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Sneaker Rental Service

jack12332

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Just wondering if this business model would work out...
You can rent a sneaker for 3 days ( e.g. ) for as low as USD1.10 but you have to put a deposit that is as much as the price of the sneaker that you are going to rent . In addition , the deposit that you put can only be taken out after a year ( if you want ) . Besides , you also get an additional 5% of your deposit after 1 year .
However , there are some conspicuous matters that worries most of the people , which are :
a. The hygiene condition of the shoes
- What if the shoes will be throughly cleaned and made sure that the shoes are in perfect hygiene condition before it will be rented out ? Will that still be a problem ?

b. What if the shoes were not well-treated during renting ?
- If the shoes are still in good condition after renting , no fees will be charged . Unfortunately , if the shoes are returned in a deplorable condition , the deposit will be forfeited .

So basically just wondering if this business model has enough market acceptance ?
 
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Sanj Modha

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I can't think of anything worse. That's my opinion.

Sneakers are personal. I own a few pairs of Jordan's and I can't think why I'd rent them. Ever.

The joy is owning them.
 
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Ceewo

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Do you have any friends who love sneakers? Ask them.
 

Sanj Modha

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Before you start any business. Ask yourself - would you be a customer for your business?

I'd park this and move onto something else.
 
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Fox

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I have thought about a sneaker cleaning service a few times.

You order a box off the website, you put in your old shoes and send them back, they repair them, clean them up, new laces etc. and send them back.

I think it would be cool, I have some old sneaker that I love.


But ya renting sneakers is like renting underwear - a bad idea. This is borderline trolling.
 
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Raoul Duke

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Who would rent a used shoe?!


Bowling Alley's.

giphy.gif
 

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Well, I actually like this idea, you could have a profitable business if you did the following:

1. Place retail stores in low income neighborhoods, preferably next to check cashing stores.
2. Offer financing options with insane APRs

This reminds me of wheel rentals because they target low income individuals that are very ignorant when it comes to financing.

Goodluck
 

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I can see this as a great business with high-end shoes like Ferragamos, Gucci, Prada etc. Or even with high-end handbags.

But with a pair of $40 sneakers not so much.

Plus look at the shipping and processing costs as well; cleaning, disinfecting etc.
 
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Kujo.show

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When I was thinking of ideas the other day, I thought of the same thing. In theory it sounds great, but in practice there is just too much that can go wrong without large enough margins. There are a couple of huge hurdles that would have to be solved to somehow make it profitable: variation of shoe sizes, shoe damage, shipping costs, demand, and others. If you somehow do make it into reality I would target:up-and-coming rap wannabees(can't get enough of those red octobers and shattered blackboard j's) and young people who are having big events(job interviews, weddings, parties, prom) and need some high end shoes like the ones from the post above.
 

AMotivation

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Well. If a person is going to have the money that costs as much as the shoe for a deposit , why wouldn't they just buy the shoe themselves

It'd be better to have their credit card on file and put a $50 hold on it or some other number

Another difficulty with shoes is they end up moulding the wearers feet. So that can prove difficulties

It's a plan that has potential.

My last question. Why would I want to rent shoes? Under what circumstances would it appeal to me or anyone else


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

jack12332

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I can't think of anything worse. That's my opinion.

Sneakers are personal. I own a few pairs of Jordan's and I can't think why I'd rent them. Ever.

The joy is owning them.
I know that the joviality is owning them but they would worn out right ? And the shoes depreciate as well ( most ) . So consider this ( what i think ) , if you use this service with the low rate that i mentioned , you rent sneakers throughout the whole year and try on different sneakers every 3 days but only ended up spending the price of a pair of normal sneaker . ( let's say a pair of Adidas NMD XR1 Black Camo that costs $150 , if you use this service throughout the whole year , [ 356 days/3 days x $1.10 = $118 ] ) That is even cheaper than buying a sneaker that would depreciate if you worn them out . And , the deposit could be taken out after a year so it isn't really an expense.
 
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jack12332

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Before you start any business. Ask yourself - would you be a customer for your business?

