26.8.19 Cash Converters - Hard Times

I was shopping on Saturday and on seeing a Cash Converters shop, decided to have a look at what was on offer.  The short answer to "What was worth buying?" is "Nothing."  It was a sorry state of affairs, seeing stuff that had so little merit, but the reason for this brief post relates to the credit terms that are available on all items in the shop.

I can understand how having six weeks to pay might be of real benefit to people, especially those on benefits, and credit terms sort of go hand in hand with the whole purpose of Cash Converters and its business model.  But on Saturday, I considered that things have now gone a bit too far.  The reason for this conclusion?  Simply the option to spread the payments over six weeks for a purchase at ONE POUND.  That's right, a quid.

On offer, by the counter, were some DVDs, and whilst in years gone by they would have commanded a pound each, the climate is now rather different.  The going rate is £1 for five DVDs.  This lowly pitch for finding them a new home was enhanced by the management, through an offer to extend payment over six weeks.  The up-front requirement was 22 pence, and this allowed the balance to be cleared at 13p per week over the following six weeks.  What a pointless exercise indeed.

Per DVD, this means I could have paid a deposit of 4.4 pence, and then taken the next six weeks to settle, so 2.6 pence per week.  I was, and still am, dumbfounded by this level of commercial interaction.

The saddest part is that even with such low prices, and credit beyond the limits of sensibility, I saw none that I could summon up enthusiasm for.  This must be the definition of 'worthless'.

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