Best Buy Sells Its Soul with Rent-A-Center Kiosks?

[admin]

I've been a big proponent of budgeting for years - and that includes spending within your means. If only the federal government were so restrained. In any case, there are natural resistors in place that hold back people from doing things they really shouldn't be doing - like getting that additional credit card when their credit score is already in the hole - or buying a house that's too much mortgage for them. When you take away those natural constraints built into the financial system you end up with a real mess - like the one we're in now with housing. I guess that single mom, or waiter, or married couple earning $50,000 per year really couldn't afford that $350,000 house after all... but the 5-year ballooning no interest loan looked so good on paper! It's not that these people were evil - they just had banks telling them "yes" when they should have said "no way!". So what on earth does this have to do with home theater? Normally nothing... except for the fact that Rent-A-Center (RAC) is lining up to do the same thing with home theater electronics shoppers. And they are teaming up with Best Buy.

Discuss "Best Buy Sells Its Soul with Rent-A-Center Kiosks?" here. Read the article.

 

[its phillip]

Ugh. Rent a center is the worst. You'll end up paying $1200 for a $300 item. If people want to finance something, they should just stick with a best buy credit card since they usually do 6/12/18/24 months no interest depending on what you buy.

 

[markw]

Ugh. Rent a center is the worst. You'll end up paying $1200 for a $300 item. If people want to finance something, they should just stick with a best buy credit card since they usually do 6/12/18/24 months no interest depending on what you buy.

A lot pf people who use RAC and the like can't get credit cards.

 

[jfalk]

People who can't get credit have a lot of problems. Give them advice if you like, Clint, but don't tell them what they can and can't do with their money. Do RAC and the like carry high interest rates? Sure... but that's because their clients are high risk. As patiently as you or I could say "Wait a year putting the payments into your sock drawer and then bu the TV for cash," that's not likely to be much good. The people who are that patient can already handle credit.

 

[Adam]

I'm torn. On the face of it, I agree that it's a bad thing as it's making it easier for people who are likely in bad financial shape to get into even worse financial shape. They'd have to pay a lot more for an item than I would.

On the other hand, I wonder if that's what rich people would think about my decision to get a mortgage. After all, you pay a lot more for a house when you "rent to own" one from a mortgage company. If you've bought a house, I'm sure that you've done the math - it's shocking. However, I simply couldn't afford to pay for my house up front.

Thing are relative. This might be a good program for some, and a horrible program for others. As for Best Buy selling it's soul...that's pretty generous to say that they have one to sell.

 

[markw]

Adam, surely you don't think buying a home theatre is as important and necessary as buying a house to live in for years and years is, do you? How about a car?

Everyone needs a place to live and, if one can get a mortgage, buying makes more sense than forever renting.

Nobody "needs" anything Best Buy sells.

 

[its phillip]

Yeah, a mortgage is a different story, but it's unrealistic to expect people who make 40K a year to have 200K available to buy a home (or whatever). $300 for a ps3 or $1000 for a tv is different. I'm fairly poor but if I tried I could save for a new tv in a relatively short period of time if I was disciplined about it. I agree that it is shocking how much more you pay for a house after a 20 or 30 year mortgage...so it's best to try and pay it off in 10 or 15 if you can And there are rich people who get mortgages as well - plenty of actors and ceos have had homes foreclosed on them which boggles the mind.

But like mark said, a home is a necessity, and tvs and home theater equipment is not. If anything, the interest rates should not be so high on those products...it's basically robbery.

 

[Adam]

I wasn't trying to go off the deep end on the house analogy. Some consider a home a necessity, others don't. Same for a TV, cellphone, computer, and so on. While I'm being serious, I'll put it a different way. I could have gotten a number of roommates or the like to save money, but I didn't. I could afford to live on my own, but only under the framework that I was going to be working for several more years. Some people can afford to get a TV on rent-to-own, under the same framework.

I guess perhaps it comes down to priorities and perspective. One person's necessities are another person's luxuries. Ever listen to some people talk about how they "need" this or "need" that, and although it's something that you consider to be a luxury, it's not just semantics? They actually believe that they need it.

 

[markw]

No. All semantics aside, some things are simply not needed to live, period.

