Oddbean new post about login | logout layaway is different from credit. With credit, you are giving the person the device and hoping they pay you back. With layaway, the person says I want this device and I will pay for it in four installments or something like that and you keep it until you get the money and then you just ship it out as a regular product.
Ha, I guess. But why would they trust me over just saving up in a wallet they own? It's sort of like a weightloss deal to themselves? "I will become private"
big retailers used to offer layaway and its a big thing during downturns in the economy. In fact, I think the concept was invented in the Great Depression and was used a lot again during 2008. A lot of people do not have financial self-control. So if they have a retailer holding the money for the product for them, then they will not spend it on something else, which they might otherwise do.