PayPal Teams With Queer Eye Star On BNPL Marketing

PayPal is working with Bobby Berk of Queer Eye fame to help Americans stuck at home amid the ongoing pandemic find new ways to decorate their homes, a press release says.

The new content series, entitled “Berking from Home,” will include design solutions, product recommendations and suggestions on how to budget responsibly for “common household challenges” like homeschooling children, self-care and remote work.

Berk's program is tied into PayPal's “Pay in 4,” which allows customers to make installment payments in four segments up to two weeks apart for eligible purchases between $30 and $600. Berk's program will incorporate sensible buy now, pay later (BNPL) services into recommendations.

“There is nothing more important than a comfortable place to work, learn, and relax — and Pay in 4 from PayPal makes it that much easier to manage buying all of these new items when costs add up. We’re living in stressful, challenging times, and we could all use a new way to budget and save,” says the press release.

The release explains the struggle of many consumers trying to keep going in living situations, with many working from their rooms and having little access to space for recreation or relaxation. The release says over a third of respondents to a survey who work or attend virtual classes “report feeling overworked,” and 62 percent reported having an argument with those they live with while working from home during lockdown.

Buy now, pay later services have become popular amid the pandemic for their thrifty way to help customers who might not have big wallets due to the pandemic's mass layoffs and other economic effects. PayPal's service, rolled out in August, was a way to offer “flexible and responsible” payment methods, according to the company. The company has tried some alt point of sale methods before; interest-free six-month installment payments with PayPal Credit were an option over a decade ago.

But the BNPL style has become more popular now, attracting consumers with control and transparency.