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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

#31

Post by jtr1 »

elicash wrote: post #23

This article describes a minor (but real) trend among a small group of wealthy young people. While some of the services described have a bit wider reach (particularly clothing companies), there's nothing THAT concerning about people with lots of disposable income doing what people with disposable income have always done -- spend it.

This has been NYT’s schtick for as long as I’ve been reading it: pick up some trend among the young trust fund class of New York and breathlessly report it as a generational shift. It’s a decent ad-mover.

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

#32

Post by bitcoinmoney »

pembrook wrote: post #11
whatshisface wrote: post #5

This seems dangerous, like people are going to spend 100% of their paycheck every month and get everything taken away from them if they go a week without a job.

Or on the flipside, I've got some contractor/consulting buddies who regularly pull down $200/hr bouncing between Tech companies in the Bay Area and Seattle and big banks in NYC. Not owning anything allows you to go where the work is and keep your net worth in assets that produce actual income (like index funds and bonds), instead of sitting around collecting unemployment during a dry spell because you're encumbered b…

400k/year doing what?

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

#33

Post by baroffoos »

This is just another move from mega corps to tricking us in to paying a subscription for everything and never owning anything. Owning pretty much always ends up cheaper if you will have the item for a long time.

Renting only makes sense for short term needs. I don't need to buy expensive equipment I only use once a year so renting that makes sense but for a couch it makes far more sense to buy it outright and use it for 10+ years rather than pay constantly for it.

I suspect that even this article itself is a hidden marketing move to change social norms so people think renting is the cool new thing to show off.

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

#34

Post by whatshisface »

_bxg1 wrote: post #25
whatshisface wrote: post #5

This seems dangerous, like people are going to spend 100% of their paycheck every month and get everything taken away from them if they go a week without a job.

Who says they have to spend 100% of their paycheck?

That's kind of like asking "who says they have to get student loans," great advice for any individual but not so great as a prediction for what we'll be reading about in the NYT 20 years from now.

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

#35

Post by rietta »

Its hard to wrap my head around renting furniture and cloths. Most of the pieces in my house are gifts from family, many are antiques and very functional. Getting married and buying a house was all the excuse our families needed to set us up. I know not everyone has this but many do. Saved a ton of money vs buying new or renting.

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

#36

Post by drivingmenuts »

This doesn’t sound like the worst idea ever. If you lose your income, just say “come and get it” and you’ve significantly lowered the cost of moving/finding storage, etc. while you search for a new job.

I kinda wish I’d thought of this before a couple of bad years of the Universe deciding it didn’t much like me much. I’m sort of back on my feet (employed) but I don’t own much more than some minimal furniture, clothes, car and computer gear. The rest could easily be filled by renting.

Most of the other things wouldn’t have much resale value anyway, if I bought it outright.

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

#37

Post by dawhizkid »

baroffoos wrote: post #33

This is just another move from mega corps to tricking us in to paying a subscription for everything and never owning anything. Owning pretty much always ends up cheaper if you will have the item for a long time. Renting only makes sense for short term needs. I don't need to buy expensive equipment I only use once a year so renting that makes sense but for a couch it makes far more sense to buy it outright and use it…

Well most of these companies are startups, not megacorps.

Just like everything you should do the math...if you only plan to live in a city or apartment for 1-2 years then renting a furnished apartment (either officially furnished or DIY with one of these startups) could make sense. The alternative in my experience is buying a lot of cheap Ikea furniture that's a pain to buy/put together/toss that may or may not come out to what you'd pay renting much nicer furniture with assembly/delivery included both ways.

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

#38

Post by dawhizkid »

mehrdadn wrote: post #27
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

Sorry but do you find this ends up being wasteful at all? I don't know how many of/how much these items can be reused, but it feels like it would promote far faster consumption than ownership.

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.

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

#39

Post by baroffoos »

dawhizkid wrote: post #37
baroffoos wrote: post #33

This is just another move from mega corps to tricking us in to paying a subscription for everything and never owning anything. Owning pretty much always ends up cheaper if you will have the item for a long time. Renting only makes sense for short term needs. I don't need to buy expensive equipment I only use once a year so renting that makes sense but for a couch it makes far more sense to buy it outright and use it…

Well most of these companies are startups, not megacorps. Just like everything you should do the math...if you only plan to live in a city or apartment for 1-2 years then renting a furnished apartment (either officially furnished or DIY with one of these startups) could make sense. The alternative in my experience is buying a lot of cheap Ikea furniture that's a pain to buy/put together/toss that may or may not come…

This article pushes the idea that this is not just for people planing to leave soon but for anyone who wants to live the luxury life which is just ridiculous. Also megacorps have been pushing for this as well, for example the trend to pay a huge monthly fee for your phone and plan which forces you to essentially buy a new phone every 2 years.

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

#40

Post by benatkin »

arcticbull wrote: post #18
mc32 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess, but it makes things even more disposable, more consumerist. More detrimental to the environment.

I could make a case for the opposite -- consumers tend to buy something new at the store then throw it out a couple of years later. I can imagine these types of companies buying more durable goods so they can rent them out to multiple people back to back instead. I see it as almost automating the craigslist model.

They can calculate how long rented equipment lasts, and at least for electric scooters, the time they last is pretty short. 28.8 days and 92 trips. I don't know how long the average non-shared scooter lasts but if I paid $300+ for my own electric scooter I'd want it to last much longer and go on more trips than that. https://qz.com/1561654/how-long-does-a-scooter-last-less-tha...
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