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End-to-End Application: Music Instrument Rental App
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Basic information:Music&Arts/Guitar CenterSweetwaterRentMyInstrument.comFriendwithA.com
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In one sentence, what do they do?
(I.e. What service do they provide?)		Music & Arts is one of the largest and most trusted providers of musical instrument rentals and private music lessons in the U.S.Provides top-quality instruments from reputable brands, flexible rental terms, free repairs, and the option to purchase at a discounted price, all online.Website that allows users age 6+ to professional to easily rent a quality musical instrument online.At FriendWithA, we want to connect people with a safe, and trustworthy environment, in order to list and rent items and gear with each other.
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What features do their product/website have?• They have several delivery options: Pick up at 500+ retail stores, delivered to your home, or delivered to your school. • They have free exchanges: If the renter outgrows the instrument, changes to another instrument or it's time to upgrade past the beginner model, the renter can exchange their instrument for one of equal or greater value. • They have a Liability and Damage Waiver (LDW) at $10/month. • Available accessories list automatically comes up at checkout.• All instrument rentals are educator-approved, play-tested, and examined with Sweetwater's Band and Orchestra 40-point Inspection, making sure that every facet of the instrument is in perfect condition before you receive it. • Rental Protection Plan: If you tell Sweetwater you need a repair or replacement, you will get an exchanged instrument with return box and post shipped out immediately. • They have a 50% off trial for two months. • Their rental program is on a monthly basis. • They offer several ways of delivery: 1) Ship to home or business 2) Pick up at secure location (FedEx) 3) Pick up at partner music retail store.• Their rental process is very organized and easy - there is a 4 step tracker that encourages the user to complete the rental: step 1: choose instrument, 2) browse rental options (choose from beginner, intermediate, advanced/professional), 3) add accessories 4) checkout and start playing in 2-3 days. • They have size chart available for applicable instruments, which makes it easy for the user to determine which size suits them the best. • Their instruments are from manufacturers only that frequently collab with schools, so the quality is pretty predictable and controlled. • They have a one month free welcome offer. • Free to sign up and list your items. You're only charged a service fee after each successful rental. • 24/7 customer support. • Alows renters to rent and owners to rent out their gear. • Ratings and reviews encourage both parties to behave responsibly, For the owners/lenders: • Up to $125,000 instant property damage (insurance with InsureMyEquipment Insurance Services). • Up to $100,000 liability guarantee. • All renters are either vetted or they put down a security deposit. FriendwithA verifies ID of every user who books an insured rental unless they are willing to put in a security deposit amounting to 50% of the item value. • Renters sign liability waivers on tools and sports equipment. • You can choose delivery settings: Pick up only, delivery only, or offer both pickup and delivery. • The Lender Damage Protection provides coverage for FriendWithA lenders. • The program protects your property if anyone loses/steals or damages your gear - up to $10,000 USD - during a rental on FriendWithA. For the renters: • Can choose location,/city, browse the item they would like to rent. • Choose a rental period, pick and return time and book the item. • Has a referral program: When you invite friends to FriendWithA, you can earn $20 after their 1st successful transaction. Every friend you refer will also get $20 off their first transaction on FriendWithA. • FriendWithA partners with Stripe for secure financial services.
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Strengths:Music&Arts/Guitar CenterSweetwaterRentMyInstrument.comFriendwithA.com
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What advantages does the business have?• Music and Arts offers a 30 day trial program: If you don' love itt, return it for a refund, exchange or store credit. • Has in-store rental available which could be nice since the renter can touch and play the instrument first before placing a rental order. • Music & Arts is also a lessons provider and for users who would like to be plugged in with an instructor, this would be a seamless experience. • WIth 17 years in the industry, Music & Arts is one of the most trusted brands for musicians and it has the largest selection of name brand instruments. • They also partner with 20,000 schools and have curated school music supplies list. • Sweetwater has an enhanced premium rental fleet that gives you access to upgraded cases, bows, strings, and mouthpieces. • Sweetwater has a team of expert Rental Specialists providing real-world advice & guidance when purchasing gear. • They have strong relationships with vendors and manufacturers for exclusive products and deals. • Also, they have been a trusted retailer in the music industry for over 40 years. • They have an Instrument Protection Plan that will get the renter's instrument replaced in the case of loss or theft. The Instrument Protection Plan does not cover replacement of consumables like reeds, strings, lost brass and woodwind mouthpieces or ligatures. The Instrument Protection Plan does not cover cosmetic damage or damage inflicted to the instrument intentionally.• Has a guide for musical instrument skill level, which helps the renter know what type of instruments they should rent. • Users can upgrade to a higher level instrument. Maintenance and repairs are included
and RentMyInstrument.com will arrange free shipping and get your instrument back to you within a week. • Offers rent to own: All rental payments contribute to the ownership of your instrument. You acquire ownership after completing 36, 48, or 60 monthly rental payments, depending on your chosen plan. You'll see your exact rental payment terms at checkout. • There is also an early purchase option available: If you so choose, at anytime during your rental agreement, you may purchase your instrument early and save 50% off the remaining balance.The payoff amount will be calculated as the sum of the total amount of rental payments remaining to complete the ownership requirements of the Agreement, less 50%. • They also email you a YouTube playlist with beginner lessons with each order. If you need a teacher, they will send you recommendations on where to find one online or in person. • They have in-house repairs and maintenance available: Users simply have to fill out the Repair Authorization Form and send it back to us. They'll send you a Repair Authorization number and a printable UPS shipping label to ship the instrument back to us for repair. There are no shipping or repair charges when you utilize our Repair and Maintenance Coverage. • At the checkout, you can choose to add (pay for) additional accessories for your instrument - they have an available list of accessories to choose from. • Certain instruments have sound samples, which helps the renter determine the sound of the instrument before they choose to rent it.		• Can rent for a short term (per day). • Provide instant property coverage and liability guarantee. • Verify users before they are allowed to borrow gear (or make them place a security deposit). • Provide a very easy scheduling app to set availability. • Once the rental has completed, money will be available for withdrawal within just a few days. • If you need help choosing the price for your listing, they have tools to help find the best price. • Has a fee calculator for the owner to calculate the fees and their earnings on a rental of their item. • For the renter: During checkout, purchase damage protection to cover the renter in case of any accidental damage while using the equipment. This covers the renter for 100% of the damages minus a 10% deductible. • During the checkout process, FriendWithA reviews hundreds of factors to decide near instantly on the security deposit for your rental. 90% of renters rent with no or a very low deposit. 100% of security deposit is returned after you return the item. • You need to have insurance policies if you are loaning or borrowing items valued above $10,000.
