Smartphones, Cameras, Tablets etc are now available on rent.. Good idea?

V

viditkalra

Disciple
Hi everyone,

I recently took a leap of faith and decided to take a shot at my love for gadgets.
My background - I graduated in Economics from Delhi university in 2010. After graduation, instead of opting for masters, I decided to walk down a safe path and took a job at Ernst & Young. Working as an Associate analyst for 1.5 years, I realized it wasn't for me and therefore, I left my job without exploring much alternatives.
I wanted to do something related to gadgets because I feel awesome around them. So, with that in mind, I decided to start a little company of my own, SnizZzo.

I have little experience with web development, but I worked my way around wordpress to create this website - Rent it, Use it, Move on!. The website is a work in progress so your suggestions and constructive criticism would be highly appreciated.

Renting Gadgets?
I understand that nothing really has been done in this area and therefore it's a bare road with no laid out steps to follow. I am not really sure of the market response but from what I gather, one might want to rent a gadget for various reasons.

Someone might want to rent it and decide if they like it enough to put their money on buying it, others might just want to try out their gadget addiction by checking out what's new in the market.

It all seems to make sense in theory but I am not sure if the idea is practical enough to pursue any further.

How does it work?
Here is a link that should explain the procedure in brief - How to rent a gadget from us | SnizZzo
Security deposit depends on the market value of the product.

If you want to rent a gadget?
If you are in Delhi/NCR and would want to rent a gadget, just PM me and I'll send you a 50% discount coupon on the rental cost.

I would really appreciate views of the members around here as to how can I take this forward for it may just be a boon for someone like me who loves to try the latest gadgets.
 
At least i find that the pricing is great for whatever the gadgets you currently have .

Try including a Few tablets if possible .
 
Nice thinking man. Did you want my iPad for this. I sent it back for replacement and will be getting back a brand new one as replacement. PM me if you still interested and maybe I will come to Delhi to deliver it on Sunday myself.

A suggestion, if I might. If you can add a collection of the few gems from China and Japan, then it might be worth it. Many people don't buy Chinese stuff even if it is as good as the Oppo 5, just because it is Chinese, as if everything else isn't. Also get in touch with marketing teams of major cellphone brands and they might sponsor a few phones for you.

It is indeed a good initiative and I wish you best of luck.

If only we had a better credit check or something like SSN in place, you could have kept the deposits low and that would have made it even more attractive. Right now only that seems to be the deterrent for someone like me.

But i really wish something like this was available when I ordered the iPad 4.:D
 
Wow..
I wasn't expecting these many replies at this time of the hour. You guys surprise me and need I mention, excited to see the replies.
I have included very few gadgets as a start to gauge the market response. If there is a need, you can expect many more additions.
blkrb0t - I stumbled across Ybuy.com AFTER I had the idea and started working on it. Found a couple more sites which have ended their beta programs now. the only one that functions on the same lines is gizmotakeout.com in the US.

@rdst - Yeah buddy, I wanted the iPad for this but decided to cut back on that purchase seeing a low response. Honestly, the main issue with the idea is security part attached to it. Customers would be put off with the high security but again that is pretty essential for me in order to ensure that they don't run away with the product.

I have a couple more ideas to develop this plan but I am just not sure if it's worth the time and effort. The response at the moment has not been very good. May be I haven't targeted the right market yet.
 
You can add an option to buy the device as well. You know how if the person likes the device and wanna purchase it, but i guess you already must have thought of that.

Like I said right now the deterrent is the high deposit. I understand that you don't have a substitute for that as of now, but the thing is only people like us on Tech forums would be more interested in trying the products before we buy. The normal crowd wont be that interested.
For example i would love to try out the MBP and the Canon 550D that you have available because I got burnt buying the iPad 4.

Renting cameras would make much more sense to normal people as that is something one uses less frequently but for phones and laptops i think people might not be that interested.

Just my 2 cents.
 
Yeah.. I did think of the buying option. My take on that was if you wanted to buy a product after renting it, you can buy from us and we would reduce the rental cost from the market price. As you rightly said, normal crowd isn't much interested because instead of putting the security deposit upfront, they would rather buy it and get it over and done with.

I was also thinking that instead of putting cash as security deposit people could put up their devices as collateral along with the difference paid by cash. For eg - if you want to try MBP, you can put your iPad 4 as collateral and some cash.

But then again, I think that the idea goes towards a specific set of customers rather than the masses. When thought about that, I was wondering if I should just make it a member's only website where members would pay a one time fees and they could rent gadgets any time of the year by just paying the rental cost and no deposit.

