Starting a hire company online

Brassedoff

CKhalvashi wrote: »

This is something I hadn't thought about, and this is also something that with the prices mentioned below, you may need to take into serious consideration.



I didn't realise you're male :eek:

Sorry Brassedoff, I think I've referred to you as 'she' several times!

CK

Yes, you have duckie!

CKhalvashi

Brassedoff wrote: »

Yes, you have duckie!

Sorry (not long enough)

N3WLIFE

Thank you everyone for your input.....I appreciate it all. Clearly I have A LOT to consider....

Savvy_Sue

You've had a lot of excellent advice here so I'll just add that you MUST have a business plan, because without one, you won't know whether you're making a success or a failure of this ...

paulwf

Just had another thought and it is very important. The number one way to grow your business will be to have a larger range of bags so your stock levels will increase. You could well be in a position where to grow you'll be ploughing 100% of your profits back into more stock, at least until you have doubled or trebled your stock holding. That's fine if you take a long term view but if you need to draw a wage in the next couple of years you could find it impossible to grow as without a larger range, new undamaged bags and the latest styles it'll just slowly fade away.

paddyrg

I'd suggest having a real think about how to dump old stock - for instance can you set up in a try-to-buy manner? Any hires the person has put into the product are discounted from the sale price when the items fall from their fashion peak.

Eg if I hired a snoopy bag twice for £30/time, and the current retail of that bag was £300, you'd sell it to me for £240.

Or maybe 50% of hires as purchase credit (so I'd have a £30 discount).

Or maybe 50% of hires (ex transport/insurance etc add-ons) as store credit for the sales? I'm thinking how you get some cash back from fading stock and build customer loyalty simultaneously.

I'm sure you can come up with a more suitable promotion than those in about 5 minutes, but the principal is to shift dead money and stop your renters from going to the competition for their next bag.

N3WLIFE

Thank you guys so much for taking time to offer advice and ideas.
I am in employment, so this wouldn't be my main source of income, if indeed I gain any income from it lol.

Speaking of which I better get back to work and come back later...:)

Savvy_Sue

paddyrg wrote: »

I'd suggest having a real think about how to dump old stock - for instance can you set up in a try-to-buy manner? Any hires the person has put into the product are discounted from the sale price when the items fall from their fashion peak.

Eg if I hired a snoopy bag twice for £30/time, and the current retail of that bag was £300, you'd sell it to me for £240.

Or maybe 50% of hires as purchase credit (so I'd have a £30 discount).

Or maybe 50% of hires (ex transport/insurance etc add-ons) as store credit for the sales? I'm thinking how you get some cash back from fading stock and build customer loyalty simultaneously.

I'm sure you can come up with a more suitable promotion than those in about 5 minutes, but the principal is to shift dead money and stop your renters from going to the competition for their next bag.

That strikes me as a very good idea: I know what I look for in my 'perfect handbag', and I've yet to find it, but a couple I've bought thinking 'this is it!' have left me feeling unsatisfied.

I don't spend a great deal on such things, however, so I can afford to buy'n'try. If I WAS planning to spend a great deal, I'd welcome being able to hire first, just to be sure. I'd be gutted if I bought a designer bag only to find that it didn't 'work' the way I expected it to.

Mind you, surely some 'old stock' would be worth hanging onto for the vintage value. I don't know if these are all recent buys, but if anyone was going to an event where they were expected to dress in period style, one of your bags might be just the job. I no longer have my white bag from my OpArt days ...

[simon]

I think you will be spending more money than what you will be making.
I can not see this been a profitable business.
If it is I don't think it will be a income you can live off.

For that reason, I am out