There's also a lot of split into 4 payments as an option, which is helpful because credit cards freak out and cry fraud much more likely if a purchase is over 1-2k but are fine with under 500.

No. Their business model is literally currently failing.

People can't afford to pay back. That is why they couldn't afford saving for it. So the service provider will sit on bad debt until no one wants to leant them money anymore and they are bankrupt.

Honestly, I am kinda tempted to say "To hell with fiscal responsibility!", and just live like someone with a decent income. That said, I will do the supposedly responsible thing and just keep foreign currency or buy gold. Because I am expecting this scenario to come for the American dollar:

Is this the right tactic to take? Who knows... 🤷‍♂️

Except many BNPL options are 0% interest rate. I just renovated an apartment with ikea stuff and they offered me 0% interest rate over 1 year - it makes no sense to not take this offer.

Many companies would gladly lose 4% (avg inflation) to guarantee a sale especially when dipping on loans are basically impossible today for the average consumer.

I don’t know if we have enough information. I agree with you that BNPL purchases are typically bad for the consumer, but I don’t necessarily think any to call people greedy in a difficult economy. Sometimes, people end up in shitty situations, trying to keep their life together, even when they can’t afford to.

Was the volume items purchased greater than before or are prices just completely out of control? The article doesn’t indicate that it accounts for inflation. Inflation was about 3% and BNLPL was up 4%.

What about the types of items that were purchased? It doesn’t actually say what types of items were used to BNPL transactions so we don’t know if it was household needs or unnecessary consumption.

Just another once in a lifetime event.

this is the most frustrating part. This slow march to project 2025's goals isn't sophisticated. Any semblance of a general strike or boycott would have these cretins about-facing in no time. people are being sent to death camps, and we have this article.

I'll always believe the interwebz are "bread and circus 3.0" (Radio was 1.0 and TV was 2.0). If the average dolt believes the reward for silence is "next up", they'll quietly cower in the face of blatant human rights violations.

The point of the word is to give more context, so it's clearer what's being described. Same with the word user, you could say "Steam has 40m humans", or you could say users.

Funnily enough, there is a case as to why the word consumer so often pops up, especially in capitalist context. The first documented case of consumer was in the Middle Ages, in a French dictionary. It derives its meaning from Consumare, Latin for "use" but in a destructive manner. For example, you'd consume a candle or an apple because you'll use them and then they're gone, they're broken/destroyed. Being a consumer back then was a bad thing because people were so ridiculously poor and naturally could not waste. Now contrast that with the same French dictionary which defines customer as a person who routinely buys from the same merchant.

There's a reason why this is being used so prevalently today. Customer implies agency, a process of thinking and making a choice, while a consumer just consumes. Let me give an example. "We need to check how the consumers will receive it." it implies zero agency on the "consumers" part. Like feeding a toddler. But if I just say "We need to check how the customers will receive it", it again implies agency that we have to do well to satisfy the needs of the customer and not just try feeding a toddler by using dirty tricks.

No debtors prison but there is a credit score. And that shit is the gateway to paying less for everything when you're borrowing money. Especially for a mortgage on a house so you actually have equity in the property you're living in.

Wrecking your credit score basically gate keeps you from a lot of stuff sadly.

I mean, I know you said /s but just saying fucking up your credit can screw you hard in the hyper capitalist hellscape we live in.

It's about one billion pieces of dollars. I'm let someone else handle the rest.