Paying debts over time using partial payments is certainly not a new concept. In fact it dates far back into recorded history.
The word ‘Estallment’ is borrowed from the Normans, and means ‘to fix’. The concept of fixed payments was common in England by the fifteenth century. Nobles who wished to pay debts to the crown in annual payments, or townsmen who desired to repay tax debts in partial payments agreed to ‘enstallment’ payments.
As a retail marketing device the installment contract began in the eighteenth century. Typical offerings of the day that were advertised using installment payments included mirrors, chests, and other home furnishings.
The concept of ‘hire purchase’, still used today, is reported to have begun in 1830 with a countess that convinced her furniture dealer to rent her rooms of furniture but give her an option to buy. She then convinced her friends to do the same and the concept began to spread from there.
© 2006 Myvesta.org.uk
The word ‘Estallment’ is borrowed from the Normans, and means ‘to fix’. The concept of fixed payments was common in England by the fifteenth century. Nobles who wished to pay debts to the crown in annual payments, or townsmen who desired to repay tax debts in partial payments agreed to ‘enstallment’ payments.
As a retail marketing device the installment contract began in the eighteenth century. Typical offerings of the day that were advertised using installment payments included mirrors, chests, and other home furnishings.
The concept of ‘hire purchase’, still used today, is reported to have begun in 1830 with a countess that convinced her furniture dealer to rent her rooms of furniture but give her an option to buy. She then convinced her friends to do the same and the concept began to spread from there.
© 2006 Myvesta.org.uk