But, if they want to piss away their money, feel free but I just hope they aren't on any public assistance.

 

[j_garcia]

Best Buy didn't have a soul to sell...

 

[markw]

Best Buy didn't have a soul to sell...

It's rented.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

People who can't get credit have a lot of problems. Give them advice if you like, Clint, but don't tell them what they can and can't do with their money. Do RAC and the like carry high interest rates? Sure... but that's because their clients are high risk. As patiently as you or I could say "Wait a year putting the payments into your sock drawer and then bu the TV for cash," that's not likely to be much good. The people who are that patient can already handle credit.

While I respect where you are coming from Clint wrote an editorial. The point is to make a strong point and that's just what Clint did.

 

[stratman]

A better option would be layaway.....small deposit, pay very little each month, no interest, it's yours when you're done paying and it gives you something to look forward to, no quick gratification which leads to impulse buying.

 

[j_garcia]

A better option would be layaway.....small deposit, pay very little each month, no interest, it's yours when you're done paying and it gives you something to look forward to, no quick gratification which leads to impulse buying.

Or, if you can't afford it, don't buy it. Credit a.k.a. debt, which layaway is a close cousin to, is the vast majority of our economic problems (world wide, not just in the US) right now. Layaway isn't as bad, but it still means you couldn't afford it IMHO.

 

[Pyrrho]

I would be more sympathetic to the position of those who say that it is just the people's own fault for agreeing to bad terms, if it were not for the fact that they are typically misled about what it is that they will really be paying for everything. If they were directly and honestly told that they were essentially paying usurious rates, but it was legal due to some creative accounting that exploited loopholes in the usury laws, and were clearly told the total price that they were paying for the items, then most would probably not be signing on the dotted line.

Basically, it is conning people out of their money, not making an honest transaction. I think such practices should be illegal and should involve very serious penalties for those who violate such laws.

Frankly, if I start seeing such kiosks in Best Buy stores, I will be doing a lot more shopping for movies online from others instead. I do not want to be filled with disgust every time I enter a store to buy a movie. And I don't want to support a company that is in business to con people out of their money.

 

[krzywica]

Every time I see one of these type organizations it always brings me back to the numerous contracting agencies I have worked for in the past in IT. ALL of them take 30%-40% of whatever the company I am working for is paying me. The worst thing about it is they don't actually do anything for me for that $30k-$40k a year that they leech off of me, no benefits, no insurance, all they do is my payroll every week....

These companies are all the same, Payday Loans, Rent A Center, Contracting Companies, ect. They are all in the same boat for me, extortion I think is the best word for it. Taking advantage of those that have no other options.

 

[joebob]

Best Buy has a soul?

There used to be a time when you could walk into a store, like Hi Fi Buys, listen to different systems and speak to someone who actually knew something about them.

Good thing we have the Internet.

 

[MapleSyrup]

Back around the early 2000, my wife told me about some friends of ours who were renting a DVD player Through a rent-a-center place. They were paying a monthly fee to use the gear and after a very quick calculation I told the Mrs. that if they simply returned the player and hold off for a ear that they could afford a very nice DVD player to own. Our friends actually did return the player and saved the money they would otherwise pay to rent the DVD player and bought their own player after a couple of months. They were and still are living with the guy's parents because they cannot afford their own home.

 

[eladdo]

May not be all bad

Indeed leasing AV equipment doesn't make financial sense as it is. It would be much wiser for those with credit issues, to go for a 1-2 years old used equipment at 25-50% the price of a brand new piece.

H-o-w-e-v-e-r, If such a program would include an upgrade option, such that one would be able to replace his/hers equipment every 2 years (for example), that would make a great selling point for the program.

Instead of draining 100% of the investment every couple of years just for the sake of keeping up with the technology (Who said: HD, FHD, HDMI v1.1/1.2/1.3/1.4, bluray, HDDVD, 3D active, 3D passive, 4k, 16k, 256k ), it would be very appealing to be able to keep the AV system updated at all times for a certain on-going premium.

Don’t know if that is part of the offer, but if it does, I think it is deserved a second (and more sympathetic) look…

 

[TLS Guy]

Most of the gear will be blown long before the pay off!