Immediate gratification. It's easy to walk into Rent-a-center and come out with a TV, couch, iPad, laptop, etc without realizing that for those weekly payments, you could buy one of those items each month. In a few months you own them all outright.
This isn't just for low-income people. Plenty of people making a decent salary will go out and overextend themselves when they get their first apartment as well. Rent-a-center comes to take stuff back from people that make $60k/year just as often as they do from people who make $30k/year.
I'm also not sure I'd classify people as 'poor' who have $300/month they can spend on renting these items which are mostly luxury items. You can argue that you 'need' a TV or laptop to live, but you can get a $200 laptop or $200 TV, instead of $1,000 models.
This isn't just for low-income people. Plenty of people making a decent salary will go out and overextend themselves when they get their first apartment as well. Rent-a-center comes to take stuff back from people that make $60k/year just as often as they do from people who make $30k/year.
I'm also not sure I'd classify people as 'poor' who have $300/month they can spend on renting these items which are mostly luxury items. You can argue that you 'need' a TV or laptop to live, but you can get a $200 laptop or $200 TV, instead of $1,000 models.