VRTO survey finds 1 in 4 holiday shoppers may use rent-to-own or BNPL

A VRTO survey of 2,038 US adults found that 23.4% plan to finance part of Christmas 2026 with rent-to-own, virtual rent-to-own or buy-now-pay-later, while 46.6% have used rent-to-own before. Gaming tops the holiday wish list, and higher prices on consoles are likely pushing more shoppers toward payment plans.

Why it matters: - Holiday financing is becoming a mainstream part of gift buying for the respondents in VRTO's survey. - Higher-priced gaming consoles and other electronics are likely making pay-over-time options more attractive. - The findings suggest rent-to-own and BNPL remain widely used among shoppers who are planning for Christmas 2026.

What happened: - VRTO surveyed 2,038 US adults in August 2026 through an opt-in online panel. - 476 respondents said they plan to finance part of Christmas 2026 with rent-to-own, virtual rent-to-own or buy-now-pay-later. - That equals 23.4% of all respondents, or 27.1% of the 1,758 who plan to shop for the holidays. - The findings were published in VRTO's Christmas 2026 buying guide.

The details: - The survey was unweighted, so the results describe the people who answered, not US adults as a whole. - Gaming was the top category among the 476 planners, with 118 naming it as the item category they are most likely to finance. - TVs and home electronics ranked second, with 99 responses. - The PlayStation 5 was the most-named single item, selected by 39 of the 118 gaming respondents. - TVs 43 inches and larger totaled 83 mentions across sizes. - Among the 101 respondents who expect to use rent-to-own, TVs led with 25 mentions, followed by gaming with 22, furniture with 15 and phones and computers with 15. - Of those 101 rent-to-own planners, 52 expect to use virtual rent-to-own at checkout, 39 plan to visit a rental store and 10 are unsure. - VRTO said checkout agreements are made with the leasing company, not the store. - The guide says a sample of 101 creates a range of roughly 10 points either way. - Sony raised the PlayStation 5 to $649.99 in April. - Microsoft raised the Xbox Series X to $799.99 in August. - Nintendo raised the Switch 2 to $499.99 in September. - VRTO's guide ranks rent-to-own companies by Google search demand, with Rent-A-Center (Upbound Group) searched more than all virtual lessors combined. - Searches for Progressive Leasing (PROG Holdings), Katapult (Katapult Holdings) and Afterpay (Block) peak in December. - Of 1,669 holiday shoppers who answered the spending question, 47.7% expect to spend about the same as last year, 26.3% expect to spend more and 25.3% expect to spend less. - Rent-to-own planners most often expect a weekly payment of $20 to $49, based on 62 of 101 responses. - BNPL planners most often expect an item cost of $500 to $999, based on 125 of 375 responses. - The BNPL names listed in the guide include PayPal Pay in 4 (PayPal Holdings), Affirm (Affirm Holdings), Klarna (Klarna Group) and Afterpay (Block).

Between the lines: - VRTO's data points to a holiday market split between older rent-to-own users and newer checkout-based financing. - The strong showing for gaming suggests higher-end electronics continue to drive financing demand. - The survey's opt-in, unweighted design means the results are directional, not a national estimate. - Nearly half of respondents have used rent-to-own before, which signals a large base of repeat users rather than one-time holiday borrowers.

What's next: - VRTO says shoppers should ask for the total cost to own and compare it with the cash price wherever the agreement is signed. - VRTO plans to open product and tire shopping in January 2027. - The company says it publishes store locations across companies and does not rent, lease, sell or finance merchandise. - The survey questionnaire, method, tables and anonymized respondent file are available for reuse under CC BY 4.0 in VRTO's data release.

The bottom line: - For the survey respondents, pay-over-time holiday shopping is common, gaming is the biggest driver and higher console prices appear to be a key pressure point.