Comment on How rental ‘libraries of things’ have become the new way to save money

• andrewth09@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Tf are both you talking about. The article talks about Tool Libraries and The Library of Thing at length. It name drops a few subscription services for reused baby clothes and kids toys but those are still temporary items people need.

  Rent-a-centers core business model consists of predatory loans for household appliances that you need continuously. This article talks about rentals for things you only need for a short period of time.

  source

  • alekwithak@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Subscriptions are just as predatory.

    source

    • sgtgig@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      There is a tool library near me and it is $45/yr. It’s amazing. These are really good services and this comment section has no idea what it’s talking about.

      source

      • john89@lemmy.ca ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        Hmm. It sounds to me you just don’t want to acknowledge when you’re being taken for a ride.

        But hey, to each their own.

        Businesses want a lifeline to our wallets, which is why subscriptions and renting is also pushed on useful idiots.

        source

        • -> View More Comments
    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      They can be, sure, but they can also be a really good deal. If I know I’ll need a certain amount of something on a fixed schedule, I can subscribe to it and save money. This helps reduce costs for suppliers because they have a better idea of how much stock they need on hand, so they’ll want to encourage you to subscribe with discounts.

      Subscriptions are bad when there’s some form of lock-in, such as a fee for breaking the subscription, or if the cost is arbitrarily high without the subscription because of a lack of competition. I dislike digital subscriptions in general because of this, since you’ll lose access to all of the content you’ve enjoyed to that point.

      But subscriptions to consumables are fine by me.

      source