Last updated: 2026-07-16 · Written by the usedappliancestores.com data team.
Ranked by total cost, the routes to a working appliance run: used cash purchase, then new cash purchase, then short-term financing paid on schedule, then rent-to-own. Ranked by accessibility with no credit, the order roughly reverses. This page prices all four routes on the same $500 reference appliance with sourced multipliers, so you can see exactly what each convenience costs.
The comparison, on a $500 reference appliance
| Route | Upfront | Total cost pattern | Credit check | You own it | Source for the cost figure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buy used, cash | Full used price | The used price, once (see the pricing formula in used-appliance prices by type and region) | No | Immediately | Structural: no financing layer exists |
| Buy new, cash | $500 | $500 | No | Immediately | Reference price |
| Buy-now-pay-later (pay-in-four) | ~$125 | ~$500 if paid on schedule; late fees added otherwise | Soft or none | Immediately | CFPB describes the standard product as four equal installments, interest-free when paid on time |
| Credit card, carried 12 months | $0 | ~$550-560 | Yes | Immediately | Federal Reserve G.19: average rate on interest-assessed card accounts has run above 20% through 2024-2025 |
| Rent-to-own, full term | First payment | ~$1,000-1,500 | No | At the end of the term, or at early buyout | FTC consumer guidance: rent-to-own typically totals 2-3x the retail price; Rent-A-Center's 2024 10-K discloses pricing at 2.0-2.4x the cost of the item |
The multipliers are the story. On the FTC's 2-3x figure, the $500 appliance costs $1,000 to $1,500 through a full rent-to-own term. The industry's own securities filings corroborate the range: Rent-A-Center's 2024 10-K discloses a 2.0-2.4x markup structure. Neither number is an accusation; it is the disclosed price of the product's real features, which are worth naming precisely.
What does rent-to-own actually buy you?
Four features, none of them free:
- No credit check. The transaction is a lease, not a loan, so approval does not run through your credit file.
- Immediate delivery of a new unit with no accumulated cash.
- A walk-away right. Return the item and payments stop. There is no repossession mark or collections balance on the item itself, though returned payments are gone.
- Service during the term, typically included while you rent.
If you will genuinely use the walk-away right (a 6-month placement, uncertain housing), rent-to-own can be rational: you are renting, and renting has a defensible price. If you intend to keep the appliance the whole term, you are choosing to pay 2-3x for it, and the used-cash route below almost always beats it.
What buying used actually costs
The used cash purchase has no financing layer, so the total cost equals the purchase price, once. The trade-offs are the accumulation problem (you need the cash now) and the lifespan risk, which is manageable with the remaining-life math in is buying used or scratch-and-dent worth it. In our national directory, 1,993 of 6,691 checked store listings show positive evidence of selling used inventory, so in most metros the supply exists (browse checked stores by state). Vet the store first: how to verify a used-appliance store.
The strongest version of this route: a tested used unit from a registered store with a written 90-day guarantee. That combination approaches the reliability of financed-new at a fraction of the total cost.
What the financing routes cost
Pay-in-four BNPL splits the price into four installments, interest-free when paid on schedule per the CFPB's description of the standard product; the cost appears when payments slip (late fees, and with some providers, interest products beyond pay-in-four). A carried credit-card balance prices at the card's APR; the Federal Reserve's G.19 series has that above 20% on interest-assessed accounts through 2024-2025, roughly $50-60 of interest carrying $500 for a year. Both routes require either an account or a credit profile, which is exactly what excludes part of this page's audience; the full set of no-credit and thin-credit routes is compared in buying appliances with bad credit.
The decision table
| Your situation | Cheapest workable route |
|---|---|
| You have the cash and time to shop | Used, from a verified store, written guarantee |
| You have most of the cash | Pay-in-four on a new or scratch-and-dent unit, paid on schedule |
| No cash accumulated, stable income, keeping the appliance | Save 4-8 weeks toward a used unit; the 2-3x rent-to-own multiplier is the price of not waiting |
| No cash, immediate need, uncertain horizon | Rent-to-own, using the walk-away right deliberately |
| No credit file at all | Used cash or rent-to-own; both skip the credit check |
Rent-to-own providers include the national chains and regional companies such as appliancerentals.com. Disclosure: this site and appliancerentals.com are commonly owned. That link is one option inside the comparison above, and the cost math on this page applies to every rent-to-own provider equally, including that one. Details of the ownership are on the about page.
Sources
- Federal Trade Commission, consumer guidance on rent-to-own costs (typical total 2-3x retail).
- Rent-A-Center 2024 Form 10-K (pricing disclosed at 2.0-2.4x item cost).
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, descriptions of the pay-in-four buy-now-pay-later product.
- Federal Reserve, G.19 Consumer Credit series (average APR on interest-assessed credit-card accounts, 2024-2025).
- usedappliancestores.com store dataset, 2026-07-15 build (methodology).