I'd park this and move onto something else.
Of course i did ask myself . And my opinion is if the sneakers are clean thoroughly and have a limit of rent out times , ( let's say every sneaker could only be rented out for 10 times or so ) , that's a pretty good deal since i won't be wasting a lot of money and i could try out many kinds of sneaker which would take a fortune to buy them all.
 

jack12332

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When I was thinking of ideas the other day, I thought of the same thing. In theory it sounds great, but in practice there is just too much that can go wrong without large enough margins. There are a couple of huge hurdles that would have to be solved to somehow make it profitable: variation of shoe sizes, shoe damage, shipping costs, demand, and others. If you somehow do make it into reality I would target:up-and-coming rap wannabees(can't get enough of those red octobers and shattered blackboard j's) and young people who are having big events(job interviews, weddings, parties, prom) and need some high end shoes like the ones from the post above.
Shoes sizes are definitely a pain the a$$ since that would cost a lot of money just to fulfil the demands . I don't think that this business would offer shipping service at the very initial time . Instead , i planned to start from a city and expand the business to another city and at last make it world-wide ( if it has good market ). By the way , this business doesn't , and won't profit from renting shoes , that's for sure , but there's actually a very great way to profit by using the regulations i mentioned , and it is very profitable ( i'm talking about millions if there are 50,000 or more renters world-wide ) if there are a huge demands in the market ( of course the costs to buy sneakers would increase as well ) .
 
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jack12332

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Well, I actually like this idea, you could have a profitable business if you did the following:

1. Place retail stores in low income neighborhoods, preferably next to check cashing stores.
2. Offer financing options with insane APRs

This reminds me of wheel rentals because they target low income individuals that are very ignorant when it comes to financing.

Goodluck
Thanks for showing some supports . But instead of placing retail stores , what i think that would be more efficient is by placing a small "hub" that you can pick-and-go . This could work out by using app and some complicated stuffs . The "hub" could be an autonomous machine that could verify your rent order and let you pick the sneaker that you decided to rent . This "hub" doesn't really need a big space so the rent for the space could be lowered to cut cost.
 

jack12332

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Sounds like a shitty business. One scuff on a shoe and you can't rent it anymore.
It is mandatory for the renter to take care of the sneaker that they rent . And the sneaker would be made sure it is in fine condition before it is rented out so the renter would either need to pay extra cost for the scuff or a part of his/her deposit would be forfeited .
 

Scot

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But ya renting sneakers is like renting underwear - a bad idea. This is borderline trolling.

This ^

Yeah I can't think of anything more disgusting. I own maybe 1 pair of sneakers for the gym. That's about it. I get there's a market for basketball sneakers, but yeah... no I can't even take this seriously.
 
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steelandchrome

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Thanks for showing some supports . But instead of placing retail stores , what i think that would be more efficient is by placing a small "hub" that you can pick-and-go . This could work out by using app and some complicated stuffs . The "hub" could be an autonomous machine that could verify your rent order and let you pick the sneaker that you decided to rent . This "hub" doesn't really need a big space so the rent for the space could be lowered to cut cost.

So a few thoughts... First I run a tool rental business as part of my store currently and the rental business can be very profitable by getting paid to rent the unit, writing off depreciation of the asset over time, and then selling the asset for a discount since it is "used" when you go to replace it. From experience I can tell you though that people are super tough on anything they rent and that they like to argue about the condition it left vs when it comes back regularly.
My thoughts on your idea specifically would be for 1 sneaker style how many sizes are you going to rent, how many of each style are you going to rent (Ie: 6 sizes and 3 pairs each x10 styles is going to be a minimum of 180 pairs per location) Thats assuming just 10 styles which would not really be that small a "hub" and how enticing would a place be that only has 10 styles available? I personally go to a huge store and cannot find anything I like out of probably 300+ choices in the store and wouldn't bother driving anywhere to see a small selection. There are then going to be labor costs of inventory control, checking the condition and cleaning of the returned shoe before returning to the rental inventory, marketing, etc.. The cost to set up an automated hub for these 180 pairs lets assume $10,000? cost to acquire 180 pairs at $85 a pair avg is another $15,300, cost to rent the space for the first 6 months maybe $6,000? Now you have to determine how many pairs a month it will take to rent to make back the investment per location and in what time.... You quoted earlier $1.10 for 3 days meaning each shoe max could bring in $11 a month before costs, that would bring in max revenue per location of $1,980 if they were turned and rerented the second they came back.... Assuming 50% margins it would take 3 years to break even and thats assuming the shoes were all in the rental fleet and in service for the entire 3 years? Maybe my math is wrong after all this Turkey but just my 2 cents.

