A $490 Gun Can Cost A Lot More

Credova's buy now, pay later deals are putting guns in consumers' hands quickly

- By Michael Tobin and Max Reyes

Last year, Jennifer White, a 44-year-old single mother in Georgia, wanted to buy a $415 Glock G44 for self-defense. Through the website Guns.com, it was possible to finance the pistol without adding a penny to her credit card balance, which she'd just finished paying off. With a 10-round magazine plus shipping, taxes, and some other fees, the total was $490. Nothing was due up front. The payments were about $87 a month, and White figured it would take her about five months to pay it off.

The financing was arranged through Credova Financial LLC, a financial technology company in Bozeman, Mont., in the burgeoning buy now, pay later business. Like better-known BNPL businesses such as Afterpay Ltd. and Affirm Holdings Inc., Credova works with both online and brick-and-mortar retailers to give consumers the option at checkout to break up their purchases into smaller payments.

But Credova is different from most other BNPL companies because it not only allows but embraces gun sales, alongside other sporting goods. Its seemingly frictionless payment option-the Guns.com site says customers can get approvals in secondsshows how gunmakers and retailers are using the instant-gratification techniques of internet marketing to satisfy the American appetite for firearms. Guns.com says Credova customers can get protected now, pay later. The retailer GrabAGun.com, which also uses Credova, has trademarked the slogan Shoot Now Pay Later.