Gear borrow?

The Lounge General Discussion
#7

yeah hard to see how the brick borrow model could translate to expensive synths n’that but perhaps maybe if the manufacturers got onboard… i’m no businessman, i just like the idea of paying some sorta subscription for borrowing a bit of kit just to see how I gel with the physicality of the device

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#8

Ah ^ its already happening. Great stuff. Wish I lived in Berlin!

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#9

Where are you based out of?

#10

I’m in the UK

#11

I remember seeing something stateside that had a rather expensive rental service but I’m not specifically aware of anything in the UK, sorry friend.

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#12

:wink:

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#13

:open_mouth:

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#14

Thomann and a several other retailers give you 30 days to evaluate gear, don’t gel with it, send it back, no problem.

#15

Thats decent from Thomann

#16

The only time I loaned instruments to someone

  1. He was a friend (at the time)
  2. It was a Moog Rogue and a Roland CR78
  3. Never saw them again

It was the late 80s I as still a stony broke student. Tough lesson to learn.

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#17

is that a change your mind thing or an actual evaluation service they offer?

#18

DV27 also.

#19

As long as you send it back undamaged, no problem. I had an Alphabase for a couple of weeks and sent it back with my reasons for not liking it and they refunded me.

#20

Not sure if they call it an evaluation service but in reality it amounts to that.

#21

Only time I’ve ever lent a friend a piece of gear he complained that it was broken already, which it was. Didn’t stop him using it on a record that went gold though. Never even thanked me.

#22

I’ve lent out a lot stuff in my life and it rarely made its way back! I’ve learned my lesson!

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#23

I learnt not to borrow things from the NES days. Never got my Mario / Duckhunt cartridge back.

Would never borrow anyone a synth unless very close friend with enough capital to replace synth.

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#24

Thanks for the mention @shigginpit :slightly_smiling_face:

We’ve been piloting this type of a model in Berlin since August and yep, you can indeed rent some gear at https://www.synthswap.de/ (250+ machines currently available) or join our upcoming instrument sharing pool, which will be a monthly subscription service.

So far we haven’t really had any problems with gear getting damaged or not returned. The worst that has happened is that something comes back a couple of days later than it was supposed to. We ID all users online, charge security deposits and save payment methods on file, while also using an advanced fraud detection service from our payment services provider. And we have an insurance partner on board. I think the combination of all of this makes the bad actors stay away, or at least that seems to be the case so far (knock on wood).

It’s definitely a niche business model. With new gear the competition is tough with Thomann etc. offering that 30 day trial period that @generalkustard mentioned. And with used stuff, many choose to rather purchase an item second hand and trusting that they can flip it for around the same price if they don’t like it. But we’re hoping that this sort of model of peer-to-peer sharing amongst musicians picks up more and more.

@flocked I noticed your thread that was linked here and I see you’re based in Berlin as well. If you’re interested in having a chat, feel free to be in touch :+1:

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#25

Borrowing gear is a terrible idea.

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#26

I don‘t borrow or lend anything unless it‘s part of a business transaction.