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拥有时尚新品的诀窍:租赁

级别: 管理员
In a Dizzying World,One Way to Keep Up:Renting Possessions

DVDs, Music and Handbags
Lose Thrill of Ownership;
'Buy It, Love It, Sell It'

Karl Marx thought private property needed to be abolished before society could perfect itself. Then again, he never saw Mark Rosa flip golf clubs.

The 45-year-old high-school teacher from Antlers, Okla., used to buy new clubs every 10 years or so. Thanks to a program set up by Callaway Golf Co., he now upgrades virtually every year. Mr. Rosa buys his new gear online, which Callaway ships by mail. He sends back the old clubs in the same box, typically getting a trade-in price of about $300 for a set that originally cost $500.

"I play with a guy at a local club -- he's 70 years old, and he's still playing on a 1950s set" of golf clubs, says Mr. Rosa. "There are people like me, the newer generation, who trade up technology, looking for an edge."

All over the consumer marketplace, people who used to buy things for keeps are renting, flipping, or instantly upgrading. These shoppers care less about whether things are truly theirs and more about whether they can get the latest and best. Whereas once they could only shop this way in niche areas such as car leases, now they can also try handbags, consumer electronics, movies and music.

The best-known model is Netflix Inc. Since it started in 1999, the Los Gatos, Calif., company has signed up more than 3.5 million subscribers who typically pay $18 a month to rent DVD movies that are sent to them in the mail. Users send them back in pre-paid envelopes.

In recent years, companies like Jiggerbug and GameFly have taken the Netflix approach to audio books and videogames. RealNetworks Inc. rents access to music online. Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc.'s fastest-growing business isn't books or CD-ROMs, but selling access to its encyclopedia online, for a fee. Customers "don't think about owning that kind of product in perpetuity anymore," says Patti Ginnis, a Britannica marketing executive.

Technology both creates and satisfies this desire. Hot products are now rendered obsolete or unfashionable at a dizzying rate. At the same time, the Internet has created a huge and efficient market for ordering new goods and selling them fast on sites such as eBay.


Paul Archambault, a Waterford, N.Y., computer programmer, buys and sells on eBay the way some people check out books from the library. At 3 a.m. one recent morning, on his way to the Albany airport, Mr. Archambault popped into a Wal-Mart and paid nearly $200 for a Nintendo DS videogame console and two games to keep him busy on a trip to Des Moines, Iowa.

While waiting to board his flight, Mr. Archambault photographed the device, which was still in its box, and sent the images to an eBay auction from his laptop through the terminal's wireless connection. His ad mentioned that he planned to use the game for just the weekend. The auction closed the day after Mr. Archambault returned and fetched slightly more than the $200 he paid.

"I love to have the latest and greatest," he explains.

Several years ago, eBay Inc. of San Jose, Calif., began sending emails to users suggesting a price at which the item they just acquired might be resold. The response was strong from people wanting to flip cellphones, iPods, PCs and sporting equipment, says Michael Dearing, senior vice president and general merchandise manager at eBay. "The duration for which [those items are] considered good or leading or appealing is getting shorter and shorter over time," he says. To encourage these new virtual renters, eBay has begun using the slogan: "Buy It, Love It, Sell It."

David Wasmund, an office manager in Sterling Heights, Mich., recently sold one type of iPod on eBay so he could buy another, newer model. He's used the same tactic to flip cellphones. He says the resale price is typically 25% to 30% below what he paid if he unloads the product within a year. "I know even if I buy something and I don't like it, I can turn around and put it on" eBay, he says.

Matt Morgan has stopped buying music altogether. A 29-year-old recruiter in San Francisco, he rents music through RealNetwork's Rhapsody service for $10 a month, which gives him unlimited access to more than a million music tracks. The catch: If he stops paying, he won't be able to listen to the music. Mr. Morgan says he "can't remember the last time I went into a store and bought a CD."

Nicole Mazzola Ferrer, a 30-year-old project manager for a Kirkland, Wash., technology company, pays $50 a month to rent handbags from a Web service called Bag Borrow or Steal. One at a time, she checks out bags that sell for up to $500 in retail stores. Ms. Mazzola Ferrer uses a bag anywhere from a few days to a month, before mailing it back in exchange for a fresh one if the novelty fades or a special occasion arises.

One hitch: Some women might be reluctant to borrow used bags. Adam Dell, a venture capitalist in New York, who invested in Bag Borrow or Steal, says all the company's bags are delivered in excellent condition, after being inspected and cleaned. Mr. Dell compares the process to certified pre-owned vehicle programs.

