Buy now, pay later...knit much, much later.

 

I will never forget the first time that my parents purchased our first ever set of furniture. They were from Ashley’s Furniture, super fluffy and forest green. I didn’t know it at the time, but this purchase was our first ever ‘point of sale loan.’  As a family of five living in a small town located a mere 30 minutes (give or take) from two ski resorts, we didn’t have much disposable income. Though my family was  ‘low income,’ I never, ever felt like we were missing something. My parents understood the limits of their income, but saving was never something they indeed did. If our extended family needed help, they would provide whatever disposable income they had. So in the absence of the ‘nest egg’ that everyone is expected to have, our family relied on POS loans to make purchases. Each purchase was made with our budget in mind; we never spent more than what we could afford on monthly bills. And had it not been for point of sale loans, we probably would have continued to salvage washing machines from the dump, or perhaps we would have never been able to purchase a desktop computer that helped me apply to college.  

So what does this have to do with knitting, right? 

Well, it appears that the point of sale loans are making a comeback! They are no longer restricted to furniture stores or to appliances, and these suckers are making their way into our world—the world of bougie knitting. 

If you think that this post will be about how expensive yarn is pushing folks who are FOMO’d as fuck by Instagram posts to apply for loans just to squish the goodness, you are wrong.  This post is more about exploring these programs and why you as a consumer should read the user agreement very closely before you give in. 

“shop now, pay later” is the mantra behind some of the most popular companies which offer these loans. I believe that the first time that I saw this was while I was perusing the TOMS website. After that brief exposure, these companies became a staple of every single payment options section that I encountered. Initially, I thought that this was similar to the JCPenney credit card that high school students are forced to ask you about at check out. So, of course, being the responsible consumer who did some MAJOR damage to my credit card while attending college, I was never tempted. Until….boom ‘covid-19 lockdown’! 

I’m sure ya’ll remember the tsunami of folks who got bit by the knitting bug. And I’m sure you'll remember the mob of cart thieves…I know I do; I can even tell you where I was sitting when it happened. ;) As more folks began to lose their jobs and as the lockdowns were extended, we had one place where we could pretend everything was normal, the internet. 

There were shop updates left and right. Everyone was collaborating with the best of the best, and my hell were we spoiled. But not everyone could afford stuff during the shop drops. I’m not sure if it is coincidental, but a lot of our knitting favorites made this “shop now, pay later” option available to those who were interested and especially for those who did not have that nest egg available for the drops. 

Now, what the hell is it? Well, as we mentioned above, they are small loans that you apply to in order to shop now and pay them back later when that money comes through. So let’s talk about the process, shall we? 

1. You apply for the loan in your name – depending on the company, these loans can include interest, or they can be interest-free. 

2. Since it’s a loan, the company pulls credit reports in your name – and here is the kicker, for the life of your loan, you authorize this company to pull consumer reports. 

3. By this point in the process, you may be asking, is this going to make a mark on my credit? 

• This is a difficult question because if you ask for a loan for that specific purchase, it will not count as a ‘hard inquiry which is what will make a mark. But if you ask for an ‘open-ended loan, then yes, it most definitely will. 

4. You may also be asking, “will my payments show up on my credit report to boost my credit” and the answer to that is not with most companies. But if you are late on a payment or if you default, you can bet on your life that it will show up. Oops. I also want to mention that payments are typically completed in four billing cycles, so make sure you can make those payments! 

After you go through the process, you check off on boxes, and then you come to the ‘terms & conditions.’ Read this shit very carefully, fam, because you agree to some weird shit. 

1. You agree to have recorded telephone communications [which is normal] “with us and each of our representatives, affiliates, agents and or other service providers” [referred to as ‘the communicating parties’]. So basically, they can call you for questions re: your account, but anyone who is affiliated with them can call you. And they further state that they may communicate by “autodialer, pre-recorded messages, and/or text messages” to provide information about “your current or future applications…for all the products you have had, currently have, or may have with us.” Now I don’t know about you, but ‘future applications’ hmm, it sounds like they can bother me for potential loan opportunities, kind of like when Comcast calls me to upgrade my shit. They go on further to say that “ such calls are not ‘unsolicited calls’ for the purposes of any state or federal law, and you expressly consent to receive such calls and messages.” This is basically saying that they can robocall you because you consented, so you gave up the protection that you had under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (with this company, of course). 

2. Now, this shit should infuriate you because they have you agree to this little section, “ You agree that the Communicating Parties are not liable for any resulting breach of privacy or for any charges or costs you incur in connection with text messaging, emails, or other communications that the Communicating Parties may send you. You agree that this authorization constitutes a bargain for exchange and that, unless applicable law permits you such a right, you may not unilaterally revoke this authorization. To the extent you have a right to unilaterally revoke this authorization, you agree you may do so only by you, agree you may do so only by writing to [name redacted], {po box redacted}.” Yes, folks, you agree to not free them from potential breaches and the cost of this communication. Now, if you have the luxury of unlimited minutes and data, this isn’t a big issue, but this impacts our low-income folks, who may only be able to purchase a certain number of minutes. There is not a limit of calls they can make, so be prepared to lose those minutes.  To add insult to injury, you cannot opt-out of this agreement unless you write in; how fucked up is that? In a digital world, why the hell do I have to send in a letter expressing my desire to opt out of communication? Talk about putting up as many barriers as possible to maintain access to you for many, many years to come. 

3. This is one of the most concerning clauses, “<name redacted> is not in any way responsible for the goods or services you order or purchase from merchants, including, without limitation, the quality of such goods and services and how and whether such goods or services are delivered…you must contact the merchant to resolve any issues you have with respect to the goods and services you ordered or purchased from the merchant, including, without limitation, any issues relating to shipping and delivery, product warranty, product return, and the terms of any agreements you entered into with the merchant in connection with your order or purchase.” So if you are concerned about getting stiffed or defrauded, you’re on your own. This won’t be an issue within our knitting world [hopefully], but just know this can and maybe be in your clause for other purchases. 

So when you come across that payment option, be savvy and take your time reading through it. I’m not saying to do it; I’m just saying that you have to be smart.