What do you think about that?
 
Apart from the deposit , how do you plan on dealing with the minor scratches or cracks that might come from daily usage . Just asked since i could not see a policy regarding it .
 
mpaspc said:
Apart from the deposit , how do you plan on dealing with the minor scratches or cracks that might come from daily usage . Just asked since i could not see a policy regarding it .
Click to expand...

"Minor" marks are okay since they are unavoidable. I would however be giving devices with cases and screen protector. Although, if they drop the product and it gets some nicks or dings, the cost of repairs/damage would be deducted from the security deposit. For eg - You rented and iPhone 5 and dropped it and it got a nick on the corner, if it's a minor nick, I might let go but if it's a big ding, I'd probably deduct around Rs. 500- Rs 1000 for it from the security deposit.
 
A membership with an yearly fees can make sense to many people, at least many more would be interested in that.

Have seen something of the same sort being done by a Book Shop named Browsers over here. Obviously it is more easier in that case as deposit is not that high.

I just wish it was easier to take a collateral. Something like a post dated cheque, so that it doesn't mean they need to have hard cash when they wanna rent.
 
rdst_1 said:
A membership with an yearly fees can make sense to many people, at least many more would be interested in that.

Have seen something of the same sort being done by a Book Shop named Browsers over here. Obviously it is more easier in that case as deposit is not that high.

I just wish it was easier to take a collateral. Something like a post dated cheque, so that it doesn't mean they need to have hard cash when they wanna rent.
Click to expand...

I din't know about the bookstore, I'll just google and see if I can find something on this. Would post-dated cheques be good enough a security?
I did some research and found that in the US, they keep the credit card for security but I am not sure how it would work in India.

I am leaning towards members only website myself. May be take an entry fee + small monthly fees instead of a one time large fees. Do you think that would make more sense?
It would definitely reduce the running away and security part attached to the idea or at least minimize it.
 
viditkalra said:
I din't know about the bookstore, I'll just google and see if I can find something on this. Would post-dated cheques be good enough a security?
I did some research and found that in the US, they keep the credit card for security but I am not sure how it would work in India.

I am leaning towards members only website myself. May be take an entry fee + small monthly fees instead of a one time large fees. Do you think that would make more sense?
It would definitely reduce the running away and security part attached to the idea or at least minimize it.
Click to expand...

They were a normal book store. Then decided to convert into a library. The idea was simple, for Z amount of monthly fee you could take home books worth 10xZ, provided you paid that much amount as a security deposit first. I used to pay Rs. 300 per month for books worth Rs. 3000. This included pickup and delivery of books if one was feeling too lazy to go to their shop themselves.

I was also thinking about the credit card system. Nearly everyone these days have a credit card with a good credit limit. In US, you can put a hold of X amount of money without actually charging it. Which i think is not possible in India. What you can do however is charge it and then refund later when the customer returns it. This is the best way for the peace of mind I could think of, because if the customer runs away with the product it becomes the bank's responsibility to get back the money and not yours.
The only thing that I think could be an issue in this case is whether the CC gateway returns the fees as well or do they still charge you.
 
I'm not a fin guy, but using my noob fin skills, assuming no device losses and no other costs, and basing my numbers on the data for an S3, I'm guessing you'll need at least 40% utilization to just break even. hope you have planned your investments properly :)
 
haha.. I know what you mean. Luckily, right now I am just targeting around 15-20% utilization right now.
The phones and gadgets aren't brand new..but, like new so I save some amount over there. Although, yes, the gadgets would have to be on rent multiple times on short term basis before they start giving any fruits..

- - - Updated - - -

Okay guys, so I got my first order today. Thanks to TE.
mahesh_bharti has ordered a MacBook pro for a month. He has transferred the security amount and rental (with 50% discount as promised) to my account. I look forward to a smooth deal.
 
  • You would like to show it off to your friends
  • You would like to flaunt it at a party

These 2 reasons are EPIC! :lol:

This concept could have saved my poor father buying a Galaxy Note which he now hates. Looking forward to more stuff being added soon.

See if you can give the Credit Card thing a try. Basically you charge the security deposit and reverse the transaction once the gadget is returned. Not sure how it will work for month long rentals though you could check with the Banks/Credit Card companies and your Accountant.
 
