Rent instead of buy
Leasing industry in Germany is growing
Dieter Schimanski from the company «Bee-Rent» transports boxes with rented bees in his garden. Photo: Carmen Jaspersen / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
There are leasing offers in a wide variety of industries. Temporary leasing instead of buying – that seems to be the trend, especially among young people. Consumer advocates warn of underestimated costs.
From works of art to wardrobes to entire colonies of bees: leasing offers now go far beyond classic car leasing.
“Today, for lifestyle and sustainability reasons, people want to be able to choose a subscription model from, ideally, all industries,” says Daniel Ishikawa, Managing Director of Lyght Living Furniture Leasing from Rodgau in Hesse. This is especially true for younger people. Ishikawa’s company specializes in the rental of furniture and electrical goods for the home and office.
According to Ishikawa, the corona pandemic also has an impact on the needs of consumers and companies. «Corona has made life even more difficult to plan. Many customers no longer want to be committed to things in the long term, ”he says.
You can also rent bees
Sometimes, however, customers don’t want to part anymore, according to Dieter Schimanski, owner of Bee-Rent from Ganderkesee in Lower Saxony, who has been renting out entire bee colonies on a temporary basis since 2015. Once the joy of beekeeping has been awakened, very few would want to stop. “This is why very few customers give their bees back,” says the beekeeper. His customers mainly include companies that use honey for advertising purposes. In addition, the honey collection regularly becomes a company event for company employees, says Schimanski.
According to the Federal Association of German Leasing Companies (BDL), the popularity of rental models has been growing for some time. “New business has grown steadily in the last few years up to the pandemic and reached a record level in 2019,” reports BDL General Manager Claudia Conen. In 2019, new contracts for assets with a purchase value of EUR 76.9 billion (previous year: EUR 69.1 billion) were concluded. Despite the various new offers, cars and commercial vehicles in particular are still in demand: with 79 percent, they are clearly the largest property group.
Like other industries, the leasing industry has not been spared the Corona crisis. In the 2020 pandemic, new business reportedly fell by 8.6 percent. In the first half of 2021, however, the industry recorded a strong recovery and catch-up effect, says the association spokeswoman: New business grew by 8.3 percent compared to the same period in the previous year.
Temporary works of art for your home
The owner of the Karlsruhe art rental company Contemp-Rent, Yvonne Hohner, noticed an increased interest, at least among private customers, during the pandemic. In the pandemic, many people increasingly attached importance to a beautiful home. “Finding the right picture, however, takes time.” Customers could take the paintings and sculptures home on a trial basis as part of leasing. That takes away the fear of wrong decisions for many private customers, she says.
The consumer advice center Rhineland-Palatinate warns against underestimating the costs of leasing objects. The acquisition costs of items such as laptops or cell phones often seemed very high, says Maximilian Heitkämper from the Rhineland-Palatinate consumer center. Many products are still cheaper when bought directly than the total costs of a leasing contract that extends over several months.
In addition, in the case of a leasing contract, the maintenance of the loan item is the responsibility of the customer. “If the object breaks, you have to stand up for it,” he says. Due to any repair costs that may arise, leasing could therefore end up being significantly more expensive than a direct purchase.