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Weaknesses:Music&Arts/Guitar CenterSweetwaterRentMyInstrument.comFriendwithA.com
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What are some weaknesses?• Free shipping on "most" items and not all items. • The shortest rental period available is a month. • While they have a readily available list of accessories to go with the rental at checkout, the accessories are already pre-selected and are additional costs/not included with the rental - this could easily lead to a pretty expensive rental order. • Shipping is a little slow - takes 2-7 business days. • They only have orchestral and band instruments (19 insturments available) and no electric instruments and gear available for rent (though Guitar Center, which is affiliated, has all that).• Though they advertise that even professionals can participate in their rental program, a quick look shows that for the band instruments (woodwinds and brass), they only have student and intermediate level instruments to choose from. • As for the orchestral instruments, only student instruments are available for rent. • The instrument ships out in 1-2 business days, so the user cannot start playing on the same day they make their rental order.• The shortest rental period available is a month. • While they have a readily available list of accessories to go with the rental at checkout, the accessories have to be purchased and are not included with the rental - this could lead to the rental being pretty expensive in the end. • They only have delivery available and no pick up, which means the user has to wait at least 2-3 business days to receive their instrument and cannot start playing right away. • They do have an expedited option at $100. • By default they automatically apply progressive discounts on each subsequent rental day to the price you set to encourage people to borrow your items for longer periods. • However you can opt out of this behavior by disabling the weekly or monthly price on any individual listing. • Does not offer rent to own options like many traditional music stores. • There is no skill level indication/differentiation: beginner, intermediate, advanced/professional. • Lenders can choose to include related accessories for that instrument in their listing, but not all lenders do that - as a renter, you might have to find accessories on your own. • While they have a lot of great, functional/necessary features and everything is relatively easy to find, the rental process could probably be even more simplified (or at least even more simply presented).
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Opportunity:Music&Arts/Guitar CenterSweetwaterRentMyInstrument.comFriendwithA.com
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What are some opportunities?• Like other major music retailers, Music & Arts focuses on school age clients. • This might make them lose out on individuals who are not affiliated with a school. • Heavily marketed towards band and orcehstra players and could lose out on a market for individuals who are not affiliated with a school. • So far they only have 16 instruments (all band or orchestra instruments) available for rent.• So far they only have acoustic orchestral and band instruments as well as acoustic guitar and keyboards available on their site. • They can perhaps consider including electric instrument as well. • Not an app yet, only available as a website. An app might be "on-the-go" and more suitable. • Categorize instruments as beginner, intermediate, and advanced/professional so users can have options to choose from. • Should also consider including/requesting sound samples from lenders.
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Threats:Music&Arts/Guitar CenterSweetwaterRentMyInstrument.comFriendwithA.com
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What are some threats?• Peer to peer rental platforms like FriendwithA and Fat Llama are catering to the crowd that is interested in short term rental (that is less than a month), if they have a robust inventory of instruments, they could be a pretty serious competitor. • They've just started their rental program, while Music&Arts/Guitart Center has been a long-time player. • Also, Sweetwater is known for being an online retailer so they don't have any physical stores like Music&Arts (except for their headquarter campus in Indiana) so all their inventory will have to be shipped out and customers can't try the instruments.• Sweetwater and Music&Arts/Guitar Center all have online rentals available, so what makes RMI stand out? Perhaps that they have professional grade instruments makes them have an edge, however, users will likely think of going to big retailers like Sweetwater and Music&Arts/Guitar Center first if they are just looking for a decent quality instrument since their rental programs are very similar.• They are not focused on just musical instruments, users can find them to be not "serious" enough and look elsewhere first. • Also, to get inventory they have to always rely on and incentivize users to lend their instruments.
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