I was surfing the net the other day, and came across an article that left me flabbergasted. As you all likely know by now, I am a designer handbag fanatic. There have been months where I have seriously considered bouncing my rent check in order to buy a purse I simply could not do without. Who am I kidding? I have bounced my rent to buy a new handbag! And I would likely do it again.

Well, it appears that my dilemma has come to an end. I was surfing the net the other day, and came across an interesting article. It was about the burgeoning industry of designer handbag rentals! Now I have heard of luxury car rentals and even designer wedding dress rentals, but I never imagined a day when I could rent the latest Chanel purse. Can you picture yourself going into Blockbuster Handbags and renting the purse you have been saving your money for? I know I can!

There is a company called Bag Borrow or Steal that, as far as I can tell, is the first of a kind. They have a wonderful website, and a business model like no other. It is very similar to Netflix or something to that effect, but you rent handbags instead of the latest DVD. Somewhat similar to renting videos, you pay annual subscription fee and you are given access to a collection of beautiful handbags to use on a temporary basis. The type of bag you are allowed to borrow is determined by your membership level. Memberships range from $19.95 to $174.95 per year. You can keep the bag for as long as you like, but it must remain in the condition you received it in. I wonder if they have an insurance plan.

After doing some research, I discovered another company that is offering something similar. They are called From Bags to Riches, and their service are slight different from the company mentioned above. Instead of charging an annual membership fee, this company allows you to rent on a weekly or monthly basis. The price of the rental is determined by the duration and type of bag you want to rent. This site organizes their collections by brand name, and monthly rentals range from $$19.90 to $79.80. They also offer their customers the option to purchase their rented purse, if they cannot bring themselves to return it. They know me so well, don’t they?