Renting is an interesting business. You, the customer, come to me, the business, because you want to borrow something of mine. In return you pay me a small fee. If I rent that item out enough I make a profit. What is most surprising is that if you can think of it, you can probably find a company that will rent it to you. I put together a list of some things you may not have know you can rent.
Car Wheels: You got that 94 Impala and you know it will impress the ladies, but not on those busted rims the car came with! You gotta get some wheels but your baller budget is at a max. Fear not, the likes of Rent-A-Wheel allow you to rent-to-own your wheels. Make payments, with no credit check, and you can roll in style, mile after mile. It’s only a matter of time until you see a Netflix business model for rims. In seriousness, it’s quite disturbing that you can rent rims.
Tools: Handy with a hammer but don’t have enough money to buy all the tools you need for business? Perhaps business has been slow so you don’t know when you’ll need your tools or what you’ll need for the next job. Well you can rent the tools you need to get the job done. But you don’t have to be a contractor, you could be a DIY type that just needs a pressure washer for a day. Whatever your need and as long as you need, you can rent tools. Home Depot has a great site but I’m sure many other hardware companies will rent you tools.
Purses: “Have you seen the new Chanel bag? OMG I would sacrifice a limb to get my hands on that!” Unless you are a fashion conscious woman or involved with one (like me) you’ve probably got no idea how much a Chanel bag costs. They can go for $1,000 but I’ve seen them as high as $3,000. Yes, for a purse. Now this could serve a purpose if you normally carry these bags and lost your only one while on a European vacation, but sadly it’s going to be the people that can’t afford them normally that are going for the purse rentals. Check them out at Handbag Envy, but if you’ve been forced to watch the Sex In The City movie this should already be familiar.
Shoes: If you’re Jennifer Aniston and need to unique set of heels for the Golden Globes, it might make sense for your stylist to rent some Manolo Blahniks for you. Otherwise, renting shoes is about as smart as renting rims. Anyway, check it out at Montana Radar.
Jewelry: Need some bling for your big day? I’m sure The Sheconomist would like to rock a few more carets on our wedding day, but it just isn’t in the budget. However, for a fraction of the cost to buy she could rent some jewelry from Adorn Brides. Unlike shoes or purses, I can actually see a decent market for jewelry rentals.
Celebrity Homes: Have you heard of Richard Branson’s Necter Island? A place where celebs of gotten in on and had all sorts of good times they’ll never talk about. Well Necter Island, among other celerity homes are available for your renting pleasure. Ask Men put together a list of the top 10, but with some Googling you could probably find others. If the price is right, I’d be all over something like this.
Cell Phones and GPS: Traveling overseas these days doesn’t have to be an adventure of hostels and finding the closest place to crash. You can rent a cell phone to work in your country of destination which is especially helpful if you’re meeting up with people there. Better still, if you’re getting a car you can rent a GPS too. RentCell has all that and more, and I’d wager international business travelers are all over this.
If you were sharp you might have noticed there are more than five things listed. You’re not sharp so you didn’t notice until now though. The reason I did this is that I hate when people tell you what you do or do not know. “10 Secrets You Didn’t Know About Mortgages,” “4 Things You Don’t Know About Barack Obama,” and “7 Personal Finance Tips You Didn’t Know About” are just some headlines that I hate reading. So I hired a team of statisticians and economists and with a 95% confidence we can estimate you didn’t know about 5 of these potential rentals, but you did know about the other 2. You’re welcome.
Like I said before renting is interesting. Many have argued that renting is a waste of money and that you should just buy what you want. If you can’t afford to buy then you shouldn’t have it. Whether that’s an apartment or some 20 inch rims and whether or not you have the space or resources for upkeep are often not addressed in these aguments. Ultimately, when you make a decision whether to rent or buy, it almost always comes down to the underlying value of the rental. That value is measured in both how much you pay for it versus the cost to buy, and how often you need to use the item. Renting is okay in my book, just make sure it maximizes your value.
Photo: Brandon LLW
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Hmm – I should be able to rent a laptop then – would have been handy on a recent overseas trip. Will get around to getting one of my own soon, but should have looked into this before going.
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