Renting furniture? How these companies are redefining lives of bachelors in metros

When I moved to Mumbai nearly four years ago, I chose a 'fully furnished' flat. It was convenient and pocket friendly. 

Unfortunately, as all goods things come to an end, so did my association with this house two years later. This time I shifted in an unfurnished flat. 

As there was no furniture -- not even a bed to sleep on -- I thought of renting one. 

"My main reason to take it on rent was that because I don't need to worry about selling the bed while leaving the city, which would be the case if I had bought a second hand bed," said Pooja Jain, a media professional. 

"Also, if I move out of the city or change flat, there will be no "fight" with the roommate on who will take the bed, which would again be the case if I had gone for buying a second hand one," she added. 

Within a month, Jain rented a fridge and a TV with the same startup. 

"All the products were in my budget and I don't have to worry about cleaning or repairing them. All the services is provided by the company for free on time to time basis," she said.  

Speaking with Zeebiz, Ajith Karimpana, CEO and Founder, Furlenco, said, "For the past two years, the demand for rental furniture has picked up exponentially. Our sales has increased sixty times. And it is not just a Bangalore phenomenon as we have launched operations in five cities pan India." And the demand for it is increasing on a day to day basis. 

Furlenco is not the only startup that is offering furniture and electronics like TV, fridge on rent. Rentmojo, with its operations in eight cities including Mumbai and New Delhi is a fierce competition. 

How does it work? 

These companies generally offer their products as standalone or in a package. 

For example, a bedroom package at Rentmojo would get one a double bed, mattress, wardrobe, bedside table and a dresser for as low as Rs 1155 per month in Mumbai. 

A "reading corner" package, for Rs 508 a month would get one a futon and a book shelf. 

"People in between the age of 25 to 35 are our prime audience. We have special offers running every month and our customers are constantly using the referral program we have which gives the holder of the code and the user of the code month off, it has dual benefit for Furlenco and our customers," Karimpana added.