Try-before-you-buy model has business clucking

Customers can rent anything from houses and cars to handbags and toys, but what about a chicken?

It might not sound like a viable business idea, but Sydney-based business Rentachook has built an entire operation based on that very concept.

The business works on a try-before-you-buy model – customers buy a fully-equipped chook pen, along with hens, food and straw, and have up to six weeks to decide whether or not they’d like to keep chooks on a permanent basis.

If customers decide to return the chooks and coop, their deposit is returned. Longer trials are also an option if customers can’t make a decision within the six-week timeframe.

But as the business states on its website, “Once you have had the pleasure of a rich, gooey, fresh, homegrown egg, you won’t ever be satisfied with the bland, pasty, shop-bought offerings again!”

“We manufacturer and sell eco-friendly chicken coops as well as hens, certified organic feed and everything else chooks might need.”

Regardless of the category, many customers appreciate a try-before-you-buy option to fully assess their desire for a product, and clearly chooks are no different. What other lifestyle products would work well within this model?