Carrying a used bag doesn't bother Ms. Mazzola Ferrer, who figures she used to spend more than $100 a month buying handbags she would "get sick" of quickly. By renting, she can carry around nicer bags than she could afford at retail. And, she says, "my husband appreciates that half the closet isn't consumed by handbags."
拥有时尚新品的诀窍:租赁

卡尔?马克思(Karl Marx)认为,只有首先废除私有制,社会才可能实现自我完善。那他一定从来没有见过马克?罗沙(Mark Rosa)是如何更新换代他的高尔夫球球杆的。

过去,这位来自俄克拉荷马州安特勒斯的45岁中学教师每隔10年左右才买一次新推出的高尔夫球球杆。幸亏有了Callaway Golf Co.设立的一个项目,现在他实际上每年都在更换高尔夫球球杆。罗沙先生在网上购买他的新装备,由Callaway邮递给他。然后,他把旧球杆放在同样的纸箱里送回Callaway,这样,通常一套原价500美元的球杆,他只以大约300美元的价格就能买到。

“我和当地俱乐部的一个家伙一起打高尔夫球,他都70岁了,可是他仍然在用50年代的一套球杆,”罗沙说。“有些人就像我一样,他们是较年轻的一代,熟悉科技,总希望走在最前面。”

在整个消费市场上,那些过去买来东西就永远用下去的人们正在采取租赁、翻新或是随时更新换代的消费方式。这些购物者不怎么介意东西是不是真正属于自己,反倒更关心他们能不能得到最新和最好的产品。尽管过去他们只能在诸如汽车租赁等特殊领域以这样的方式消费,但如今这种方式也被用到了手袋、消费电子产品、电影和音乐等商品上。

最著名的模式来自于Netflix Inc.。自1999年成立以来,这家位于加利福尼亚州洛杉矶的公司已经拥有超过350万用户,这些用户通常每月只需支付18美元,就能租看Netflix邮寄给他们的DVD电影。用户看完后,再把DVD装在预付费的信封里寄回到Netflix。

近年来,像Jiggerbug和GameFly这样的公司已经纷纷采取 Netflix的模式,出租有声书籍和视频游戏。RealNetworks Inc.出租网上音乐。Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc.增长最快的业务并不是书籍或CD-ROM,而是以一定的费用出售其网上百科全书的访问权。用户“不再想永远拥有那种产品,”Britannica的营销主管帕蒂?吉尼斯(Patti Ginnis)说。

科技不但制造了而且满足了这种需求。热门产品淘汰、过时速度令人晕眩。与此同时,互联网已经创造出一个庞大而高效的市场,在eBay等网站上用户可以快速买卖新产品。

来自纽约州沃特福德的电脑程序员保罗?阿尔尚博(Paul Archambault)像一些人从图书馆借书那样在eBay上买卖商品。最近一天的凌晨3点,在去阿尔巴尼机场的途中,阿尔尚博钻进了一家沃尔玛(Wal-Mart)商店,花了近200美元买了一个任天堂DS视频游戏机和两个游戏,以供自己在飞往艾奥瓦州迪莫伊的途中消遣。

在候机的时候,阿尔尚博给仍放在箱子里面的游戏机拍了照,然后通过笔记本电脑和机场的无线连接把图像发送到了eBay上进行拍卖。他的广告提到,这些游戏他只打算玩一个周末。拍卖在阿尔尚博返回后的一天结束,他得到了200多美元,比他花费的还要略多一点。

“我喜欢追求最新和最好的,”他解释道。

几年前,eBay Inc.开始向用户发送电子邮件,为他们刚刚购买的商品在再出售时可能的价格提供建议。那些希望更换手机、iPod、个人电脑和运动装备的用户反响强烈。“那些被认为很好、领先或者具有吸引力的商品很快就失去了魅力,而且这一过程正变得越来越短,”他说。为了鼓励这些实际意义上的租户,eBay已经开始使用这样的口号:“买它,爱它,再卖掉它。”

来自密歇根州史德林高地的办公室经理戴维?沃斯蒙德(David Wasmund)最近在eBay上卖出了一款iPod,以便他能够再购买另外一部新款iPod。他用同样的办法对手机进行了更新换代。他说,如果他在购买后的一年内卖掉商品,再售价格通常要比他的购买价格低25%-30%。“我知道,即便我买了什么不喜欢的东西,我也能转过身把它放到eBay上卖掉,”他说。

来自旧金山的麦特?摩根(Matt Morgan)已经完全不再购买音乐CD了。这位29岁的招聘人员每月支付10美元,通过RealNetwork的Rhapsody服务租听音乐,这使他能够无限制地听到100多万首音乐。问题是:如果他停止付费,他就不能再听音乐了。摩根说,他都不记得自己上一次去商店买CD是什么时候的事情了。

妮科尔?马佐拉?费热(Nicole Mazzola Ferrer)今年30岁,是华盛顿州柯克兰一家科技公司的项目经理。她每月支付50美元,从一个名为Bag Borrow or Steal的网站上租用手袋。她每次可以租一个零售商店里卖到500美元的手袋。马佐拉?费热一个手袋只用几天到一个月,如果新鲜感减退或者碰上特殊场合,她就把它寄回,换取另一个新款式。

这里存在一个障碍:有些女性可能不愿租借用过的手袋。投资Bag Borrow or Steal的纽约风险资本家亚当?戴尔(Adam Dell)称,公司的所有手袋都保养得特别好,全部经过检查和清洁。戴尔把这个过程比作认证二手车(certified pre-owned vehicle)项目。

马佐拉?费热并不介意拎著一个用过的手袋,她表示,她过去曾一个月破费100多美元购买手袋,但很快就厌烦了。通过租用,她可以用上超出她购买能力的更好的手袋。而且,她说,“我的丈夫非常感激我没有将半个衣橱堆满手袋。”
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