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How rental ‘libraries of things’ have become the new way to save money (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/technology

224 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The theory is simple: instead of buying a household item or a piece of clothing or some equipment you might use once or twice, you take it out and return it.

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[–] turmacar 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

This isn't new, everything has it's place.

We rented a trench digger for the day from Home Depot in the 90s instead of buying one for thousands of dollars. That trench didn't magically go away when we returned the tool. That we didn't have access to the tool anymore was the plan.

Renting a U-haul for a move is incredibly more efficient than daily driving a giant box truck. Somehow, the things stay moved once the truck is returned.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

You didn't subscribe to those things.

[–] turmacar 4 points 6 months ago

So you just didn't read the article?

One person hired a metal detector to hunt down the wedding ring they lost when camping in Sussex and found it within 20 minutes. Another rented a planer at £11 a day to fix two doors in her flat

A handheld pressure washer is £12 a day, while garden shears are £3.50

Renting is the "subscription" you're complaining about. You're right that rent-to-own is a scam at best, but unlike most digital subscriptions you're using the thing to do something. Like with all rentals there's a break even line where you would've been better buying the thing if you use it often/long enough. But the service existing is not itself a bad thing.

[–] sgtgig 0 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Oh my god dude renting has been a thing for millenia.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 5 months ago

It's not nearly as bad as it is now.

And it was always a scam, even back then.