May one pay for a lulav and esrog set a month in advance via credit card to get an early bird discount? Or would this be considered a problem? Someone told me it may be a form of ribbis? Please explain this and what are the sources for this? thank you
Answer:
This could well involve a problem of ribbis.
Paying for the lulav and esrog set early, if the set has not yet reached the seller, is effectively a loan — no purchase is being made, because the sets are not there to sell. In exchange for the loan, the buyer receives a cheap price, which is a problem of ribbis.
However, if the lulav and esrog set already exists, and are available in the hands of the seller, buying them will be a proper purchase, and not a loan. In this case, there will not be a problem of ribbis.
Even if the sets are already available, it is not permitted to pay a cheaper price up front where the seller explicitly states that there are two prices, and the buyer is being given the cheaper price for paying up front.
For more details, please see here.