I guess the call is yours no matter what anyone thinks and if you are into it run with it ;)
 

biophase

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It is mandatory for the renter to take care of the sneaker that they rent . And the sneaker would be made sure it is in fine condition before it is rented out so the renter would either need to pay extra cost for the scuff or a part of his/her deposit would be forfeited .

For everyday use there is no way that they will not get scuffed. You are talking about some kid wearing these to school. This is not someone going to a fancy one night event.

Then mention that you think each shoe can only be rented 10 times, which I think might be correct and basically kills all your inventory after a month.

There is nothing that I like from this idea. Show me your numbers for running this business with say 5 pairs of shoes.
 
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Sanj Modha

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Of course i did ask myself . And my opinion is if the sneakers are clean thoroughly and have a limit of rent out times , ( let's say every sneaker could only be rented out for 10 times or so ) , that's a pretty good deal since i won't be wasting a lot of money and i could try out many kinds of sneaker which would take a fortune to buy them all.

Shoes/clothing is the most personal item you can own. I just don't see a market for this at all. Sneakers are affordable for most people.

I know people rent wedding dresses but that's a different business model because 1) women will only wear the dress once and 2) dresses can be expensive.

There are easier and better businesses out there. Keep brainstorming ideas.
 

jack12332

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For everyday use there is no way that they will not get scuffed. You are talking about some kid wearing these to school. This is not someone going to a fancy one night event.

Then mention that you think each shoe can only be rented 10 times, which I think might be correct and basically kills all your inventory after a month.

There is nothing that I like from this idea. Show me your numbers for running this business with say 5 pairs of shoes.
You're talking about 5 pair of shoes in a year? 10 times is basically just a hypothetical number and although they would be wearing the shoes but it isn't hard to at least take care of it right? Also , only conspicuous scuff would be costed extra payment...
 

jack12332

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So a few thoughts... First I run a tool rental business as part of my store currently and the rental business can be very profitable by getting paid to rent the unit, writing off depreciation of the asset over time, and then selling the asset for a discount since it is "used" when you go to replace it. From experience I can tell you though that people are super tough on anything they rent and that they like to argue about the condition it left vs when it comes back regularly.
My thoughts on your idea specifically would be for 1 sneaker style how many sizes are you going to rent, how many of each style are you going to rent (Ie: 6 sizes and 3 pairs each x10 styles is going to be a minimum of 180 pairs per location) Thats assuming just 10 styles which would not really be that small a "hub" and how enticing would a place be that only has 10 styles available? I personally go to a huge store and cannot find anything I like out of probably 300+ choices in the store and wouldn't bother driving anywhere to see a small selection. There are then going to be labor costs of inventory control, checking the condition and cleaning of the returned shoe before returning to the rental inventory, marketing, etc.. The cost to set up an automated hub for these 180 pairs lets assume $10,000? cost to acquire 180 pairs at $85 a pair avg is another $15,300, cost to rent the space for the first 6 months maybe $6,000? Now you have to determine how many pairs a month it will take to rent to make back the investment per location and in what time.... You quoted earlier $1.10 for 3 days meaning each shoe max could bring in $11 a month before costs, that would bring in max revenue per location of $1,980 if they were turned and rerented the second they came back.... Assuming 50% margins it would take 3 years to break even and thats assuming the shoes were all in the rental fleet and in service for the entire 3 years? Maybe my math is wrong after all this Turkey but just my 2 cents.

I guess the call is yours no matter what anyone thinks and if you are into it run with it ;)
There's one thing that i would like to clarify , basically the hub could be imagined like a vending machine it could be placed by renting a small place in someone's shop or even shopping mall . So what i think is that you can make your rent order via mobile app by selecting the nearest hub possible and the shoe will be delivered to that hub the next day ( and that means worker's salary to deliver the shoes as well ).
The business wouldn't be having 180 pairs of shoes when it first started... but it would definitely be having that many shoes when there are a lot of people that have registered as member and put in deposit . And as i stated before , this business wouldn't be profiting from renting shoes... but using another method that would be making money for the business :)
 
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Scot

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but it isn't hard to at least take care of it right?

Have you ever dealt with rentals?

That's a pretty big assumption you're making and a potentially fatal assumption for your business.
 

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