The shadowy world of merchant cash advances

March 11, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Joshua Esnard spent his childhood getting haircuts at home from his DIY dad. At 13, he rebelled. He wanted a fade and an edge-up, not a buzz cut. So he carved a template out of a plastic folder, pressed it to his head, and used it to guide his clippers for sharp lines. That invention became a patented tool, then a company called the Cut Buddy, which now makes all kinds of hair grooming products and turns $6 million in revenue a year. Last year was slated to be his best yet. Then tariffs hit.

Esnard’s warehouse near the Raleigh-Durham airport is a maze of boxes on pallets, almost all stamped "China." One May shipment cost him $4,600 in tariffs on $3,000 worth of goods — a 152% rate. "I paid way more than they actually cost," he told NPR business correspondent Alina Salyuk. He couldn't wait out the tariffs because holding shipments in China meant breaking contracts with big retailers, and leaving goods at customs meant huge warehousing fees. "You gotta deliver to Walmart, Target, or whatever," he said. "If you don't deliver to these retailers, they drop your product. So you gotta pay it. Where do you get the money from? You get it from the mob."

Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.

Read Full Summary →

Free • No credit card required

Listen to Audio Summary Open in App

Never miss an episode of The Indicator from Planet Money

Get every new episode summarized in your inbox — free, ~5 minutes to read.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

What you'll learn

1 (00:13) **Introducing the Shadowy World of Merchant Cash Advances** - Host Wayland Wong and NPR business correspondent Alina Selyukh set up the episode's focus on a largely unregulated industry offering fast cash at high fees to distressed businesses.
2 (01:21) **The Hook: A Business Owner in a Million Dollars of Debt** - The episode's central character, Joshua Esnard, states his dire situation: "I'm a million dollars in debt with merchant cash advance loans right now."
3 (02:19) **What is a Merchant Cash Advance (MCA)?** - The term "MCA" is introduced and defined as a "shadowy financial world."
4 (02:33) **Joshua Esnard's Business Origin Story** - Alina visits Josh in North Carolina. His company, Cut Buddy, makes hair grooming products and turns $6 million in annual revenue.
5 (03:44) **The Tariff Trigger** - The episode's central crisis is introduced: tariffs.
6 (04:35) **The Desperate Need for Cash** - Josh explains the pressure to pay tariffs to avoid losing contracts with major retailers like Walmart and Target.
7 (05:19) **How Merchant Cash Advances Work** - The mechanics of an MCA are explained.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

During the pandemic, mostly unregulated lenders went after struggling restaurants and music venues, charging at times sky high rates. Now, they’ve found a new market: small businesses that desperately need cash to pay tariffs.

Today on the show, the story of a financial lifeline that can turn into a financial choke hold.

Come see Planet Money live on stage in April! 12 cities. Details and tix here: https://tix.to/pm-book-tour.

Related episodes:
Can I get my tariff money back now?
Three ways companies are getting around tariffs

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy