Buy Now Pay Later: Is It Right for You?

With the COVID pandemic still ongoing, people are not only looking to save money, but they’re also trying to buy what they need without having to spend a lot of money upfront.

If this sounds like you, we want to share a popular way of getting what you need without having to come up with the entire amount in one payment.

Have you heard of “Buy now, pay later?” It means exactly what you think it means.

It’s a way of purchasing your favorite items from your trusted brands in 4 installments over the course of 6 weeks without interest!

Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?

You won’t have any interest on your payments during those 6 weeks! And to top it off, most companies offering buy now, pay later are doing so without fees.

Cool, right?

How It Works

Do you ever notice an option right under an item you’re shopping for that says something like: $200 or 4 equal payments of $50 with Sezzle?

There are companies such as PayPal, Splitit, Sezzle, Afterpay, Quadpay and others that give you the buy now, pay later option. These companies partner with some of your favorite retailers, so that you can still make purchases with those stores (buy now) without having to pay for an item completely at once (pay later).

If you go to one of your favorite retailers’ website, you might see an option to pay later on an item you’re purchasing. If you go to PayPal and these other sites directly, they give you an option to start shopping the stores that support their buy now, pay later payment methods.

To explain how this works, we’ll use PayPal as an example.

PayPal’s “Pay in 4” allows you to select PayPal as your payment method for an online store purchase.

According to PayPal, at checkout, you’ll just need to select PayPal as your payment method and then select Pay in 4.

Pay in 4 is subject to credit approval. If approved, you can make one down payment at checkout, and the rest of the payments can be made every two weeks for a total of 4 interest-free installments billed via your PayPal account.

Please note that most of these companies will use a soft credit check to verify your eligibility, which will not hurt your credit score.

It’s that simple!

All you’re doing is splitting your bill over the course of 4 payments instead of trying to pay for it all at once. You can still purchase what you want without breaking the bank!

Should You Try It?

Whether to buy now and pay later is totally up to you! It’s really a matter of preference and what will work best for your financial situation.

If you know your credit is good and you can get approved, this will likely save you money. Instead of footing the bill at once, you can save money and break your purchase down into smaller payments. It’s also only 4 payments, so it won’t be that many installments to pay back.

Please know that any missed or late payments can have a negative impact.

You may lose your interest-free promotion, be charged a late fee, and could also have your credit score impacted if your late payment is reported after 30 days. If you know you can pay on time for the duration of the buy now, pay later option, this may be the right choice for you.

Some people may not like the idea of having one more bill to keep up with, and that’s okay. If you’d rather pay upfront, go ahead and do so.

We just wanted to share another option to helping you get the items you want and need from online retailers without having to wait until the next time you have the money.

Thinking about giving buy now, pay later a try? Let us know if you do and how it worked for you!