Laptop rental / hire question

[wmrcomputers]

I've just been having a conversation with a mate, and we've come to the conclusion that there are so many people who pay ridiculous Brighthouse prices for computers as they can't afford to buy one outright. Not only that but essentially at the end of a 2 years paying it off (around £1352 for their cheapest laptop) you're left with something worth about £100 if you're lucky! £13 a week is the current rate.

I'm thinking about offering laptop rentals next year on a no commitment / cancel whenever you like basis. We would target domestic customers rather than businesses and just wondered.....

1. How likely you think people would be to use such a service rather than buying outright?
2. How much might be a reasonable weekly / monthly amount to charge?

Any opinions please?

 

[Withnail]

1. How likely do you think people would be to use such a service rather than buying outright?

Of course people can use the computers at the library without any charge at all - one would have thought that this is universally known. That they can only do so during 'opening hours' suggests that laptop rental adverts in the library would be a good idea if you do decide to proceed with it.

It remains to be seen how this current service will be affected by the unwanted move to Scaffoldshire Place - which means that this may, or may not, be an opportunity in the waiting. We all wait and see.

 

[proactive]

I think the biggest problem you would face would be people deciding to stop paying and keep the laptop. You might well find that the costs associated with retrieving the kept laptops would outweigh the profit from the scheme.

 

[wmrcomputers]

I think the biggest problem you would face would be people deciding to stop paying and keep the laptop. You might well find that the costs associated with retrieving the kept laptops would outweigh the profit from the scheme.

Absolutely, but of course I'd look into insurance policies etc. if I were to go with this plan. I'd start extremely small anyway - maybe just renting out 2 or 3 laptops intially and investing profit into more if it proved relatively hassle-free. If the first few caused me too much of a headache then no doubt I would scrap the plan.

 

[Jonah]

£1 a day with a minimum rental period of 1 week maybe.

 

[Frontal]

It would depend on how new and how good the specs are.

You don't want to be pricing yourself close to a service that ends in ownership - even if it isn't a great deal the consumer mindset will lean towards something that becomes something they own.

As a random stab in the dark, I'd say £5 a week for a bog standard rig, with optional add on's (internet sticks or certain program packages preinstalled, for example) been where you can make your extra money.