By Shilpa Raina
New Delhi, Sep 30 (IANS) Can't afford a luxury bag or a pair of branded skinny jeans? Just rent it or buy it in instalments!
Thanks to new options in the market, some highly priced items that seemed like a distant dream to many Indians are now within reach.
"There are so many women who always wanted to carry a luxury bag or clutch at a party or a meeting but couldn't afford it. Our service gives them the opportunity to own one and match it with their attire," said Cooki Singh, co-founder of online bag rental service www.bag4aday.com.
"The whole idea of this concept is to make luxury bags affordable to bag lovers," she said.
The online portal has as many as 24 bags of international brands Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Fendi, Jimmy Choo, Dolce and Gabbana and Just Cavalli and are planning to add more numbers and new brands also.
To borrow a bag you have to take membership and then you can avail yourself of its services.
"We have to be very careful about our members and so make it a point to screen their backgrounds very well. We are very selective about our clients and so we don't make anyone our member till we have small details about them like residential copy, verification id proof," Singh told IANS.
"Also, we make it a point that we deliver the bag to our member because it's important for us to maintain their confidentiality," she added.
If you have the required documents, then you can opt for a one-year membership for just Rs.7,000 and hire a designer bag for Rs.800 for a night. If you want it for three nights, then you just have to pay Rs.1,400.
In the market, these bags or clutches are priced anywhere between Rs.50,000 and Rs.1 million. The service currently operates mainly in the national capital region and is cashing on Delhi's women who love to party.
"Delhi was the perfect city to launch our brand because people here are very brand conscious, are flashy and love to show off," Singh explained.
"It's not that the women of Delhi can't afford these luxury bags, but they too get bored of carrying the same bag again and again. So this gives them a good and easy option to choose from," she added.
For 22-year-old Nandita Arora (name changed), this service is a boon.
"I always wanted to flaunt a Burberry clutch but couldn't afford it. Now if I have to attend a meeting with a client, this service comes in very handy because matching the right bag with the outfit does make a difference," said Arora, a PR executive with a multinational firm.
"It's a boon for all those girls who want to flaunt the branded bag. The concept is fantastic," she added.
It's not just luxury bags, you can even get a pair of Levi's jeans or any of their other items on EMI (Equated Monthly Instalments).
"Not everyone can afford a jeans of Rs.2,000; so this scheme allows them to own one branded pair of jeans. There are no hidden charges in the EMI as once you pay from your credit card, the bill will be automatically divided into EMIs," Ashu Mehta, store manager of Levi's store in plush Khan market, told IANS.
"The only catch is that the minimum price of the item should be Rs.1,500," he added.
While the Levi's range goes way up to Rs.5,000, one needs an HDFC Bank credit card.
"Right now we have tied up only with HDFC Bank and we are planning to tie up with other banks very soon as many customers are not able to avail themselves of this service because they don't have this card," Mehta explained.
The concept has sure caught on among the young generation that loves to flaunt the label of their branded jeans.
Sandeep Bhatia, 20, is planning to buy a pair of jeans on EMI.
"It is something that we had never thought of - a branded jeans on EMI! It's like shelling out Rs.500 every month rather than burning a hole in your pocket instantaneously," said Bhatia.