Firstly it's a good idea. I wouldn't say innovative, since I have seen something like this earlier. But it's for Indians I guess :)

Your website design is good for beginning. Down the line, you may improve it a lot [HTML5+CSS3 stuff]

But it's a risky idea. There are many stupid people who want to gadgets, but don't to know how to. If they screw up & don't ready to pay you, then you have to put a fight/effort/time. [There's a agreement & all, but still. It's India, stupid people are stupid & they won't be happy to pay for something which they did not use for 5 minutes [assuming in those 5 mins, they screwed it :P]]. Say if some douchebag rents out an Android phone & tries to root it/does some experiments. Suppose if it damages the phone, he may try to argue it was somehow damaged before itself. I guess you get the idea what I am saying.

Also, make sure you test the gadgets thoroughly while taking them back. Check everything ! Some errors/faults may not be visible easily, they may take some little more usage.

Deal with easy minded people. Your clients should have basic idea about how to use something.

What's the meaning of Snizzo ?

All the best ! :)
 
Wow first of all i am totally surprised to find a fellow EY on TE. Second this is a very good initiative. Just like @avi said it might be better to start with people whom you know atleast or friends of friends, etc. Might be safer that way.

PS: I am at EY Chennai.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
dafreaking said:
  • You would like to show it off to your friends
  • You would like to flaunt it at a party

These 2 reasons are EPIC! :lol:

This concept could have saved my poor father buying a Galaxy Note which he now hates. Looking forward to more stuff being added soon.

See if you can give the Credit Card thing a try. Basically you charge the security deposit and reverse the transaction once the gadget is returned. Not sure how it will work for month long rentals though you could check with the Banks/Credit Card companies and your Accountant.
Click to expand...

haha.. I wondered in Delhi, these 2 reasons are very prominent when someone buys a phone..:p
I am willing to invest into buying more stuff but I need to know if the idea is worth investing it. I would even scale to add hobby stuff in there. For eg - Golf clubs, or Deejay equipment's. Basically anything that has a demand.

I did check for putting a hold on the credit card but as it turns out, you cannot put hold money for more than 48 hours. Had it been PayPal, you could accept funds on there and then refund after 30 days. I guess I need to do more research on that. But thanks for your comments. :)

- - - Updated - - -

avi said:
Firstly it's a good idea. I wouldn't say innovative, since I have seen something like this earlier. But it's for Indians I guess :)

Your website design is good for beginning. Down the line, you may improve it a lot [HTML5+CSS3 stuff]

But it's a risky idea. There are many stupid people who want to gadgets, but don't to know how to. If they screw up & don't ready to pay you, then you have to put a fight/effort/time. [There's a agreement & all, but still. It's India, stupid people are stupid & they won't be happy to pay for something which they did not use for 5 minutes [assuming in those 5 mins, they screwed it :P]]. Say if some douchebag rents out an Android phone & tries to root it/does some experiments. Suppose if it damages the phone, he may try to argue it was somehow damaged before itself. I guess you get the idea what I am saying.

Also, make sure you test the gadgets thoroughly while taking them back. Check everything ! Some errors/faults may not be visible easily, they may take some little more usage.

Deal with easy minded people. Your clients should have basic idea about how to use something.

What's the meaning of Snizzo ?

All the best ! :)
Click to expand...

I know exactly what you mean man. I have indeed decided to deal with light minded people and mind my ways with people who create trouble. I agree its a risky proposition indeed, esp. in India but I guess it could help a lot of people, you know. I crave gadgets and drool after them when a show off is posted. So, I guess this way people could try gadgets and fulfill their craving at a minimal cost.

As for checking the phone before and after, I decided to make videos and take photos of phone when giving it to the customer and marking any marks, if at all. When taking back, a through check up to see damages, if any.

Snizzo means something hip, cool. The zz domain wasn't available so I had to add another Z to the name. lol..

- - - Updated - - -

benryu said:
Wow first of all i am totally surprised to find a fellow EY on TE. Second this is a very good initiative. Just like avi said it might be better to start with people whom you know atleast or friends of friends, etc. Might be safer that way.

PS: I am at EY Chennai.
Click to expand...


Hey,
I was in EY GSS, Gurgaon in the CMI team.
Yes, I am trying to deal with people I know. I am also thinking of making this a membership onl website.
The way it would work is that you could pay a membership fee os around Rs. 10,000 and then take a plan as per your needs.
One plan could be pay Rs. 1000 a month and rent a new phone every month. This way you would never have to worry about upgrades, buying or selling phones.
You would have the latest gadget in your hand every month

PS - EY is Ernst & Young Pvt. Ltd.
 
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