When sales are slow, interest-free offers come to life.
Smal and large retailers dazzle cash strapped public with opportunities of... sitting in fron of a 28" plasma TV in your lounge room, today! And you won't have to pay for it for 48 months. What a deal!
What happens after 4 years, you're asking? Simple, repay all the credit back at once. If you can't, you'll end up with a huge total: purchase price, plus a huge interest, usually 10% than an average credit card's, added to your account. Not a sound financial management, if you'll have to pay it back for the next 5-7 years.
And if you've enough courage... calculate the "real" price. Three times, or so, of what a shrewd person would pay buying your TV for cash.
Worse still, your TV is an obsolete model by then, and you must update to the latest release, which amongst many astonishing features, emits smells related to what on the screen. Yeah, has to have it!
And before you know, you're powering ahead towards the financial abbys called: BAD DEBT. Nobody's going to stop you. No banks, no government, not even your family. You're on your own... wits.
