Does anyone rent out their bike box?

rodgers73

I'm thinking about buying a box from Bike Box Alan and renting out until its paid for itself, or maybe make a bit more on top.

Does anyone on here rent out their's? Any tips on how to do this without ending up with it being nicked or whatever?

Seems most renters are asking for photo ID and a deposit in case of theft/damage but accepting scuffs and scratches from normal baggage handler carelessness.

Any thoughts/comments more than welcome

Thanks

sloppyschleckonds

Do you really want people you don't know coming to your house twice in a week to collect/ return it for £30 or so.....?

rodgers73

I've sold a lot of stuff through ebay - no problem with people calling at my place.

rodgers73

That's what I'm hoping for. Would really like one but the prices are so high.

I've been told that joining my local club and offering it to members is another way to get business.

rolf_f

rodgers73 wrote:

That's what I'm hoping for. Would really like one but the prices are so high.

I've been told that joining my local club and offering it to members is another way to get business.

You'd charge club members? Ie prospective friends? If you joined our club as a means of making money out of your bike box then I wouldn't be the only one telling you where to stuff your bike box Alan!

mallorcajeff

I have rented mine out a few times but its more hassle than its worth. Just look on ebay lots there already £6 per day

rodgers73

Rolf F wrote:

rodgers73 wrote:

That's what I'm hoping for. Would really like one but the prices are so high.

I've been told that joining my local club and offering it to members is another way to get business.

You'd charge club members? Ie prospective friends? If you joined our club as a means of making money out of your bike box then I wouldn't be the only one telling you where to stuff your bike box Alan!

I'm not bothered about joining the club particularly - I'd only do that if I was looking for customers and couldnt contact the members anyway. I'd just as easily rent it to them without joining - think they have a forum thats open to all.

BrandonA

Personally if my LBS rented them out like madasahattersley stated they did then I'd look to rent theirs rather than going to an individuals house and renting theirs.

You can even rent from the company you mentioned. If you can't afford to buy one, why do you just rent it yourself and be done with the hassle.

The last thing I'd want to do is to have to give my name and address to a complete stranger and then go on holiday as firstly they'd know where I live and that I was away on holiday and secondly that I potentially have something worth stealing.

Even if you "joined" the club I wouldn't want to rent it off of you. Not unless you were a trusted member. That trust would be built based on friendship which was acquired from riding together. Not someone using the club merely as a means to flog stuff.

I'd also be reluctant to rent it out. Although they have a ten year guarantee, I'd be gutted if it came back from a rental damaged. It would firstly be hard to get money from them and secondly it could ruin a future trip of yours if you can't fix or replace it in time. The deposit that BikeBoxAlan takes is less than half the value of the item, it would be hard to justify a larger deposit and you'd be out of pocket if they did damage it.

rodgers73

If its such a bad idea to do this, why are there people on ebay renting them out?

Doesn't anyone have any positive feedback on this at all?? Either as a renter or a customer?

gethinceri

Well, sometimes market researchers keep going until they hear what they want to hear.
It's been 24 hours, do you have a time limit?

rodgers73

So far one for and one against in terms of experience. The rest has just been opinion really.

Would appreciate more input!

rouleur23

Take no notice of the guy who would tell you where to stuff your bike box. The term 'mates rates' exists for things like this. They would get a 'better than market rate' from a pal for a service they would not have to go far to get. And most prefer the money goes to a guy they know too. Jesus! Guys like him don't buy stuff if they think they are entitled to it for free off of mates :evil:
I rented one once. 50 euros for 7 days. I paid the value of the box as a deposit. 350 I think it was. Why not? I hired it to protect a 5k bike. Good investment. Then I bought one. German make. Super box.
Do it. Lay out your terms clearly. If it rents....great. If not...take it on the chin but you'll always get takers if you are not too greedy. Good luck

rolf_f

rodgers73 wrote:

So far one for and one against in terms of experience. The rest has just been opinion really.

Would appreciate more input!

No - one against, none for. I think the best you've had is a shop renting them out which is rather different than what you are suggesting. Most people in my club rent boxes from a local shop. Or they lend boxes to other club members. They don't try to profit from it.

Still, if the club is filled with the same sort of people as rouleur23 then maybe it will work out. Fortunately, mine isn't. 'Mates rates' is a term used when you do a professional job for someone - it's unreasonable to expect a freebie when a mate is doing something that is his livelihood. Anything I do hobby related is for free. I guess rouleur deserves the mates he's got - knows the price of everything, the value of nothing

Otherwise I'd just do it the Ebay way and sell a service to anyone. The problem with a club is that you'll be able to rent out 10 bike boxes for one week and none for the rest of the year.

rodgers73

You seem pretty upset at the idea of renting the box to someone if they're in the same club as you. I don't think it makes you a bad person to do that really. Cycling clubs aren't that cliquey that you all give stuff to each other for nothing, surely?? Its kind of an irrelevant point anyway - I was looking at the local club as a potential marketplace not as a place to make friends. I think their club forum is open to non-members so if I can advertise on there then that works fine for me and saves me the membership fees.

I don't want to buy 10 boxes - just one for me and to recover the cost of that by renting for a bit until I've recouped all or most of the outlay. That doesn't make me a bad person ;-)

upton

If the only reason you join a club is to make money off members, personally I'd find that pretty bad form.

mattjc

I brought one at the beginning of the year, used it twice so far, so saved £140 in rental costs after the initial £500 outlay, I have rented in previous years. In the long term it will pay for it'self anyway, probably in about 3-4 years. depending on how much I go abroad. And likewise for you depending on how much you ride abroad?

It did cross my mind about renting mine out when not in use to help others, but I couldn't rent it to a club member or friend and charge them, I have gained too much invaluable information from riding with my club, so will always help out with members and their needs where I can. Admittedly if you don't ride with that club at the moment it could be a different story.

Strangers is a different thing, but there always seem to be quite a few on ebay always up for rental, so would you try and go ultracheap to undercut them, then there is the risk as others have said about damage to the box, the ones I have rented out have been pretty scuffed and sometimes hard to align and shut properly with all the knocking they endure via baggage handlers. Plus there is no guarantee you will always have it rented it out, so you are constantly paying listing fees (if on ebay) And how you can you trust the person to return it, do you need a guarantee of deposit from them? I just keep mine in the garage now and will let friends and club members use it if they need to.

That's just my 2 cents anyway

Mat