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Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups

nytimes.com

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Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups

#91

Post by flukus »

> The items that are being offered for temporary ownership to this cohort are a far cry from the Rent-A-Centers of the world, which target cash-strapped consumers who often lack access to credit. Fernish, for example, is geared toward young people whose design sense comes straight from Instagram, Pinterest and West Elm’s catalog. The company, founded in 2017, trades in imitation Eames shell chairs, midcentury-style wooden dressers and Art Deco-inspired bar carts, offering brands like Crate & Barrel and more boutique names like Campaign.

So they're basically high end rent-a-centers? Apart from the exact products I'm not really seeing what's new, the business model goes back to at least 1930 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Rentals) and has all the legitimacy of the payday loan industry.

Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups

#92

Post by KozmoNau7 »

JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #69
apatters wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Renting things is a financial tool and it can save you money. The calculation is simple. You estimate the difference between how much something costs and how much you can sell it for once you're done using it. That's your real cost to own it. Compare that number to the cost of renting it for the same time period. If the cost to rent is lower, renting is a better deal. For larger and more involved transactions (especi…

In an efficient market, shouldn't the cost to own and cost to rent be roughly the same? Otherwise, everyone would rush to the clearly cheaper option.

For you to be able to rent something, someone has to own it. And since that someone will want to make a profit, the rental fee reflects that.

I think a better option is shared ownership, such as several neighbors sharing a lawnmower, or similar things that see regular use, but also have significant idle intervals between uses.

Communal spaces and tools save money and foster collaboration.

Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups

#93

Post by vintermann »

Bombthecat wrote: post #47
chrisco255 wrote: post #26

Renting an apartment vs owning a house is not necessarily a bad financial move. Depends on a number of factors. For instance, if you anticipate moving within a certain time frame, between closing costs, mortgage fees, commission, etc...it can cost more to own in the first 3-5 years, especially if prices are stagnant. Also, there are hidden costs of home ownership not necessarily factored in for, like repairs, mainten…

Especially in Germany, where there is a new law coming out every five to ten years where you need to isolate your house or build solar or replace your old gas heater etc etc etc. Its all in the name of environment protection. But makes owning a house more of a risk then anything else..

Germany is special in more ways than one, as I understand owning isn't so heavily subsidized vs. renting there compared to other western countries. It's at least far more common to rent in Germany.

You also ran pretty clear of the housing bubble. I wonder if there's a connection there.

Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups

#94

Post by foepys »

ccozan wrote: post #66
Bombthecat wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Especially in Germany, where there is a new law coming out every five to ten years where you need to isolate your house or build solar or replace your old gas heater etc etc etc. Its all in the name of environment protection. But makes owning a house more of a risk then anything else..

I live in Germany and I never heard of this "need". Nobody forces you. Yes, you may want to change your old heating (that's what I do), but you get a lot of subvention from the state. You do this, then you also get some good terms on taxing etc. Same with electricity. You get a better insurance policy if you have it new.

Actually, you have to replace your heating every 30 years. Unless you are exempt, which is becoming more and more unlikely. See EnEV §10.

Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups

#95

Post by Thorrez »

apatters wrote: post #81
JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In an efficient market, shouldn't the cost to own and cost to rent be roughly the same? Otherwise, everyone would rush to the clearly cheaper option.

A rational/efficient example of where renting might be a better deal for you is if you don't have access to wholesale prices and someone else does. They buy at a discount and then they rent out to you at a price which makes it cheaper for you than buying at retail. A classic scenario is renting a movie. Let's use DVDs as an example--even though they're falling out of favor, they're a little simpler to talk about, and…

I doubt studios want to give Redbox a discount, because rentals cut into sales, which the studios care about more than rentals. Redbox operates because of first-sale doctrine. I assume Redbox pays the same as stores pay, which is indeed cheaper than what a consumer pays, but there's no discount especially for Redbox. Why do digital rentals cost more than physical rentals? Because first-sale doctrine doesn't apply to digital so studios can charge more. First-sale doctrine prevents studios from charging more for physical rentals, and they won't be eager to pile on any extra discounts for Redbox.

I think the real benefit to the consumer of renting from Redbox instead of buying is that Redbox has economies of scale on exchanging movies between consumers and distributing them geographically. If a consumer buys a movie, watches it, and resells it, that's a lot of hassle, whereas Redbox has managed that redistribution by building automation.

Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups

#97

Post by diminoten »

jijji wrote: post #55
rishav_sharan wrote: post #22

I actually do this. I have rented 2 king size beds, a sofa, a 200l fridge, 40 inch led tv, small ac and a dining table for around $120 per month. In return i get complete peace of mind, free maintenance and the ability to update my furniture for no reason other than i want to. I personally am pretty happy with renting most of this stuff but will be buying my own dtuff once i have my own house

you can buy all of that on craigslist for ~$700 ... $100 for each bed, $100 (or free) for sofa, $200 for fridge $100 for tv, ac for $50 and dining table for $50.. If you plan on relocating in six months to another city, that might make sense...

Sure, if you wanted vastly inferior quality...

Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups

#98

Post by pintxo »

vintermann wrote: post #93
Bombthecat wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Especially in Germany, where there is a new law coming out every five to ten years where you need to isolate your house or build solar or replace your old gas heater etc etc etc. Its all in the name of environment protection. But makes owning a house more of a risk then anything else..

Germany is special in more ways than one, as I understand owning isn't so heavily subsidized vs. renting there compared to other western countries. It's at least far more common to rent in Germany. You also ran pretty clear of the housing bubble. I wonder if there's a connection there.

I'd argue that the connection is that owning real estate here is not as heavily supported by the overall tax and financial framework. Two examples: Mortgage payments are not tax-deductible and and you are personally on the hook for the mortgage, as in you cannot send the keys to the bank and simply walk away without debt.

Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups

#99

Post by diminoten »

Retra wrote: post #45
dawhizkid wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did you come to that conclusion? The effect is the complete opposite...instead of a lot of people that move frequently (i.e. younger people) and buy/toss a lot of cheap Ikea furniture every year, you rent high end, long-lasting furniture that is delivered/removed for reuse.

When I moved frequently I bought an inflatable bed or cot. I didn't buy a king sized bed and throw it out every two years. That's insane.

I refuse to use a cot or inflatable bed as my primary location for sleeping. Sleep is too important to cheap out on it.

Re: Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups

#100

Post by Bombthecat »

adrianN wrote: post #77
Bombthecat wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Especially in Germany, where there is a new law coming out every five to ten years where you need to isolate your house or build solar or replace your old gas heater etc etc etc. Its all in the name of environment protection. But makes owning a house more of a risk then anything else..

I wish such laws existed in Germany, but I never heard of them. It's still legal to build new houses that depend on fossil fuel for heating and are poorly insulated, even though we need to become carbon neutral in the next fifteen to twenty years if we want to stay below 2° of warming. The Denkmalschutzbehörde can still prevent you from upgrading your windows and adding insulation to your home.

Never heard about the payment for streets in front of your house for example?
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