Rent-A-Center has been doing this for years. When I got out of college I split an apartment with a friend from college. He worked at Rent-a-center, I worked at Credit Thrift (American General Finance). He dealt with people too poor to get a loan at 29% interest. I dealt with people who had been paying off the same 90 day Same As Cash loan for the last decade.
Between us we knew every working poor person in the county.
BTW: Great place to buy outright is a Rent to Own store as they reposes rented items, they repair, clean them and either re-rent them or sell them. If you had the cash you could get anything from TV’s and washers to nice furniture all for next to nothing.
“BTW: Great place to buy outright is a Rent to Own store...”
I bought three large nightstands with drawers from a rental place to use as a clothes dresser back in college. Almost 40 years later they are in my basement storing various parts.
I gave my son the small fridge I bought for my dorm room so he could have it at college. The very next week I found a slightly larger one at Goodwill for $20! Beats having to run upstairs for a beer.