Over the Christmas holiday, some people went to pretty desperate measures to acquire Nintendo's coveted Wii. One local woman offered to lease my used Nintendo Wii until she could nab one for herself. I wondered "who would do that?" and politely declined. I wonder if this same woman would be crazy/desperate enough to give into the predatory rent-to-own schemes.
The Consumerist informs us of one extreme example of rent-to-own rip-off pricing. This "lease-purchase" from Kelly's offers a Wii for $79 a month. That price doesn't sound too terrible until you find out that customers are expected to pay that installment for 12 months. What would normally cost $250 would be bumped up to a whopping $948! That's almost enough for a Wii, Xbox 360, and a PS3.
They point out, in contrast, that a credit card at 18% interest would only cost you $23 a month for 12 months, and you'd get "out the door" for $673 less than the Kelly's "deal."
The pitfalls of rent-to-own schemes are nothing new, but I hate to think that some of our down-and-out or desperate gaming brethren might give into this predatory sales tactic. While I enjoy my Nintendo Wii, I know it's not worth almost $1000, let alone their $500 cash price. If things are tight right now, just do what The Consumerist recommends: stick that $79 monthly payment in an envelope for three months and go buy your Wii with cash.
Dale North is Destructoid's Editor-In-Chief, a founding editor, and specialist in Japanese gaming. An accomplished musician, Dale was reporting from Japan during the earthquakes of 2011. Luckily, he got the fuck out alive and is home in America now with his wife and beloved corgi, Einstein. Dale is also a co-founder of Destructoid's sister anime site
Japanator. Likes Corgis, Sega Saturn, PSP, iPhone, Photographic tools.
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Contest:
10:20 AM on 03.01.2008
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*A $77 non-refundable deposit is needed for the free month.
You're saving almost $15 off their price. gogog. e-mail me at youreasucker@iruleyou.com
The sad thing is that there are people who live paycheck to paycheck who will probably buy this as they can't save more than $100 a month and they want the Wii now....
And that's why they live paycheck to paycheck. They need to quit being retards and save money. That's what old man Franklin meant when he said a penny saved is a penny earned.
Nope check it out
http://69.94.112.183/rtotogostore/rto_store/product_display_item.asp?PID=269&CAT_att=&CAT_id=
Just sayin'.
You know your stuff and some people are retarded junkies when it comes to saving that little bit of money.
This is filled with epic FAIL
Oh, my favorite rent to own? There is an outfit around here called rent-and-roll, where you can rent rims for your car.