It seems indeed that the DVD mail-order rental / subscription model pioneered by Netflix in the USA, and used all over Europe at companies such as VideoIsland or glowria is being copied in other industries! Bruno even has a discussion on how to extend the model into P2P with companies such as Peerflix and the like.
How does it work:
1) choose your favourite item in the list
2) receive your item by mail
3) when you are done using your item, send it back in the mail and get a new item...
Bag Borrow & Steal has launched this idea for handbags !
Engadget says the model should extend to gadgets: whenever you feel like using a new mobile phone, or new flat screen, or home robot, just rent it by mail ;) sure! cute idea.
Businesswise, it will be difficult to fly: who would want to rent a used item (I mean heavily used)? How do you manage complexity of installation (e.g. all the cables with Hi-Fi systems)? How do you predict demand? what about shipping costs? warehousing?
DVDs have that inherent beauty that the items are single-sized, small, light and fit in the mailbox. Moreover, consumers are used to renting videos, not necessarily all the other items...
Looks more like a joke to me, but I am very much willing to be proved wrong :)
And I haven't seen the official BagFlix blog yet...
