Rentomojo – One Step Closer to Big Savings

Last week I was invited to the Rentomojo Bloggers Meet at Hotel Ramada, Bangalore. Initially, I did not know about Rentomojo. But then I saw the website, understood what it is about and really liked the concept. It is about renting furniture, bikes and electronic appliances. Yes! You read it right. You might have heard about renting houses, apartments, parking lots, etc. But now with Rentomojo you can get cool stuff like classy furniture, expensive bikes, and electronic appliances too just by paying instalments.

RentoMojo was founded in 2014 by an IIT alumnus Geetansh Bamania. It is India’s leading consumer leasing company. They recently announced Rent-to-Own where customers can rent products and either return them or even own them. Customers can lease furniture, two-wheelers or electronic appliances by paying RMI – Rental Monthly Installment. The customers can use the products, either return them or even buy the product if they feel like doing so.

Geetansh Bamania, CEO & Founder, Rentomojo said, “Usually renting is considered for a longer duration. A lot of customers also get a strong sense of ownership once they buy the products. What we also realised that, although the perception of renting could be for a smaller duration, the average rental tenure of our customers is 12-18 months, which itself makes us very different than a typical rental model. With an option of owning if the customer wants to after he has rented, where he is paying a nominal RMI, is certainly a new way of ownership and that certainly makes us different than a typical renting company.”

He explained that Indian workers, on an average, have a low disposable income (6,000-7,000 INR or around $105) which makes stumping up for expensive items tricky. They are also likely to move cities regularly. He argued that typically an average young worker changes his/her location every two or three years. That makes owning physical assets impractical since you either cart them around with you or are forced to go through the pain of selling them second-hand before you move.

Rentomojo currently operates in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, and Pune. They want to free people from the burden and cost of ownership by letting them rent what they need. Rentomojo claims to have 10,000 active customers right now across six cities in India.

When we set up a home, we buy expensive electronic appliances like fridge, TV or washing machine. Sometimes we buy it on EMI, and later we own the product by paying more than the actual product value. But did you know that buying the same product by paying RMI is actually cheaper as compared to buying with EMI? Yes! There are multiple benefits:

• With RMI, we have the option to return the product if we are not happy with it. With EMI this option is not available.
• Also using RMI, Rentomojo gives free delivery and maintenance. This is not available with EMI.
• You can swap products with RMI option which is not possible with EMI.
• Transfer of ownership is available which is not available within the EMI model.
• The payouts are cheaper with RMI as compared to EMI.

The products are given on rent for a long duration. There are different packages and subscription models like 6 months, 12 months or even 24 months to suit the customer needs. The best part is, if you don’t want the product, you can return it. You don’t have to pay anything extra. But say you subscribed for 24 months and wanted to return the product within 6 months, then you just have to pay the difference in the subscription amount. Basically, you just pay same as that paid by a person who took 6 months subscription.

This rent-to-own facility is very useful for people on the move. Say, you are posted in Bangalore on a project for 1 year. You can rent furniture or rent appliances, use them and return whenever you leave the city. You also have the option to transfer the rented furniture to a different city, in case you get relocated to another city in India. Rentomojo does this completely free of cost.

Bachelors, businesses and freelancers prefer renting furniture as buying and moving furniture (while shifting) is a costly affair.

If you are renting an apartment for the first time, you can also rent furniture, appliances and bikes. If you are bored of the furniture, you can exchange and get some stylish products. The same is applicable with bikes.

Rentomojo is not just for people who are on the move. If you are setting up a new home, you can #SmartlyOwn appliances or furniture. Say after one year, you feel like revamping your house, you can return the products and get new ones or you can even purchase them. Rentomojo has curated packages to suit every need, designed to make our home special. You can also get to use the products first and pay later. Now, who would not like this option?

I feel renting furniture, appliances and bikes with RentoMojo is an excellent option while setting up homes. We usually buy expensive furniture for interior décor. But after some years, we feel bored and feel like renovating our house. We feel like changing the home décor. If we try to sell the expensive furniture, we won’t even get ¼ the amount at which it was purchased. Sometimes we are forced to sell it for a very cheap amount.

But with Rentomojo, we can rent furniture by paying RMI and exchange furniture for another style without paying extra amount. There are a lot of benefits of renting stuff from Rentomojo.

When people get married, they set up a home. This is a costly affair. But with Rentomojo, one can simply rent furniture and electronic appliances like AC, TV, fridge or washing machine and furnish the house by paying RMI. Instead of taking a loan from the bank, it is better to purchase stuff using the RMI option. This won’t be a burden, and one will also have the happiness of owning products and filling the house with happiness. It won’t drill a hole in your pocket too. The packages start at a nominal price of ₹749/month, and individual product rentals start at just ₹79/month.

At the end of the meet, the bloggers asked various questions. One was – how is the maintenance of furniture or electronic appliances or bikes done? Because, if we rent stuff, we have to use them carefully. The maintenance is done by Rentomojo. If there are serious damages to the product, the amount is deducted from the initial amount that we pay to Rentomojo as a deposit. This is given to us when we return the product. Rentomojo clicks pictures of products during delivery, so comparing the state of the product becomes easier for them.

So who would not like to go for renting? With Rentomojo, renting makes life easier. What do you feel about this? Share your thoughts.