Anyone who has a kid at home knows how “useless” it is buy a toy - most of time the toy becomes useless from the next day it is bought home as the child quickly loses interest in the toy after the initial exploration. Now starts the trouble for parents  - first the toy is so expensive, next no one uses it and thirdly there is no space to keep it!

Here is the answer in form of online toy library - rentoys.in where one can rent branded toys of choice instead of buying expensive stuff. While the concept of online rentals is not at all new - the freshness of idea is on the product that is being rented out - toys.

The website is a very well laid out with attractive toy theme. Here is the process - become a member by paying a refundable deposit, non-refundable membership fee and monthly rentals there on. There are three different packages to choose from (Rs. 199/- pm to Rs. 399/- pm). Post that, browse the toys catalogue, pick up one or more toys (based on your package) and order it online. The selected toy will get delivered at door step in 2-5 days.

Some things that I really liked:

1. Excellent User Interface.
2. Good categorization of toys based on age groups
3. You can rent for short periods as well instead of becoming a member and pay monthly rentals. This is very useful during vacation period for kids or when one kids of relatives visiting homes for holidays.
4. You can buy the toy you have taken on rent at probably much lesser price.
5. You get discount of 5-15% on new toys!

Overall simple concept, nicely executed. Now the bad news - as of now this is available only in Bangalore. Not sure if the founders want to extend to other cities.

Filed under: Startup