{"id":22,"date":"2025-07-28T07:49:55","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T07:49:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/server.highlightphotonics.com.au\/~rickmandelson\/?p=22"},"modified":"2025-07-28T07:49:55","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T07:49:55","slug":"is-it-too-good-to-be-true","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/server.highlightphotonics.com.au\/~rickmandelson\/is-it-too-good-to-be-true\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it too good to be true?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

ALWAYS! Please be careful<\/h4>\n

We all have heard of scams ripping people off, but the biggest rip offs are the legal ones.
\nNot surprisingly, online shopping has accelerated nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns, topping out at a 57% increase year on year.
\nIn fact, around four in five households (or almost nine million) purchased online at some point during the year.1<\/sup>
\nIt is not only online shopping sales that have increased, Aussies have also been using BNPL (buy now pay later) more often to satisfy their spending wants and needs.<\/p>\n

Buy Now Pay Later sales increase<\/h4>\n

Afterpay, Australia\u2019s leading BNPL platform, has not only\u00a0increased sales by 63% year-on-year but also added another 18,000 merchants to reach 48,000 \u2013 a 50% yearly increase2<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

ASIC, Australia\u2019s integrated corporate, markets, financial services and consumer credit regulator, has released research into the BNPL industry.\u00a0The research unveiled some concerning facts about the ability of some to make their BNPL payments on time:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • 20% missed or were late paying other bills or loans, 20% of consumers surveyed said they cut back on or went without essentials (e.g. meals) and\u00a0 15% of consumers surveyed said they had taken out an additional loan<\/li>\n
  • 20% missed or were late paying other bills or loans, 20% of consumers surveyed said they cut back on or went without essentials (e.g. meals) and<\/li>\n
  • 15% of consumers surveyed said they had taken out an additional loan3<\/sup><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    If you use BNPL, other risks to be aware of include<\/h4>\n
      \n
    • Default payment penalties can be high with the possibility of paying up to 25% of the initial purchase price<\/li>\n
    • Late repayments can be recorded against your credit report<\/li>\n
    • It can become easy to spend beyond what is affordable<\/li>\n
    • You could find yourself in a vicious debt trap by taking out another loan to repay your BNPL \u2018loan\u2019<\/li>\n
    • Having multiple BNPL accounts can become hard to manage and repay when you sign up for more than one service<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      BNPL arrangements are clearly a popular payment method. While many of us can manage this instant gratification payment scheme, some consumers can suffer the consequences. If we reflect on the basics of how these BNPL companies make their profit, it is clear that the service should be used with caution.<\/p>\n

      What can go wrong?<\/h4>\n

      If I buy a pair of jeans because they are on special for $60 (normally $95), buying them now has saved me $35.00 which is great.
      \nAll of a sudden I find out that I am not able to pay this back, (the deal is I pay a sum each fortnight).
      \nBy missing my fortnightly payments I will be charged a $10.00 fee and if I don’t pay it within the week, another $7.00 is charged.
      \nIf I miss all four payments my jeans that I purchased on special will now cost me:<\/p>\n

      $60 + $10 + $7 + $10 + $7 + $10 + $7 + $10 + $7 = $128.00!!<\/p>\n

      What can I do?<\/h4>\n

      If you feel you are impulse buyer, a little strategy that may work for you could be as follows:
      \nIf it is $100 or more; \u201cI am going to wait a week before I purchase it to see if I really need it\u201d.
      \nIf it is $200 or more;\u201d I will wait for two weeks to see if I really need it\u201d.<\/p>\n

      You may also want to consider having a savings account for these specials when they come up so you don’t need to use services such as BNPL.
      \nUsing your own money, you won’t\u00a0 pay any more than the asking price.<\/p>\n

      Please be careful, read the fine print.<\/h4>\n

      Sources
      \n1 Online shopping trends in Australia – Australia Post (auspost.com.au)
      \n2 Afterpay global users surpass 11 million (afr.com)
      \n3\u00a020-280MR ASIC releases latest data on buy now pay later industry | ASIC – Australian Securities and Investments Commission<\/p>\n

      This is general information only. It is important you consult your tax professional who can advise you in relation to your individual circumstances.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      ALWAYS! Please be careful We all have heard of scams ripping people off, but the biggest rip offs are the legal ones. Not surprisingly, online shopping has accelerated nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns, topping out at a 57% increase year on year. In fact, around four in five households (or almost nine million) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.highlightphotonics.com.au\/~rickmandelson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.highlightphotonics.com.au\/~rickmandelson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.highlightphotonics.com.au\/~rickmandelson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.highlightphotonics.com.au\/~rickmandelson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.highlightphotonics.com.au\/~rickmandelson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/server.highlightphotonics.com.au\/~rickmandelson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23,"href":"https:\/\/server.highlightphotonics.com.au\/~rickmandelson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22\/revisions\/23"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.highlightphotonics.com.au\/~rickmandelson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.highlightphotonics.com.au\/~rickmandelson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.highlightphotonics.com.au\/~rickmandelson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}