[mjevans]

A nice alternative would be a return policy where there was a no questions, BUT small fee (20-25% of the cost)? For returns without defects but obvious use.

The above policy should be _combined_ with an equipment rental that is substantially cheaper but expects similar condition returns.

Particularly for apartment renters, the ability to not need to store a large bulky item used 2-3 times in their lifetime would be an upgrade.

[nextos]

Yes, what freaks me out is when companies take any return, repackage it and sell it back as new.

Amazon does this all the time, and I have stopped buying from them. I try to get buy-for-life items. I don't return anything unless it's defective, but I don't want to get pre-owned things sold as new.

[bfuller]

This definitely happens all the time, I get packages whose boxes have obviously been opened before all the time.

People double-dipping amazon products and saying they never got the package (or it was stolen) has been going on forever.

[acdha]

Rentals aren’t badly priced at REI but there are unavoidable costs: liability, cleaning, storage, etc. which people were trying to avoid. The other limit is that they won’t have as large a selection so people who want pricier or niche gear won’t find it at the average rental shop.

[ghaff]

Rentals are available for a lot of equipment. Although there are liability concerns for gear used for relatively high-risk activities. But renting a kayak or a canoe is mostly not that hard--especially if you have a local club.