stereo amps and preamps for rent,what do you think

well it is a idea and i appreciate the feedback.i guess i am looking at my own interest here.i would love to rent a mac tube and see how it sounds in my system.you guys know how it goes.you see something on audiogon you would really like to buy and when you get it in your system low and behold--"it sucks"this happend to me several times.next thing i am selling the piece back audiogon and hope to get close to what you paid for it.i like the figures rayd has gave(i could live with those numbers).also to protect from damage the person will have to have a credit to cover the unit.when it comes back to me with no problem we would then release the credit.ok guys jump on this thread.

Rayd and Gotsouldr, the audio recording industry and the sound reinforcement industry has tons of rental companies also. They cover 32 pages of the NYC business phone directory.

Gotsouldr, build the business case. Determine how many pieces you need to have steady rental income. How well are you capitalized? How long a payback period can you handle before realizing a profit? For example, a $6000 product (your cost) rented at $500 a month will require 12 monthly rentals before you break even. Can you live with that? Is that a reasonable and realistic payback period?
Is this going to be a business or a hobby? How much money are you willing to risk to see if this is an idea with legs? It sounds like a terrible investment to me. Of course, I think anyone who chooses high end audio as a business is a little odd. It is, I believe, a small and getting smaller business segment. Only invest what you are willing to lose. Good luck.

narrod you are right i am seeing the light on this one.just because i would like the chance to rent i can now see it is not profitable.oh well.this is why i mention the idea here on audiogon.you get professional results from the mwmbers.thanks all for the input.

Welcome to the problem dealers have trying to keep their store stocked with high end gear only to be borrowed and then someone buys it off audiogon.... One of the dealers I frequent said that he has to sell 7 units of an item just to pay for his cost on the floor model. That's a lot of sales plus rent to have floor (demo) models... and you guys wonder why brick and mortor stores need the margins that high end gear offers?? Plus 2 channel gear is a dying market for retailers. Almost all of our local retailers are changing their stores to be hometheater centric because that is where families are spending their money, plus their original 2 channel customers are dying off..

The only reason the cable company makes money is not with the 5% rental but selling cables at full retail because people don't want to pay the 5% rental fee.. but it's also a way to actually save money buying and selling cables on audiogon to find out what fits in your system.

Also shipping cables is a lot cheaper than charging someone $140 for shipping roundtrip on a rental of gear... Honestly the projector rental example really does show what it takes to be profitable. Tube Gear would be impossible. Then you have to also watch out for fraud, as my dealer sold an item on ebay, the guy said it didn't work and he wanted to return it, and the buyer sent back a different serial number which was broken......

If you wanted to do a rental or tweakers (footers, isolation, and maybe power conditioning) that might be another market which would have a lower inventory cost and broader appeal.. still I think this is a great idea but there is no market for it at what people WANT to pay.