A New Way to Share Used Furniture

June 27, 2019

Do you own an abundance of used furniture? If so, Rent Items, an innovative peer-to-peer mobile, and web-based furniture rental marketplace will help you put your furniture inventory to better and wider use. Don’t let your new and used furniture sit idle another day!

Increasing the Utilization of Used Furniture

“There are currently more than 25,000 resale, consignment and not-for-profit resale shops in the United States.”¹

Rent Items fully supports local used furniture providers by offering a marketplace to connect suppliers with those in need of used furniture. What Rent Items shares with resale shops is embodied in Rent Items’ mission: “Build stronger local communities in a sharing economy by putting the items we already own to better use.” While our main focus is on peer-to-peer community building, Rent Items is conducting a test in the Chicago and Boston areas with 100 used-furniture stores. Our goal, to increase the utilization of used furniture sitting idle in local retail store, warehouse, or storage unit. After much research and experience in the rental industry, Rent Items has formalized and standardized the rental process between the owner and the renter.

Approximately 67% of Americans purchased used items online

In the past, used items and renting was viewed as unattractive options and not socially acceptable. Today, used items and renting / sharing are gaining momentum as the most attractive options. The next generation realizes how wasteful and little we use what we own. According to a 2015 Pew Research Center report, “nearly two thirds [or about 67%] of U.S. adults under age 50 have bought used items online.”² Students and young professionals by far make up most of this group. This is why at Rent Items we want to connect used furniture providers with students and young professionals in major cities via the Rent Items’ application.

Community-Based Rental Opportunities for Used Furniture

The Mobile App Generation

Figure 1: Graph extracted from Mary Meeker’s 2019 Code Conference³

daily hourly digital media usage chart

Shopping is a major function in the mobile app world. As Millenials shop, they hunt for low-prices, zero-maintenance, and temporary utilization while using the least amount of effort to access what they want and need. Millennial students and young professionals in major cities like Chicago and Boston typify the perfect audience for used furniture rentals. Young adults are well-educated and use the latest mobile app to access anything and everything, from anywhere with a touch on their screen. As hawk-eyed consumers looking for good deals, Millennials are eager to use mobile applications and easy to use platforms offering them good deals quickly and easily. According to IBISWorld 2019 Industry Market Research Report, “Consumers are becoming more comfortable purchasing products before seeing them in person.”⁴ This consumer trend confirms our theory on the future of how the majority of people will acquire used furniture, not just new furniture.

Sharing Economy – A Cooperative Business Model

Because of social cooperation, applications such as Uber or Airbnb, are thriving because the sharing economy has really unleashed the power of convenient, cheap, and cooperative business. Why not offer students what they want by offering them what you have – affordable, temporary, and quality furniture? Brick and mortar local businesses need to embrace the next big change in the way in which we consume goods and services such as used furniture. Let Rent Items help make you a participant in the future of used furniture utilization.

What is Trending in the Used Furniture Market?

As green furniture is gaining popularity, so are innovative and creative ways to repurpose existing furniture already in the market. In most cases, renting vs. buying is the most socially responsible, environmentally friendly, and economically sound option.

At Rent Items, we believe in the future of local furniture rental stores just as much as we believe in the power of peer-to-peer rentals. But, doing business, as usual, is not an option for local furniture retailers. We want our renters’ to benefit from the vast selection of furniture pieces that exist in local furniture stores, warehouses, homes, and offices. Rent Items will assist in matching you with renters through a secure website and mobile platform.

How to Get Your Used Furniture Rented

If you are interested in learning more about Rent Items, we encourage you to download the Rent Items app. We want you to be among the first early adopters to begin using our marketplace to rent your furniture. Will you join us to shape the future of the furniture rental industry? With your participation, we will put more used furniture to use and in the hands of those in need. This is an invitation to your local furniture business to reach new members of your local community.

Florica Mois

Florica Mois is a Junior Business Analyst at Rent Items, Inc. Currently working on her Master of Science in Policy Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Florica is working towards establishing Rent Items as the premier peer-to-peer rental marketplace for furniture renters and owners.

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