Tiptop puts a new twist on BNPL by applying trade-in value to new purchases – Digital Transactions

Tiptop Labs Inc., a payment services provider, has launched a “Buy Now, Pay Later” program that allows consumers to exchange items for credit toward a new purchase at select e-commerce retailers.

The idea of ​​applying trade-in value toward a new purchase came from an app Tiptop launched about a year ago. Applying trade-in value toward the purchase price is a way to increase consumer purchasing power, the company says. On average, it says, households in the United States own $1,800 worth of goods that match items accepted for trade-in in the Tiptop catalog. The Tiptop catalog lists 50,000 items that can be accepted for trade-in, such as an iPhone or a game console.

The new program is aimed at consumers who would otherwise try to sell their items through an e-commerce marketplace such as eBay or Apple Inc.’s Apple Trade In program, the latter of which allows consumers to trade in Apple products for credit toward the purchase of a new item, the company said. TipTop’s goal is to enable trade-in of a wide variety of branded products and eliminate the need to list an item on a marketplace.

“Buy now, pay later does not reduce the price of an item, no matter how good the terms are. (It) simply spreads the cost of the purchase over multiple payments,” says a spokesperson for Tiptop. “When you add the trade-in value to BNPL, it reduces the purchase price. That’s found money for the consumer.”

To determine the value of a trade-in item, Tiptop uses a machine learning model that displays the item’s current market value. After an item is accepted for trade-in, consumers can scan a QR code that generates a prepaid shipping label. The consumer then packages the item and takes it to a shipping company. Alternatively, consumers can order an on-demand courier through Uber.

Consumers who use Tiptop’s interest-free BNPL offer can pay for the purchase in four instalments. Initial merchant partners include Nothing Tech, Cradlewise, Backbone, Phonedaddy and King of Christmas.

The Tiptop app is compatible with the Shopify platform and is said to be compatible with other popular e-commerce platforms such as Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce.