Costco Offering Buy Now, Pay Later With Affirm. But Is It Worth It?

Nora Carol Photography/Getty Images/CNET Costco recently announced it's partnering with Affirm to offer its customers Buy Now, Pay Later plans for online purchases between $500 and $17,500. This BNPL plan lets you split a purchase into up to 36 payments across several months, and charges interest. A typical pay-in-four BNPL that you may be familiar with lets you split a purchase into four weekly payments, with no interest. However, using a BNPL plan isn't necessarily always a good deal, and unlike some BNPL plans, Affirm's option charges interest. If the interest accrued substantially increases how much you'd spend -- under the guise of convenience or low monthly payments -- it's not actually a deal. And not everything should be financed, either (looking at you, DoorDash). So if you're planning to shop online with Costco this Memorial Day, you'll likely encounter Affirm's BNPL option. Here's how to figure out how much the plan could actually cost you before you decide whether to use ... Read full article.