Renting products, how to minimise risks?

Se99paj

So I'm thinking of running a simple side hustle that allows people to rent some of my products for a small fee, so basically instead of them spending £300 on something they can borrow it from me for £20 per month then send it back to me when they are finished, it's a very simple idea.

But, how do I protect myself from someone deciding to hire my product and keep it for good. Will they be able to cancel the recurring payment (I'm looking to use Stripe for recurring payments)? If they did cancel can I request Stripe to charge the full cost of the product? Do I need to purchase some kind of insurance?

Any help would be appreciated, it might sound really simple but want to make sure I cover myself before something goes wrong.

Savvy_Sue

You need to take proper legal advice on your terms and conditions, ie pay for it. 

Without knowing what sort of products they are, it seems to me likely you'd need insurance. What if something breaks and injures someone? Are they the kind of thing which needs regular maintenance?

Have you got a Library of Things locally? If so, are your 'things' different? If not, would be worth checking what they offer and how they manage things. 

DullGreyGuy

Se99paj said:

So I'm thinking of running a simple side hustle that allows people to rent some of my products for a small fee, so basically instead of them spending £300 on something they can borrow it from me for £20 per month then send it back to me when they are finished, it's a very simple idea.

But, how do I protect myself from someone deciding to hire my product and keep it for good. Will they be able to cancel the recurring payment (I'm looking to use Stripe for recurring payments)? If they did cancel can I request Stripe to charge the full cost of the product? Do I need to purchase some kind of insurance?

Any help would be appreciated, it might sound really simple but want to make sure I cover myself before something goes wrong.

There are websites already in place for loaning your possessions to others, Fat Llama is one general one, there are more specialist ones for clothes etc. These often provide protections for your goods but naturally take a decent slice for this from your rent.

There are all sorts of insurance you can buy... depends if you are wanting to be protected if a customer sues you because your goods either injure them or fail causing them losses (the professional wedding photographer that borrows your camera which fails as the bride walks down the aisle) or if you are thinking of the customers damaging/stealing it?

You could potentially use payment mechanisms like hire car companies and hotels however these are far from perfect, as the other post today from a cottage renter found when they went to collect on the damage bond to find the cards been cancelled and so payment refused.

Newbie_John

I hired a bouncy castle, it was delivered and then collected. So the owner new the address exactly and the collection time - short term rentals are easier.
There is a lot of scammers out there, so your profits need to be high enough to accept some items broken/stolen.

Have you thought of typical "scam" case? Someone borrows a driller for £5/day, calls you the day after that it broke and instead of yours they give you back their old broken one that looks the same - you do need proper tracking of product numbers, maybe even some engraved logos etc.

Se99paj

Thanks for all the responses, to provide a bit more information the products are basically Lego models (So hopefully no one is going to injure themselves building Lego).

I'll take a look into insurance just to see about the cost, other Lego rental companies will use debt collectors if sets are not returned.

I have considered breakages and lost pieces as well, these would need to be included in the terms and conditions as extra costs to the customers.

If I'm making an ROI in 15 months it wouldn't be a bad thing, I already own the sets so it would mean I've made the money back, if I do nothing with them then I'm £300 down.

Savvy_Sue

I think the exhibition has now closed, but we went to https://theartofthebrickexpo.com/london/ last year, which is the only reason I'm asking this question, but are you intending to hire these things out ready made, and receive them back in the same state? If that's a yes to both, then glue. Just glue. And make it clear that it's glued. 

There clearly is already a market in this field, although I'm not sure (and you don't have to say) whether these are 'sets', or your own designs - I remember seeing a massive shoe at the Swindon Outlet Centre a few years ago, and there was I believe also a handbag. 

What I don't know is how big that market is, and whether there is a big enough gap in it for another player. You'd need to know what your USP was. 

Oh, also that shoe was behind a large glass screen. On a revolving plinth, IIRC.