StyleLend

StyleLend Review:

StyleLend helps you rent out the designer fashion in your closet to other fashionistas. The site does not set the pricing — you do. But it suggests that you list your fashion for rent at a price that’s equivalent to 5% to 10% of the item’s retail purchase price.

Rent your clothes

The site charges renters for shipping and insurance, promising to pay you up to $50 to repair items damaged by a renter. If an item is destroyed, the site’s coverage provides reimbursement based on the depreciated value of the item. You get paid once the rental is complete.

We are not wild about the opportunity for a number of reasons.

Membership has its costs

First, you cannot register without giving the site access to your account at a third-party social media platform, such as Facebook, which presents a litany of privacy concerns.

Secondly, to rent out your clothing, you have to become a StyleLend “member.” Membership costs $7.95 per month.

For that, you get the right to list your clothing. But the odds that you’ll rent something out are relatively slim. Why? You have to find the one buyer in a (incalculably large number) that happens to be your size; like your style and need your dress.

If StyleLend was like eBay and got millions of page views each month, that might be possible or likely. But the site doesn’t get enough traffic to even merit a traffic rating from Similar Web.  Thus, the only sure thing here is the fee.

Break-even

But let’s say that you are able to find renters on this site. At StyleLend’s suggested rate, you’d have to rent your item 12 to 24 times to recover the cost of the clothing after paying site commissions.

That’s a lot of rentals — and a lot of wear on your designer fashions. You also can’t expect that a renter is going to take meticulous care of your clothing, so you may not like the clothing when you get it back.

Recommendations

If you’re not wearing your designer clothing, why not sell it? If you do want the clothing, you’re taking a chance that it’s going to be ruined. Neither sounds like a great choice.

If you’re not wearing the designer fashions in your closet, it may make more sense to sell them than to rent them out. Good sites to sell used clothing: Amazon, eBay and Poshmark.

What their users say:

Rent to your heart’s delight, but I’d cautiously consider sending your clothes to be rented out. They don’t inspect and care for your clothes as they say they do.

I have two gowns that were not cleaned and one required alterations after a rental. It’s been a month since I reached out and asked for reimbursement for altering the hem [of one gown] because of a stain. Per their policy, they claim to replace any piece that is beyond repair for the full retail value. I’ve only asked for the tailor fee. No response.