Dwell live shows and sporting occasions are costlier than ever these days. Tickets for Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Tour at the moment vary from $72 to over $2,000, as one instance. In line with Pollstar data, the 2024 common ticket worth for a prime 100 touring artist was $135.92.
Amid rising inflation, mass layoffs and a risky economic system, extra Individuals are turning to “purchase now, pay later” (BNPL) loans by suppliers like Affirm and Klarna to afford these costly occasions.
These providers enable shoppers to pay for his or her tickets in smaller installments as a substitute of suddenly. Within the StubHub checkout course of for a Cowboy Carter ticket, for instance, shoppers can purchase a $90 ticket for $15.61/month, or in six interest-free funds.
And for a rising group of Individuals, this sort of mortgage has changed utilizing a bank card.
In contrast to with a bank card, folks making use of for a BNPL mortgage “may be permitted for credit score inside seconds, they usually sometimes don’t do a credit score examine,” defined Ed deHaan, a professor at Stanford College’s Graduate Faculty of Enterprise. He stated BNPL loans may be the “first alternative” cost choice for a lot of younger individuals who don’t have a bank card, have restricted credit score historical past, or have a low credit score rating.
In a Lending Tree survey performed this April of two,000 U.S. shoppers ages 18 to 79, round half reported utilizing “purchase now, pay later” loans to purchase their garments, telephones, dwelling decorations, occasions ― and even groceries. Actually, about 7 in 10 BNPL customers have been younger folks ages 18 to twenty-eight, together with 26% who’ve had three or extra BNPL loans at one time.
“Persons are cash-strapped proper now,” stated Jen Hemphill, an accredited monetary counselor. “They don’t have the funds for, and [a BNPL loan] is simply an immediate answer to their issues.”
However earlier than you employ a BNPL mortgage to make your large buy, it’s best to know the distinctive dangers these loans have.
The Execs And Cons Of Utilizing ‘Purchase Now, Pay Later’ Loans
The massive benefit ― and potential hazard ― with a BNPL mortgage is the convenience with which you’ll spend some huge cash shortly. On a bank card, you could take care of a recurring month-to-month invoice, however a BNPL mortgage means that you can have various cost schedules. Some might even see this flexibility as a blessing that means that you can repay a one-time massive expense like a laptop computer in your most well-liked schedule.
“If you need to use it responsibly, then, yeah, it’s nice,” deHaan stated, noting that BNPL corporations are serving populations who might not have the ability to entry credit score in any other case.
“If I didn’t have a bank card and I principally pay the whole lot in money, and I went on-line to purchase one thing substantial … I’d try this,” deHaan stated as one state of affairs. “I believe one mortgage might be fairly simple to type of mentally account for.”
However after getting a number of BNPL loans on totally different schedules, it might quickly flip right into a logistical nightmare.
DeHaan gave the instance of getting 15 totally different BNPL loans at one time: “So daily, you’ll be able to have a number of deductions out of your checking account as these loans are being repaid,” he stated. “And for me, I simply actually battle to see how folks can mentally hold monitor of all of that, relative to a bank card the place you’ve acquired one stability, one month-end cost.“
Some BNPL suppliers require debtors to arrange automated funds for his or her loans, and lots of cost a late charge for missed funds, which may result in bother down the road.
A BNPL supplier doesn’t must report back to your monetary lenders how a lot debt you’re taking on, and also you would possibly begin taking over extra debt than you’ll be able to repay comfortably. DeHaan’s analysis has found that BNPL customers usually tend to have financial institution overdraft expenses than nonusers.
Even in case you are good at paying your BNPL loans on time, deHaan stated it might probably come on the expense of paying off different important money owed like your auto mortgage or cellphone invoice.
“The BNPL suppliers are good at getting you to prioritize your BNPL cost, as a result of it routinely comes out of your account each two weeks, they instantly lower you off for those who miss a cost, your credit score restrict goes up while you make funds,” he defined, “so folks prioritize that cost, however they’re not making one thing else.”
It is best to all the time learn the nice print earlier than you employ a BNPL mortgage, significantly if it’s a boutique BNPL credit score system just like the one Coachella makes use of. In line with a Billboard report, greater than half of 2025 Coachella common admission attendees bought their tickets by cost plans.
However underneath the 2025 Coachella BNPL system, clients incurred an extra $41 cost only for utilizing the service. Normally, a BNPL firm doesn’t cost customers an upfront charge only for utilizing it. The Coachella cost plan is “a foul deal to start with,” deHaan stated. “That’s a excessive rate of interest that you just’re paying.”
“A live performance ticket could be a very good instance of one thing that might entice [you] to spend past [your] means,” deHaan stated. “You persuade your self momentarily that you just’ll have the ability to make these funds, and earlier than you understand it, you’re not making them.”
In worst circumstances, for those who miss a cost, you could possibly be “out a pair 100 bucks and also you don’t have a ticket to the present,” he stated.
Whether or not they scare or excite you, you’ll be able to anticipate “Purchase Now, Pay Later” cash preparations to maintain increasing.
In the course of the Biden administration, the Client Monetary Safety Board ― an impartial federal company ― cracked down on fintech merchandise, together with BNPL corporations. However deHaan famous that the present CFPB underneath Donald Trump is backing away from these laws. In March, the CFPB signaled that it will spike its interpretive rule, launched final yr, that might have introduced some bank card protections to “purchase now, pay later” merchandise, together with a proper to dispute expenses and to demand a refund from lenders.
Consequently, “I believe we are going to see now much more different credit score merchandise popping up,” deHaan stated.
And it is going to be as much as shoppers to remain on prime of these funds. “When it’s simple and it feels doable, then you definately do it, however then you definately don’t notice the monetary bother you will get into for those who proceed to stack up these “purchase now, pay later [loans],” Hemphill stated.
Hemphill stated that ideally, folks would construct up their financial savings for “enjoyable funds” like live shows, in order that “you’re treating that financial savings like a invoice” as a substitute of relying upon “purchase now, pay later” preparations to deal with your self.
However for now, too many individuals have the mentality of “I’ll take care of it later. I actually need to go to this live performance,” Hemphill stated.
