- Micro-trends that circulate on social media can trigger some to make too many online purchases.
- Buy-now-pay-later can make the true costs of buying items seem lower.
- These payments add up over time, leading to a debt spiral that’s difficult to escape.
Buy-now-pay-later services (BNPL), such as Klarna and Affirm, have made it easier than ever to keep up with influencer micro-trends — but young people say such services are increasingly trapping them into a vicious debt cycle.
Jess Riley, a 31-year-old content creator who has shared her debt journey on TikTok, said that BNPL, combined with micro-fashion trends, almost led her to financial ruin.
“I was definitely one of those people that was very susceptible to influencers,” she said. “When someone put out a new necklace, I instantly wanted that necklace … I would put it on Klarna just so I could have it.”
This impulse buying was just that, though. Sometimes Riley would forget what she ordered almost immediately.
Riley is far from alone. Consumers and commentators who spoke to Business Insider say BNPL tempts people to make impulsive purchases and rack up debt by making it seem like costs are less than they actually are.
It makes shopping online so easy that it almost becomes mindless, particularly on social media.
Simon Trevethick, head of communications at StepChange, a UK debt charity, told BI that the lack of regulation of BNPL apps means people can accumulate multiple debts across various providers “often without proper affordability assessments.”
“If repayments become unaffordable, these debts can then incur late fees and interest charges that place people in financial difficulty,” he said.
In the US, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took steps last year to increase regulation of BNPL providers, Reuters reported. Lenders will be required to refund returned products, and provide assistance with billing disputes. However, they are not required to assess whether a customer can afford the loan and repayments.
The affordability illusion
The exact amount owed to BNPL services is unknown, but between 2019 and 2021, the number of such loans in the US increased by 1,100%, according to the CFPB.
In the 2024 holiday season, Americans were expected to spend $18.5 billion using BNPL services, Reuters reported.
“If you are unable to afford your purchase today, you can explain away not having the money by making multiple payments over time,” Traci Williams, a certified clinical psychologist and financial therapist, told BI.
“Unfortunately, what you don’t consider is that not being able to afford it today likely means just that — you cannot afford it.”
Toni-Ann, who posts content on TikTok about paying off her debt under the handle @financeaccountingdiaries, told BI that social media, with the power of influencers and algorithms, plays a role in the debt spiral.
“It pressures you to want to buy what everybody else has got or whatever you keep seeing advertised. Then Klarna is an option, so you’re just like, ‘oh, I just can spread the payments’,” she said.
These services make it feel like you only owe a small amount, but in reality, the sums add up.
Beth Fuller shared her story on TikTok, where she has reduced her $8,000 of credit card debt to almost nothing by cutting back on needless spending.
Fuller told BI she felt the pressure to keep up with the latest fashion she saw influencers share on social media. She said she realized that once she’d bought something, her brain would move on to the next thing.
“Things were feeling outdated so quickly,” she said. “I was like, surely I can’t need more stuff. But an event would come around, and I just wouldn’t feel on trend for the event, even though I’d bought clothes last month.”
Curbing the habit
People typically don’t like waiting to buy things, Williams told BI, which makes BNPL so tempting. It also hurts less to stretch the payments out.
“Our pain receptors in the brain are more likely to be activated by larger purchases,” she said. “Mentally, it seems easier to pay small amounts over time than in one lump sum.”
Williams recommended asking yourself if the purchase is something you want or need and then considering saving up to pay for it outright: “Focus on stopping the bleeding by no longer using these services.”
A Klarna spokesperson told BI the company offers “a fairer and more sustainable alternative” to traditional credit.
“We conduct strict eligibility checks on each purchase using real-time data, constantly reassess our lending criteria and spending limits to ensure we only lend to those who can afford to repay, and we restrict the use of our services after missed payments to stop debt accumulating,” they said.
An Afterpay spokesperson told BI it did not conduct hard inquiries or report account activity to credit bureaus. They said the company also capped late-payment fees at 25% of the order value.
Customers are offered small spending limits when they first join, the spokesperson said, and 95% of installments in the third quarter of 2024 were paid on time, and 98% incurred no late fees.
Getting out of the hole
An Affirm spokesperson told BI there were no late fees or hidden charges, and if a customer did not repay their loan, they could no longer use the service.
However, the influencers BI spoke to said BNPL helped maintain their shopping addictions. Toni-Ann has almost paid off all her debt. She said it was hard to get out of the hole, but it started with changing her habits.
When she spoke to BI last year, Riley only owed another $800 and expected to be debt-free within weeks.
She has relapsed and used BNPL a couple of times but doesn’t beat herself up about it. Overall, she’s mostly changed the way she thinks about spending and doesn’t let herself be tempted by the micro-trends influencers are promoting: “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
Jyoti Mann contributed reporting.
