Whether you’re in the middle of your rental furniture search or you’ve just begun, knowing how the furniture rental furniture process works can help give you an idea of what to expect when you hop onto a provider’s website to place your order.
The furniture rental process actually starts long before you ever search for temporary furnishings for your home. There are some steps to take leading up to and after ordering your rental furniture that you should take to have the best rental experience.
At Furniture Options, we’ve helped thousands of clients through the rental furniture process. One question we’ve been asked often over our 35 years in the industry by potential customers before they order is what to expect when they’re ready to rent their furnishings.
We’ll go through each of the 5 steps in the furniture rental process to get you ready to start renting furniture:
- Figure out what furnishings your home needs
- Find the best furniture provider
- Order your rental furniture
- Choose the Right Delivery Service
- Prepare for Your Furniture Pick Up
1. Figure Out What Furnishings Your Home Needs
When searching for furniture, there are a number of questions you might ask yourself before making a decision on what furniture to rent:
How much can I afford to spend on my furniture?
Furniture renters receive their furnishings for as long as they need and make monthly payments until their lease ends. This gives renters added flexibility, but can cost more than buying the furniture outright if they rent for a longer period of time.
Rental furniture can cost anywhere from a few bucks a month for a smaller piece, to several hundreds of dollars to furnish a whole home. Selecting your furniture individually instead of in a package can increase your costs if you select too many pieces.
Be sure to understand how much you can afford to spend before going shopping to help make sure your rental goes smoothly.
Do I want to choose all of my furniture or should I get a pre-selected package?
A furniture package offers shoppers the same pieces, but at a discounted price, so if you need to furnish a whole room or home, you could be better off renting a collection instead of individual pieces.
The downside to renting a package, is you most likely will not be able to choose the pieces included in your collection. If you want to pick each furnishing for your space, you may need to rent each piece individually.
Do I need just a few pieces, a room set, or furnishings for my whole home?
Understanding which pieces you need to furnish your home is the first step in renting you furniture.
Once you know what furnishings you want and if you need just a few pieces or enough for your whole home, you’re ready to search for the perfect rental furniture provider that fits your needs.
2. Find A Furniture Rental Provider
Finding the best rental furniture provider can be tricky, as there are numerous options for shoppers to choose from.
There are some criteria, however, that can help customers filter out companies that may not be the best fit for their needs. To help yourself find the right furniture provider, ask yourself these questions:
Does the company offer individual furnishings, furniture packages, or both?
Once you’ve figured out if you need individual pieces or a furniture collection, finding a company that offers that is your next step.
Some companies work exclusively in individual rental furnishings and some only rent furniture packages. Depending on your needs, it’s important to find a company that offers the furnishings you need, otherwise you could wind up paying more for the same furniture or receive furniture you don’t need.
Is the company rent-to-rent or rent-to-own?
As discussed earlier, renting-to-rent and renting-to-own are two completely different systems of furniture rental, and many furniture rental companies work exclusively with one type or the other.
If you need temporary furnishings, working with a rent-to-rent company could be a great choice for you.
If your furniture needs are more permanent, a rent-to-own company or furniture retailer will most likely be the best fit for you.
Does the rental provider have a location near me?
While this may not be the first factor to come to mind when selecting your furnishings since there are several national furniture renters out there, but finding a local provider can help your furniture costs down.
Most furniture companies charge a delivery fee to transport your furnishings to you, and this fee typically increases if you’re located outside the provider’s normal service area.
Finding a rental furniture provider near you can keep those delivery fees down so you don’t pay more than you have to for your furniture delivery.
3. Order Your Rental Furniture
Once you’ve figured out which furnishings you need and found the right furniture provider, you’re ready to place your rental order on their website.
This system is a little different across all furniture rental companies, but the core ordering process is nearly identical across the industry.
When ordering your rental furniture, you can expect to:
Select your furniture or furniture package on the rental provider’s website
When you’ve selected your furniture rental provider, it’s time to go onto their website and choose the furnishings that best fit your style. Since you’ve already identified what furniture your home needs, you should have a list of what types of furniture you need. Now all you have to do is find your favorites!
Choose any additional furnishings, linens, or electronics you’d like to add to your order
Most rental furniture companies offer additional accessories on top of their furniture products. These accessories can included:
- Furniture for unique needs (like cribs, rocking chairs, sofa sleepers, etc.)
- Bedroom and bathroom linens
- Housewares (cookware, silverware, and more)
- Electronics (Televisions, Blu-Ray Players)
- Appliances (Microwaves, Washer/Dryer, etc.)
- Decorations
If you want or need any additional pieces for your home, rental companies can often provide all the furnishings you need to complete your space.
Give your contact and delivery information
Once you’ve selected the furniture and accessories you’d like to rent, your rental furniture provider will then ask for information about you to complete your order.
