Consumers turning to renting items instead of buying

ISTANBUL

As rampant inflation eats into people’s purchasing power, more and more consumers are turning to rent items they need instead of buying them.

This trend has become popular among consumers in many countries and Türkiye is no exception.

The size of global consumer rental market was around $2 trillion in 2023.

Turkish consumers mostly rent white goods, electronics products, smart phones, computers, furniture, cars and even clothes on a daily or monthly basis.

The cost of renting a laptop is 150 Turkish Liras ($4.40) per day or 2,000 liras ($59) per month. The cost is 50 liras and 500 liras for smartphones.

Consumers pay a daily and monthly rent of 100 liras and 1,200 liras for white goods. Renting furniture costs 200 liras daily and 1,000 liras monthly.

The cost of renting clothes is 500 liras per day and 5,000 liras per month. For small cars it is 5,000 liras monthly and 9,000 liras for luxury cars.

“Fluctuations in the economy and eroding purchasing power are the main reasons that give a boost to rental market,” said Sinan Ventura, from Kiralabunu, an online platform for rental items.

The rental market in the world grows by 12 percent annually but its expansion rate is more than 80 percent in Türkiye, according to Ventura.

The annual consumer inflation rate was 61.78 percent in July with prices rising 3.2 percent monthly.

Tech-savvy consumers with tight budgets prefer renting instead of buying upgraded products, he said.

“The most popular rental items for those people are smart phones, computers, tablets and other consumer electronics goods. Those items account for nearly 60 percent of the rental market.” He added.

Some consumers prefer renting items over outright buying them because they think it is environmentally friendlier, according to Ventura.