Nearly one in four respondents to a new survey said they plan to finance part of their Christmas 2026 shopping through rent-to-own, virtual rent-to-own or buy now, pay later arrangements. The finding comes as some of the season’s most sought-after electronics carry higher listed prices than they did last Christmas.
VRTO, which published the results in its Christmas 2026 buying guide on Wednesday, surveyed 2,038 U.S. adults. Of those respondents, 476 people, or 23.4%, said they expect to pay over time for at least part of their holiday purchases. Among the 1,758 respondents who plan to shop for the holidays, that represents 27.1%.
The survey has important limits. It used an opt-in online panel and was not weighted to reflect the U.S. population. VRTO said the percentages describe the people who answered the questionnaire, rather than U.S. adults generally. The survey was conducted in August.
Gaming led planned financed purchases
Among the 476 respondents who planned to use one of the payment arrangements, 118 named gaming as the category they were most likely to finance. TVs and home electronics followed, with 99 respondents. VRTO said the difference between those two figures falls within the survey’s precision.
| Category or item | Respondents naming it |
|---|---|
| Gaming | 118 |
| TVs and home electronics | 99 |
| PlayStation 5 among gaming respondents | 39 |
| TVs of 43 inches or larger, across sizes | 83 |
The PlayStation 5 was the most frequently named individual product among gaming respondents. The guide said Sony raised the console’s price to $649.99 in April. Microsoft raised the Xbox Series X to $799.99 in August, while Nintendo raised the Switch 2 to $499.99 in September.
Rent-to-own plans differed from overall BNPL plans
Within the broader group of 476 respondents, 101 expected to use rent-to-own. Rent-to-own allows a consumer to obtain an item under a rental agreement, with payments made over time. A virtual rent-to-own agreement is offered at a store or website checkout. VRTO said the agreement is with the leasing company rather than the retailer.
- 52 of the 101 rent-to-own planners expected to use a virtual service.
- 39 planned to visit a rental store.
- 10 were unsure where they would use the arrangement.
For those 101 respondents, TVs ranked first among planned rent-to-own purchases, with 25 people naming them. Gaming followed with 22, while furniture was named by 15 and phones and computers by 15. VRTO cautioned that results for this smaller group have a range of roughly 10 percentage points in either direction.
The survey also found that 949 respondents, or 46.6%, had used rent-to-own at some point. The guide ranked rent-to-own companies by Google search demand, saying Rent-A-Center, owned by Upbound Group, was searched more often than all virtual lessors combined. Searches for virtual names including Progressive Leasing, Katapult and Afterpay were reported to peak in December.
