Seems like a lot of the gear manufacturers offer this in the form of a satisfaction guarantee. Buy it, have a look at it, very gently use it (that being the draw back) and return it if you dont like it within a week or two of purchase.
Seems like a lot of the gear manufacturers offer this in the form of a satisfaction guarantee. Buy it, have a look at it, very gently use it (that being the draw back) and return it if you dont like it within a week or two of purchase.
Here's what I was thinking might work. Or not.
Have something like a "Gear Swap" section on the forum. For example, I have a Bear Mtn. Bridge hammock and would really like to try out the Blackbird hammock. Will swap the BMBH for a blackbird. I actually would like to do this BTW.This is for testing purposes only. Of course if you both like your Christmas present better, then keep it.
Now we come to the PITA part........how do you go about doing it without geting
sc$%*#d????
"Every day above ground is a good day"
Many have said they like the idea but trust is the issue. How is it different from a sale? You still have to trust both parties to do the right thing. Each person has to decide for themselves if you want to do the deal. At the end of the day there is no "real" protection for a sale gone bad, especially if PayPal isn't used other than community peer pressure should the wronged party publiclly call out the offending party. Am I missing something here?
I don't tend to lend gear unless I'm around when it's used, or it's a very good friend that I know how they take care of gear. While I'm not putting my life on the line with hammock gear, I still like to know how it's been stored, used, stressed or not. That is a lot of trust to put into relative strangers. Simple things like knowing not to get into a hammock with keys sticking out of your pocket, no prolonged uv exposure, etc. Things that wouldn't be obvious by just looking at the gear. I also consider those things when I borrow gear, if I do. And also when I buy used gear.
Bad spellers of the world Untie!
I can really relate to this. My hammocks are something I depend on, and my gear cannot fail when I am on an extended trip. If it has been abused through too much UV and rips, I am had. I have not had good experience loaning things. I loaned someone some waterproof bags, tent, sleeping bags and pads to take to a party so they could camp, the stuff got put into someone else's car and never got returned. I lost $1,000 worth of stuff. There was just a simple apology with no effort to pay me for the loss. I also loaned my chain saw to a friend and it came back looking like he had cut sheet metal with it. Turned out he did cut some fence wire with it. Again, no effort to make it right.Originally Posted by Shadowmoss
I might loan out some DIY stuff if it was not valuable to me for when I go out on trips, otherwise, based on experience, I would be hesitant.
“Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”
― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
great idea but in all honesty its opening a can of worms. if something like an underquilt gets loaned out and its an expensive one the collateral on that or any other item should be a credit card # to be able to replace that specific item, but in this day and age with identity theft no ones getting mine unless I'm buying something . 100% trust today is hard to find its hard between families, friends,neighbors let alone strangers. good luck with it though.
It's an interesting concept but there are serious issues when loaning is extended to unknowns. No offense but I don't 'trust' people because they post on the same forum as I do. I've seen other deals go way south even between members that have years invested in a community. Even with a collateral system what is to prevent that one bad apple from looking at the collateral as an acceptable discount on the gear in question? Ever tried to recover property by law from a party in another state?
I'm willing to take some risk with people but some of this gear is in excess of $300 and that starts getting quite risky especially if the program is open to relatively new people (who are most likely to need/want to borrow). I also agree that even your best friend can be a real piece of work when it comes to how they treat borrowed tools/gear.
I lent my family dome tent to my brother-in-law for a camping trip he was taking. Always had a good relationship with him and he seemed like a stand up guy. The trip came and went and I asked about getting the tent back. It took several weeks to finally get back tom me. When I finally did get it back it had been stored wet and reeked of mildew when I opened it up. As above, nothing much more than an apology was offered.
Well, the risk shifts parties. Not different really, just different in WHO is taking the most risk.
One is more risky to the buyer.... you send money and maybe don't get gear.
One is more risky to the loaner.... you send item and never get it back.
Recourse to recover money that has a hard paper trail (checks, MO, CC transactions) is going to be far more practical (even as difficult as it is) than trying to retrieve property loaned on the say-so of internet posts and emails.
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