Don’t buy, just try: Gadgets, toys go rental way

Ever tried aqua aerobics with water dumbbells or toyed around with a cozmo interactive robot? Worn an Oculus VR headset? But why buy such fancy, expensive stuff when you can actually rent them for a day or two, the items of choice home-delivered for a price?

This is precisely what a Bengaluru-based startup, Yopik.in, has to offer for experience-hunters, who would rather try than buy.

Launched in December 2018, the platform has added over 100 rental items across 11 categories.

Most customers rent out stuff just for a day, informs Yopik founder Ojas Parikh. “People want to try out modern equipment, which they would otherwise not buy. For instance, we have this golf-swing analyser that many feel pointless to buy. But they would rent it since everyone is in a rush to experience new things,” Parikh explains.

Homemaker Minal Sanghvi had seen her five-year-old son’s fascination for electronic toys. But she knew that fascination was a passing phase, and spending thousands would be a waste.

She chose to rent out the Cozmo robot instead. “Imagine his joy when we got home the high-end robot that plays with you, learns from you, reacts and becomes your buddy. No, we didn’t buy this set worth Rs 10,000, but just rented it out for the weekend,” she recalls.

Parikh used his Amazon experience to merge e-commerce’s ease of delivery and transaction with the rental services. “Majority of products we offer have been bought by us from across the world, giving us total control over their availability, quality and condition.”

To ensure the rented products are returned in good condition, a security deposit is levied. This is refunded once the product is returned and checked.

Once a particular product booked online, a confirmation and status of the order is sent to the customer. The platform’s delivery personnel take it to the customer’s home and demonstrates how the product works.

Before taking a rental decision, the customer could also check a product demo video and usage manuals online.

DH News Service