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Most shops that offered still photo rentals in my city have gone out of business, and it's a major city. I used to be able to count on renting a big telephoto t

Most shops that offered still photo rentals in my city have gone out of business, and it's a major city. I used to be able to count on renting a big telephoto that I didn't need to own, for a few hundred per weekend, but these days I'd have to take a long drive to get to the one remaining shop.

dylan604 2y ago
Yeah, online rental places have pretty much made the locals fade away. The one in my local area requires a "deposit" worth the full sales price which makes it out of the reach of anyone but those well off. We used to joke about the B&H rental by taking full advantage of the 30-day return policy. Even Amazon's return policy qualifies now. You just need to the up front funds available and hope that wear&tear is not noticeable to make the return acceptable. It's hard for local shops to keep up with that.
- genewitch 2y ago
  Hard for local shops to keep up with fraud? You don't say.
  - dylan604 2y ago
    I like how the messenger is getting shot. It's as if my reporting of what actually happens is being interpreted as that's what I do. Just because I know of how the system gets played does not make me a player.
    - genewitch 2y ago
      I get upset when people defraud my neighbors and friends in my community. that's what a local shop is. Just today i went to my local pharmacy to look for l-theanine based on some commentary on HN yesterday. I could have gone on amazon, or to walmart, or to CVS. People interfering with that business aren't cool, regardless of the motivation. let me put it this way - i never even thought of using amazon as a rental service. even though amazon loves me, and i could get away with it, my brain doesn't spend time thinking about unethical things to do. read this as: "Someone should have gotten upset before the deposit went up from jerks either breaking or stealing the rental equipment" - as my sibling says, this is why we can't have nice things.
- igouy 2y ago
  aka "This is why we can't have nice things"

dylan604 2y ago

Yeah, online rental places have pretty much made the locals fade away. The one in my local area requires a "deposit" worth the full sales price which makes it out of the reach of anyone but those well off. We used to joke about the B&H rental by taking full advantage of the 30-day return policy. Even Amazon's return policy qualifies now. You just need to the up front funds available and hope that wear&tear is not noticeable to make the return acceptable. It's hard for local shops to keep up with that.

genewitch 2y ago
Hard for local shops to keep up with fraud? You don't say.
- dylan604 2y ago
  I like how the messenger is getting shot. It's as if my reporting of what actually happens is being interpreted as that's what I do. Just because I know of how the system gets played does not make me a player.
  - genewitch 2y ago
    I get upset when people defraud my neighbors and friends in my community. that's what a local shop is. Just today i went to my local pharmacy to look for l-theanine based on some commentary on HN yesterday. I could have gone on amazon, or to walmart, or to CVS. People interfering with that business aren't cool, regardless of the motivation. let me put it this way - i never even thought of using amazon as a rental service. even though amazon loves me, and i could get away with it, my brain doesn't spend time thinking about unethical things to do. read this as: "Someone should have gotten upset before the deposit went up from jerks either breaking or stealing the rental equipment" - as my sibling says, this is why we can't have nice things.
igouy 2y ago
aka "This is why we can't have nice things"