follow the trend / new service

[new wave]

Thats the phrase investors say when looking for stocks that are going up. Look at long term trend. There are few companies that I can think of that have been popular for so long and have such a loyal cult following.

My new idea is a service in the rent-to-own (RTO) industry that will focus purely on apple products.

I will find people via craigslist that have popular apple products and rent them out to others that want them but who usually cant pay the high asking prices. I'd negotiate with sellers to give me their items instead of making me pay for them because the idea works off profit sharing where revenue off rented items is split 30/70 (me 70%).

There will be only one pricing option and that is 40% of the items value per month divided by 12. If a customer wants weekly pricing, then they will simply get a credit for the un-used time.

the idea is to A. Free people of long term commitments B) save them money and C) Allow them to slowly pay off the item if they intend to buy it.

Example: $1500 for a used macbook pro ( Fully loaded 2011 Mac Book Pro 1000 GB hard drive & more )
monthly pricing --> $600 for a year or $50 per month

I've read a lot about rent-a-center and how they treat their customers like total shit. I dont know about aarons but people probably wouldnt mind a change of fresh air.

I've never used a rent to own store myself but I figure in this economy, they're probably doing pretty well these days.

Like any rental agreement, if a item is lost, stolen, broken, or returned late there will be fees but so far i havn't thought it out that far in detail yet.

In a nutshell, I'm just a broker between people who have apple stuff, and the people that want it. A storage unit and a website would probably be my biggest costs.

your thoughts...

[new wave]

dont spam my thread please.

admins, delete this above post.

[new wave]

I talked to a score counselor the other day. They like the idea but instead of really talking about the idea, they gave me a list of stuff I need to research for a business plan. They said collections will be a big pain but should be worth it in the end.

Because its basically done on consignment, I need to figure out the insurance issues.

[new wave]

Made some changes to the idea. No longer going with the consignment option.. too much liability and headache dealing with a third party. Buying used apple's from top-rated ebay sellers. Probably going to charge 150% annual rate on leases.

I talked to state farm today. I can get one million in coverage for 300 a year running it out of my house.

Talking to more insurance people later this week as well.