When on the hunt for furniture, renting your home furnishings is an often overlooked option for shoppers. It’s important for furniture shoppers to understand furniture rental, though, so they have the knowledge to choose the best furniture option for them.
But what is furniture rental?
For over three decades, Furniture Options has answered this question for furniture shoppers throughout the Midwest. We’ve also provided rental furnishings to thousands of customers in that time.
Over the years, the answer to this question has changed, so we want to give you the most up-to-date information on just what furniture rental is.
Furniture rental is the process of leasing home furnishings for a temporary period of time.
When you rent furniture for your home, you’ll usually pay a monthly fee for the use of the furniture. Depending on if your furniture is rent-to-rent or rent-to-own, you may be able to keep your furnishings after your lease is completed, although there are other differences to keep in mind when deciding whether to rent-to-rent, rent-to-own, or subscribe to a rental service.
Rent-to-rent is what you might think of as traditional renting. With this rental format, shoppers lease a product for a designated period of time, usually a few months to a few years depending on the item.
When choosing furniture that is rent-to-rent, you can select an individual piece or a collection of furniture. These furnishings can then be leased on a monthly basis for however long you need them.
At the end of your lease term, your rent-to-rent furniture will either be picked up by the rental company or you’ll need to return your rental furniture to the furniture provider. Some rent-to-rent providers will offer you the option to purchase the furniture after your lease is up, however.
When furnishing your home with rent-to-rent furniture, you’ll often have higher monthly payments than if you were to choose rent-to-own products, but you’ll have fewer payments and usually end up paying much less out of pocket for the temporary furnishings.
Furniture shoppers who need home furnishings for a temporary time or want to make monthly payments on furnishings with no long-term commitments could be the perfect fit for rent-to-rent furniture.
The second style of furniture rental is rent-to-own. When renting-to-own, customers will pay a monthly premium that goes towards the price of the furnishings.
How long you make payments can depend on how much your monthly payments are, how much the total price is, and if there are any special promotions your furniture provider offers you such as longer payment windows, reduced interest, or a discount on the total price. Shoppers can keep the furniture at their home as they make payments to the furniture provider, and once the furniture is completely paid off the customer then owns the furnishings outright.
Just like rent-to-rent furnishings, you have the option to rent individual pieces or whole furniture packages depending on your needs. Often with rent-to-own, however, you’ll be locked into making payments for a set amount of time, and won’t have the option to rent for only as long as you need the furnishings.
Rent-to-own customers generally will have lower payments than rent-to-rent customers. They also have the added benefit of keeping the furnishings once all payments have been made.
For those who need a more permanent furniture option, but would like to pay a smaller amount towards the furnishings each month, rent-to-own will typically be the better rental option.
Similar to rent-to-rent furnishings, furniture subscription services offer temporary furnishings for as long as you need with no long-term commitments.
When renting from a subscription service, you will often select your furnishings individually, but may be able to obtain a discount by renting a furniture collection instead. You’ll then provide the dates you’d like to rent the furnishings and book your rental furniture.
At the end of the lease, you’ll either need to send in your furnishings or the rental provider will return to pick up the furniture.
Some subscription services offer a membership to recurring customers. These memberships give long-term customers discounts and special promotions like a free upgrade or reduced delivery fee.
Subscribers who rent for more than 12 months at a time are eligible to become members and receive the discounts, but if your rental is for less than a year, you may wind up paying more with a subscription service than the other rental formats. Whether you choose rent-to-rent or rent-to-own for your temporary furnishings, there are several types of people who typically have the best experience when renting furniture.
The best way to learn about furniture rental is to visit a rental furniture company’s website. At Furniture Options, we’ve helped thousands of furniture shoppers over the last 35 years figure out if rental furniture is right for them.
Clients who’ve asked the question answered in this blog are usually interested in how much furniture rental costs and what hidden fees to be aware of when renting home furnishings. You can find the answer to both these questions and get your personal rental furniture price when you read our How Much Does Rental Furniture Cost? blog article.