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I don't disagree that one is better off buying used furniture (if and when it can be acquired in good condition) if new furniture is too expensive to buy. Howe
by plorg 12y ago
I don't disagree that one is better off buying used furniture (if and when it can be acquired in good condition) if new furniture is too expensive to buy.
However, if you are a businessperson offering to rent furniture, and if you believe that there are non-predatory reasons to rent out such furniture, then shouldn't you be targeting such rental purposes? If renting to own is the problem, then perhaps you shouldn't offer rent-to-own. Or, if a credit check is enough to rule out customers who are unlikely to pay, perhaps there should be a credit check. I am sure, in your case, you would have been able to pass such a check. I simply do not believe that a renter can benefit from usurious rentals and be absolved of moral burden because the renter 'should have known better'.
- bmelton 12y agoExcept that rent-to-own is beneficial. Couches are fairly durable, but nowhere close to infinitely so. Eventually, a rental furniture place has to either sell or dispose of the couch and replace it, presumably after having extracted the maximum value that they can. There are also plenty of benefits for renting to own. I know a couple of startups on the east coast who rent furniture to own, specifically the lobby stuff (moreso than the actual office equipment) because 1) They were able to negotiate better than the listed prices and 2) it's potentially cheaper than hiring an account and/or figuring out the excise and use taxes on the assets. Just because there are predatory use cases doesn't make the practice predatory ut totum. Also, nobody's compelling people to buy furniture they can't afford.