Can hiring be cheaper than buying?

If ever it was stigmatising to choose renting over purchasing, that certainly seems to be going out of fashion, if not gone. For watching the pennies it is a great idea, but mainly it seems just common sense.

More and more people are renting and they are renting a wider range of products. These vary from large and well-established areas such as DIT tool hire, through digital markets such as Spotify, down to new niche businesses.

Hire clothes

When it comes to interviews, some people will not want to invest in a suit unless they are sure they’ve got the job. So, hiring one is a perfect solution. This is particularly true if you have more than one interview over a couple of days.

For that one-off event (one hopes at the time!) a wedding, the rental market gives the bride an opportunity to wear an otherwise out-of-reach price wise designer dress. In fact the rise in designer hire companies shows that it is not just at weddings people want their posh frocks, jewellery and watches. It gives us the feeling that we are special and can act like a celebrity for the day/evening. One won’t forget to take the selfies for social media either! Some people don’t need to know that the Channel frock or Armani watch are one-offs rented for the night!

A quick Internet search brings up lots of sites where you can hire clothes.

Hire tools

In a similar way, hiring DIY or outdoor equipment for that one-off event gives people a chance to see whether they want to ever do more DIY(!) That as well as testing out different gear before making a choice.

Many of the big tool shops offer rental services.

Camping

For holidays, Tentshare, is a UK website that enables people to rent out their tents and camping kit. This could also help the environment (the site says an estimated 250,000 tents go into landfill each year).

A family tent can cost upwards of £400, but renting one at Tentshare costs about £60 for a weekend. You pay a deposit upfront, which will be refunded as long as the equipment comes back undamaged.

Your rights when hiring

Remember when you hire from a business you still have consumer rights! Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 products must be of satisfactory quality and services must be carried out with reasonable skill and care. Which means, that should you hire something and it isn’t what you paid for, or it didn’t last the length of time it should have done, you should get a refund.

What have you hired? How much has it saved and what tips can you pass on?

Money saving posts various blog posts with tips on saving money.