Are Buy Now, Pay Later Deals a Good Idea?

Electronics stores, mattress retailers, furniture dealers, even WalMart.com all offer some version of the famous "Buy Now, Pay Later" deal. An offer that is listed as having no payments until 2008 and no interest on the balances can sound like a no lose deal to many consumers.

Personal finance expert and CreditBloggers.com contributer, Gerri Detweiler, recently appeared on San Francisco's ABC news to warn consumers about the traps associated with these buy now, pay later deals. Click on the image below to watch the KGO video clip and read the transcript:

 

Like Gerri said, there are a lot of traps hidden in the fine print of buy now, pay later offers. And if the deal involves opening a finance company account (which most do) you could be causing some long term damage to your credit scores. Our credit scoring expert, John Ulzheimer, wrote about why you should avoid finance accounts on the blog back in 2005.

In most cases, you are better off with the old fashioned "Buy Now, Pay Now" routine!