in shops they seek to attract with interest-free payments / sebastián casali
The 3 and 6 installment plans with credit cards are the most used in local businesses. Although the Now 12 resists, according to the queries of this newspaper in local businesses, it is reserved as a purchase resource when the amounts are important, for example, to purchase household appliances. One of the reasons for the loss of prominence of the one-year installments is the high interest rate applied to the products, which is around 50 percent.
For the purchase of sportswear, clothing in general or footwear, financing generally does not exceed 6 installments.
Guillermo Salvioli, a textile merchant on Calle 8, said that the choice of the number of installments generally depends on the amount of the purchase.
“Customers don’t want a lot of installments, also there is no interest in up to 3, then it depends on the business,” said the merchant.
Also in the same area, Martín Bizet assured that, beyond the inflation that exists in Argentina, customers no longer want 12 installments to buy clothes.
“Perhaps I know that because these are small amounts, but I believe that in the sale of household appliances or expensive items, Now 12 can work very well,” Bizet clarified.
Among the people of La Plata, the 3 and 6 installment plans are widely used for the purchase of clothing, footwear, sheets, towels, and stationery. One of the keys is that the user does not run out of financing for more important purchases in the event that other needs arise, such as acquiring material to repair something at home or changing tires.
“It is not that Now 12 has died, I continue to use it, but it is true that the 3 and 6 installment plans are used more. It is more a question of amounts than purchasing strategies”, concluded the merchant.
Valentín Gilitchensky, a merchant and member of the Business Federation of La Plata, argued that in few businesses the Now 12 is maintained because they must apply an interest of 50 percent that the client must pay.
“Most businesses in La Plata offer 3 installments without interest and up to 6, in many cases, or with small surcharges of 10 or 15 percent,” said Gilitchensky.
Along the same lines as what his colleagues thought, he argued that in recent times the 3 and 6 installment plans have been imposed. Inflationary imbalances end up being absorbed by trade. Instead, the interest for the 12 installments is paid by the client.
Martín Ranea, president of the Asociación Amigos de Calle 12 y Adjacencias, agreed that the high interest rates of the 12-installment program make it impossible for merchants to afford.
“Shorter financing is sought,” he pointed out to graph the modality with which payment plans are chosen in installments.
Of course, that has a caveat and that is when you want to purchase expensive items for any average-income household.
Although the interest rate of Now 12 is high, the inflationary race mitigates that impact.
For example, the client of an electrical appliance store on Calle 12 stated that at the end of 2021 a no-frost refrigerator was purchased in twelve installments of 8,000 pesos, which represented a total of 96,000 pesos.
He added that the same refrigerator now costs 220,000 pesos and, even distributing that amount in the same number of installments without considering interest, he would have to pay about 18,000 pesos per month for this concept, that is, more than double the amount he paid until last November. .
