My brother Matt was visiting and I sprung on him my great idea.

Layaway is when you give store a deposit on an item, make payments on the item on a regular basis until you have paid the full price. Once you pay for the item, you get it.

My idea is for online retailers to use layaway for purchases. They already have the ability to do electronic checks that pull money from a savings account.

Imagine that you want that new $1,200 laptop. You don't have the $1,200 and you don't want to put it on credit due to interest payments. You got to Dell and select the layaway option. You agree to let Dell pull $100 out of your bank account on your weekly payday for 12 weeks. The $100 doesn't put a big crimp on your budget, and in 3 months, you get the laptop.

Some people have the discipline to save money themselves into a savings account, but many don't. Layaway would be a great way for people to buy big ticket items without falling into the credit trap.

Companies would benefit from layaway since they'd have your money before they gave you the product. The interest they could earn would be huge.

You read it here first.

I had great plans for tonight to work on things, but my energy is minimal. THere's a big meeting at work in the morning, and I need to be rested.

Good night.

Posted by michael at December 03, 2002 10:03 PM