[Elecraft] Can I rent a K4?

[Mark Goldberg]

I can't see this as being a good business model. A company has finite
resources. If they spend time and money on a rental business, they
can't spend time and money on their core business. I'd much rather see
Elecraft build and ship as many K4s as possible than spend time and
money on a rental business. Add to that the possible fraud (rent with
a stolen credit card and abscond with the K4) and the need to fully
check out the unit after rental (people buy things on ebay, claim they
are broken and return a different, damaged item for a refund) they
would have to charge an exorbitant amount to not lose money.

If you really wanted to try one out, you could buy it, use it for a
while and then offer it for sale to someone else. With the K4 in such
demand, you may even be able to get more than list price for a gently
used one that can be purchased today.

73,

Mark
W7MLG

On Wed, Feb 3, 2021 at 10:46 AM Eric Garner <garnere at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> isn't that why most expensive things require a deposit to rent them?
>
> Eric KI7LTT
>
> On Wed, Feb 3, 2021 at 9:32 AM Alan - G4GNX <g4gnx at g4gnx.com> wrote:
>
> > I can't see that working.
> >
> > When a renter defaults and does a runner, Elecraft would have to layout
> > a lot in recovery fees and maybe even end up with a pile of junk for
> > their trouble.
> >
> > It might work in a very small country or if they had a physical presence
> > in all states.
> >
> > 73,
> >
> > Alan. G4GNX
> >
> >
> > ------ Original Message ------
> > From: "John Harper" <johnae5x at gmail.com>
> > To: "Elecraft list" <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
> > Sent: 03/02/2021 17:20:47
> > Subject: [Elecraft] Can I rent a K4?
> >
> > >I wonder if this model would work?
> > >
> > >Flex offers a refund for those who try one of their rigs and don't like
> > it.
> > >But a rental would pose less risk to the manufacturer.
> > >
> > >There are (rumored) a small number of K4's in existence - the rest, of
> > >course, are on hold. But regardless...even after full production has
> > begun:
> > >
> > >What if, before plunking down 4 kilodollars, I could rent the rig for two
> > >weeks?
> > >
> > >If I don't like it, I send it back to Elecraft and I'm only out the rental
> > >fee and the cost to ship (renter pays shipping in both directions).
> > >
> > >If I do like it, I keep the rig and pay the balance.
> > >
> > >The rental fee would separate the serious potential buyers from those
> > >simply wanting a two-week joyride. The question is, how much of a rental
> > >fee would be acceptable for a company to offer such a business model?
> > >
> > >John AE5X
> > >https://ae5x.blogspot.com
> > >
> >
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>
> --
> --Eric
> _________________________________________
> Eric Garner
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