnerable to predatory lenders pushing them into unmanageable debt.

[–] Sonicdemon86@lemmy.world 10 points 8 hours ago

It is worse as they don't report when you are paying the loan unlike credit card. They only report that you paid it off. So it just messes with your credit score.

[–] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca 18 points 11 hours ago

It's fucked but with a charitable view, I can see some logic.

For all the nonsense, there are a handful of good deals on the Friday/Monday. If I were living paycheque to paycheque, seems like a bnpl scheme could let me budget say, November to February for christmas gifts, interest free unlike a credit card.

That being said, that's the theory. I imagine a lot of folks end up in over their heads much like credit cards etc.

[–] jif@piefed.ca 26 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

Paypal had a 20% cashback thing going on when you use BNPL. I'm sure that contributed.

[–] architect@thelemmy.club 2 points 4 hours ago

This is why I used it.

0% apr plus 20% back I mean come on!

[–] Echolynx@lemmy.zip 4 points 6 hours ago

Damn, that's a pretty decent deal for a big purchase.

[–] wesker@lemmy.sdf.org 46 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

Man, say what you will about credit cards, but at the very least with many of those you get rewards of some sort. BNPL is just the consumer version of the payday loan; you get nothing but the scam.

[–] lemmydividebyzero@reddthat.com 4 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

The rewards are there to keep you make them money.

Some one has to pay for the rewards and the multi billion dollar companies usually don't give money away for free without some plan. In the end, the consumer pays for the rewards because they add it on the product price.

[–] kungen@feddit.nu 1 points 52 minutes ago

Yeah, the card issuers are already making bank from the interchange/issuer/processing fees, as well as interest if the customer eventually isn't able to pay their full balance in time.

But if you're a perfect person and always pay your full balance every month, there's literally no negatives with a credit card as a normal consumer. It's usually even a better alternative, as if something goes wrong, a credit chargeback is much quicker and easier than a debit chargeback.

[–] Exulion@lemmy.world 23 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

Idk, I do them when there is no interest involved. Like my credit card I only do it when I have the money though.

[–] skankhunt42@lemmy.ca 7 points 13 hours ago (4 children)

For what reason? Am I missing out on something?

Seems like it's better to just pay now if you have the cash.

[–] mayorchid@lemmy.world 2 points 7 hours ago

I got a car loan once even though I had the cash to buy outright. I didn’t want to drain my savings and end up high and dry if there was an emergency. It was worth it to me to pay a little interest so I still had a cash buffer.

If I were living paycheck to paycheck like many folks are, I imagine the logic would be similar for smaller purchases.

[–] platypode@sh.itjust.works 24 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Assuming you need to buy the product, taking on zero interest debt gives you greater liquidity that you can theoretically activate elsewhere to improve your cash flow. For the amounts and time scales of BNPL, though, I don’t entirely see the point.

[–] Prathas@lemmy.zip 2 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

For the ~~amounts and time scales~~ hard inquiries of BNPL, though, I don’t entirely see the point.

FTFY

[–] Exulion@lemmy.world 4 points 9 hours ago

Eh, mostly just because less money coming out of my account at once feels better and there isn't a downside really. It's mostly like Amazon's pay in 4 etc, especially if I think there is a chance I might return it. I would not ever not pay it off and incur fees. Its nothing special, I don't touch afirm though generally just Amazon and paypals short duration things.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 9 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

if you have the cash

And there's your answer.

[–] dxc@sh.itjust.works 2 points 13 hours ago

What happened to look through the fingers

[–] Klear@quokk.au 0 points 12 hours ago

How is that an answer? They said they only do it if they have the money, so why?

[–] wesker@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

Are many of them no interest?

[–] Pogogunner@sopuli.xyz 8 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

I'm not a BNPL user, but my understanding is that most are interest free (to attract more users) unless a borrower is late/misses a payment.

[–] wesker@lemmy.sdf.org 10 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

I assumed that was the trap, or retroactive interest. Just seems to prey on those already at financial disadvantage.

[–] elgordino@fedia.io 10 points 11 hours ago

The BNPL company also charges the merchant much more than a credit card company does. Something like 6%. So they’re also making money on people who do pay in full at 0%.

The theory goes that the merchant is happy to pay the higher rate because it makes a sale happen that otherwise wouldn’t. Unfortunately that increased cost just gets added to the price everyone pays.

[–] Blaster_M@lemmy.world 4 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

PayPal Pay In 4, Paypal 12 months (sometimes), Amazon Affirm, all no interest. Unless you miss the payment. Then bend over for it. Interests rates vary from 8 percent to 32 percent retroactive, depending on who you get it through. I've used BNPL several times, but always made sure I can afford the payment in the monthly budget, and only when it is zero interest.

In addition, I have the rule of "only one active BNPL at a time".

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 14 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Cyber Monday is funny because it started with people buying things at work so it wouldn’t show up in their shared computers’ browser history, and now it’s like a whole made-up thing

[–] Xanthobilly@lemmy.world 20 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

Capitalism never misses an opportunity to exploit consumers.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 3 points 10 hours ago

Dodge v. Ford says so

[–] Eyekaytee@aussie.zone -2 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

who’s being exploited here?

[–] Deceptichum@quokk.au 3 points 6 hours ago

U.S. Consumers can you not read the title?

[–] BossDj@piefed.social 12 points 13 hours ago

I do know that while I was getting all the family Christmas shopping done with Black Friday I saw a few buy now pay later offers. Most prominent was Pay Pal. The offer was if you use their buy now pay later feature with zero interest, they give you 5% in PayPal cash (whatever that means). I saw it several times, so I figure people were jumping on that

[–] MantisToboggon@lemmy.world 11 points 13 hours ago

We are a sentient ponzi scheme.

[–] taiyang@lemmy.world 3 points 10 hours ago

When I was younger and was just freshly moved out, I used BNPL 0% interest a lot (iirc it was Newegg, was like 15 years ago). It was kind of necessary to get a computer and I had just got an RA contract that paid stipends monthly, guaranteed for 5 years.

If you already have money and can get 0% interest, you can reinvest that cash as long as you can guarantee a payoff (set reminders!). You can put that $2,000 in a CD for that exact amount of time, too, and earn yourself back 3%-4%. That said, they might have caught onto my grift cause they usually offer 5% back OR 0% interest, lol.