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I miss layaway, and TBH I wish we had layaway for big-ticket items like houses, cars, and POWER9 workstations.
by EddieDante 4y ago
I miss layaway, and TBH I wish we had layaway for big-ticket items like houses, cars, and POWER9 workstations.
- dhosek 4y agoI never really got the point of layaway. I give you money and you keep it interest-free until I pay for the item? Why not just put it into my own savings account and at least get interest on it?
- fknorangesite 4y ago> Why not just put it into my own savings account and at least get interest on it? Because if it's immediately available in a savings account, the vast majority of people are much more likely to spend it on something else. The appeal of layaway is the willpower enforcement - worth the price of whatever pocket change you're likely to get in savings-account interest.
- EddieDante 4y agoFor me, the point of layaway is that I want something enough to commit to paying for it in advance a little at a time. A savings accounts is fungible; it isn't necessarily dedicated to anything and subject to me raiding it if I need to cover an unexpected expense. Incidentally, where do you live that the interest on a mere savings account is worthwhile on a timescale of years rather than decades or centuries? Or am I taking "savings account" too literally when you mean things like certificates of deposit or money-market accounts?
- lotsofpulp 4y ago> For me, the point of layaway is that I want something enough to commit to paying for it in advance a little at a time. A savings accounts is fungible; it isn't necessarily dedicated to anything and subject to me raiding it if I need to cover an unexpected expense. You are making dhosek’s argument for them.
- EddieDante 4y agoHow so? By acknowledging the general utility of savings accounts while explaining why in some cases they aren't fit for purpose?
- lotsofpulp 4y agoFor what purpose are they not fit? They can do the same thing paying for layaway would, plus you get the protection of being able to use it for unexpected expenses.
- EddieDante 4y agoIf you didn't grow up working-poor and unbanked in the twentieth century you probably wouldn't understand.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- cbm-vic-20 4y agoI grew up lower middle class in the 80s. We got layaway to lock in a sale price and make sure the product is still available.
- lotsofpulp 4y agoI always thought layaway was just used to lock in a sale price, so essentially, a customer is betting that the payment now plus the foregone interest/investment return in the payment will be less than the future sale price.
- TedDoesntTalk 4y agoBecause the item could be sold to someone else in the meantime.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- bityard 4y agoIt was a concept designed for the low- to middle-class in a very different era than what we have now. Especially in rural areas, banks were not often used by those who probably needed them the most, for a variety of reasons. Lots of workers were either paid in cash, or cashed their paycheck weekly at the local grocery/department/liquor store. Even today, lots of people have the issue where if they _have_ money, they are compelled to spend it on frivolous things like entertainment and alcohol. Layaway was an easy and convenient tool that people could use to make sure they were putting at least some of their money toward things they really wanted.