This information may consist of:
- First and Last Name
- Email Address
- Phone Number
- Delivery Address
- Billing Address
- Social Security Number
- Occupation (Some furniture renters offer discounts to military and first responders!)
The information provided in your order form is used to ensure the rental furniture company has the right contact info to ensure your delivery goes smooth, as well as to be used for a credit check, which usually takes just a few seconds to a couple minutes.
All of your personal information is secured within an encrypted connection and your sensitive information (like your social security number) is never stored or seen by the furniture rental provider.
Receive a confirmation of your order letting you know if your credit check was approved, denied, or if the company will contact you for more information.
When you submit your order and your credit check is cleared, the furniture rental company may contact you to set up payment information or their website will automatically move you to submit your payment information online.
If there are any discrepancies that may require more information to approve your credit check, the rental furniture company may contact you to clarify the information and get your order underway.
Receive your furniture on the delivery date if you passed the credit check
Once your payment info has been confirmed, you can expect to receive your furniture delivery on the date you confirmed with your rental provider. Some rental furniture companies can deliver your furniture as soon as the next day, helping to make your rental order a quick and easy process from start to finish.
If the furniture renter is unable to deliver on the date you requested, they will contact you to discuss the next best alternative date.
4. Choose the Right Delivery Service
After your order has been placed, there’s nothing to do but wait for the delivery date you set to arrive. Once that day comes around, though, there are different levels of service you can expect depending on the furniture provider and delivery service selected.
These levels include:
Basic Delivery
If you’re good with an allen wrench, this service level could be right for you!
Just as it sounds, the basic delivery service includes only the delivery of your furniture. With this service, the furniture provider will place the furnishings in the place you request, but any assembly or installation of your furniture or electronics is left up to you.
If you chose rent-to-rent furnishings, you’ll either be required to pay a separate return fee under a basic delivery service or you’ll be responsible to return the furnishings themselves. Returning the furnishings yourself may not be an option, however, as some rental providers require you to have their team pick up your return furnishings.
Basic Delivery and Pick Up
The basic delivery and pick up service is identical to the basic delivery option, with the added benefit of pick up costs included in the price. When using this delivery service, you will still be required to do all the assembly and installation of your furnishings yourself.
White Glove Delivery
The perfect option if you When you receive a White Glove delivery service from your rental furniture provider, your furniture will not only be delivered to your home, but the delivery team will also take care of any furniture assembly that needs to be done, as well as installation of any electronics and linens you may have ordered alongside your furniture.
Similar to the basic delivery service, the White Glove delivery does not include the pick up of your furnishings following the end of your lease, so the return of your furniture will either fall to you, or you’ll be required to pay a return fee.
White Glove Delivery and Pick Up
The perfect option if you don’t want to lift a finger!
Just as the Basic Delivery and Pick Up package is nearly identical to the Basic Delivery service, White Glove Delivery and Pick Up is the same as the White Glove Delivery option with the added benefit of your furniture pick up included in the fee.
Depending on the provider, you may have the option to choose your delivery service or your provider may only offer one service option. Be sure to ask your furniture rental company if assembly and pick up are included in your delivery fee to avoid any unwanted surprises later on.
5. Prepare for Your Furniture Pick Up
Now that you’ve enjoyed your rental furnishings, it’s time to send your furniture back to your rental company. As mentioned before, depending on the delivery options provided by your furniture rental provider, your furniture pick up could be covered in your delivery fee, so all you have to do is let the furniture moving team into your home to retrieve your furnishings.
You don’t even have to be home for your furniture team to retrieve your rental furniture. If you’re no longer in the home at the time of pick up or will be away at the quoted time, a spare key or a call to the property management office is all you’ll need to allow the furniture movers to return the furnishings.
If your delivery service was a basic delivery service, you may be required to disassemble any furnishings that can disassembled and you may be asked to repackage any linens that were provided in your rental before the furniture moving team arrives at the end of your lease.
If you choose to rent your furnishings from a rent-to-own company, you don’t have to worry about the rental pick up. Your furnishings are yours to keep after your lease is up. Just kick back and enjoy your furniture!
Ready to Start the Furniture Rental Process?
Now that you know what steps to take for a successful furniture rental, you can get started on your rental order. Here’s a recap of what you should do to rent your furnishings the right way:
- Figure out what furnishings your home needs
- Find the best furniture provider
- Order your rental furniture
- Choose the right delivery service
- Prepare for your furniture pick up
Once you’ve noted what furnishings you need for your home or business, you may find Furniture Options is the right rental furniture provider for you. We offer whole-home rental furniture collections in Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas starting at $189 per month.
When shopping with us, you’ll also enjoy our white glove delivery and pick up service as soon as the day after your order is placed. Just let us in and we’ll take care of all transportation, assembly, and installation of your furnishings and electronics.
It only takes a few minutes to rent your furniture package and any additional housewares or electronics you may need. Once you place your order, you’ll set your delivery date and receive your temporary furnishings as soon as the next day!
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