Rent Designer Bags: A Trend Here to Stay!
Luxury goods and designer handbags offer superior quality, are stylish, and are worth every penny. However, not all of use can afford to buy a new $3,000+ high-end handbag (even if it’s on sale). Even if you are a true lover of luxury goods, keeping up with trends or filling your beauty wardrobe with luxury handbags is a hard addiction to get into, and even more expensive to feed.
Thankfully, rent designer bags are a thing. Just like shopping online for other styles, you can temporarily own your very own Gucci, Chanel, or Louis Vuitton luxury handbag without spending thousands of dollars. What’s more, renting designer handbags allows people to see, feel, touch, wear and possibly fall in love with an expensive find before or without actually adding it to their closet permanately.
If this is your first time considering a luxury handbag rental, then you have come to the right place. Here is a quick overview access of the rent-a-handbag process in general and our list of the top 9 designer brands to rent.
Great Sites To Rent Designer Bags
But before getting into the best brands, we think it is beneficial for you to know which companies to rent your designer brands and luxury handbags from. Overall, luxury good rental companies are ideal regardless of whether you are trying to decide which designer bag to purchase or need one for a special occasion. That said, the top sites to rent designer bags include:
Bag Borrow or Steal
Bag Borrow Or Steal, a Seattle-based company, founded in 2004, offers a monthly non-committal option and a subscription membership. With Bag Borrow Or Steal, rental prices start at $50+ a month for mid-designer labels like Michael Kors, Tory Burch or Telfar, and go up to $700+ a month for more high-end brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Dior and Gucci bags.
How It Works
With this option, you can rent your chosen accessory on a month-to-month basis. Once you have selected, your luxury handbag is shipped to you free of charge and arrives in a pristine condition—all rentals are cleaned professionally before each use. After your leasing period ends, you will receive an alert sent to your email address, and then you simply return the item.
If you want to keep the purse for longer, the good news is that Bag Borrow Or Steal automatically renews your monthly membership. Consumers love this brand as they make it extremely easy to rent designer bags and swap for another match!
If Accidents Happen
Here, if your high-end fashion accessory or jewelry is damaged, stolen, or lost while in your possession, then you are responsible for the full retail price of the item. However, once you are charged for the full price for the luxury handbags, they are yours. To avoid this unfortunate scenario, it is important to note that unacceptable damage includes both interior or exterior stains and surface scrapes or tears.
Rent The Runway
In 2009, Rent The Runway was founded and now has multiple locations in New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Here, you get three leasing options to choose from 4-8 days, monthly, or unlimited. Plus, Rent The Runway offers low to mid-tier bags with fees starting at $7 and going up to $250 (for 4-day rentals).
Alternatively, if you opt for a membership with this particular purse rental service, it will cost you somewhere around $69 a month for the rentals. Some of the items you can items you can temporarily add to your closet are JW Anderson, Marni, and Cult Gaia.
How It Works
At Rent The Runway, the process is straightforward: choose your bag, complete the checkout process or reserve the items for 7-30 days, wait for prompt delivery, and enjoy. When the end of your rental period comes, all you need to do is return the bags via UPS. Note, luxury handbags are cleaned for free with this company as well.
If Accidents Happen
Similar to other luxury handbag rental services, if the item is significantly damaged while in your care, then you can expect to pay the full retail room price. Likewise, if you lose/misplace the bag, it is stolen, or never returned after its due date, there are late fees ($50 per day for 20 days).
If you cannot find or recover the bag, then after said period, you will be charged up to 100 percent of the retail value plus applicable sales tax. Be sure you’re living a responsible lifestyle before renting anything luxury.
Bag Romance
Bag Romance is a Texas-based luxury handbag rental company that was founded in 2015 and offers 7-day rentals (fees start at $45+) or 30-day rentals (fees start at $75+). Designer luxury handbags like Saint Laurent and Louis Vuitton rental fees range from $ 100 to $200 per week. If you’re looking for Chanel bags, you can expect a price tag of up to $850 for classic styles per week. While this brand is always featured on rent-bag lists, it is a company in which you can expect to pay more than other brands for the same luxury handbags. However, their selection is quite large!
How It Works
This is yet another monthly or weekly membership with no shipping fee and free professional cleaning. Bag Romance has a wide variety of designer handbags you can choose from and a user-friendly checkout process. Here you are also able to reserve your luxury handbags for 7-30 days, and once your rental period is over, you can return your rental at UPS.
If Accidents Happen
The nice thing here is that Bag Romance is a little more understanding with minimal damage or rather wear and tear. Consequently, you do not have to worry about minor stains and expected damage. Plus, this particular company includes free insurance with every handbag. But be that as it may, any significant damage or theft is not typically covered by the insurance—so make sure you keep that in mind. As is the policy with most designer handbag rental services/companies, you must suffer the consequence of the full or original retail cost of the luxury handbag in the event of loss or extensive damage (plus sales tax).
Other Noteworthy Luxury HandBag Rentals
A few other luxury handbag rental companies to also check out include:
Vivrelle : Vivrelle is a NY-based monthly subscription company, a Vivrelle membership starts at $45 a month and can go up to $309 per month (for 2 items, includes jewelry). Vivrelle purses selection is huge and include Louis Vuitton bags, Dior, Saint Laurent bags and even Goyard! Vivrelle style is trend focused which means they always have the hottest featured items ready to access and for you to rent.
Bagtropolis : Located in the US, a one-time $199 new member fee + $99 per month. The don’t have a huge selection of bags and actually focus on more a vintage wardrobe. Between this company and Vivrelle, I’d pick Vivrelle.
Cocoon : UK company with premium and deluxe memberships. Starting at £79 per month or £99/ month, which in USD is roughly $100-$130 per month. They also have quarterly fashion luxury handbag options available which is about 4 month rental time periods (with a couple swaps available in-between).
JoinSwitch: You can rent 1 core piece at a time for $55 a month, or 3 at once for $105. This place is great because with every fashion rental you do, you earn money in purchasing credit! If you rent designer bags enough times, you can have enough credit to actually purchase your dream handbag, how fun. This place has all the designers to rent, including Hermes!
Top 9 Brand Designer Bags For Rent
Now that you have a better understanding of the rent designer bags process and where to look for quality, authentic gems. The top 9 fashion brands worth renting are as follows:
Overall, any coveted designer brand luxury accessories that you can add to your cart on these fashion sites if you prefer to rather than purchase at the moment are worth considering. This is the best way to try before you spend thousands on adding it to your closet permanently.
Purchasing Your Rental
If you are interested in purchasing your rental or buying your pre-owned rent designer bags, make sure you check out the above-mentioned companies’ latest buy, lease, and layaway policies. Tons of people have purchased their rentals after loving them for a month or two.
Ultimately, these are just a few fashion/lux style luxury handbag rental services available to you. That said, if you want to lease the best of the best but want to ensure it’s at a discounted price, then there are several things you can do to protect luxury handbag rentals.
In fact, there are at least four things you should do whether you are leasing or purchasing your rentals—
- Utilize the protective packaging
- Be careful with denim (as color can transfer to lighter colored bags)
- Avoid wearing fashion fabrics or luxury accessories that might snag
- Keep your eyes on the bag at all times
It’s definitely worth it to rent designer bags or a luxury handbag as it could allow you the opportunity to hold and use a bag for a few days before you decide to splurge on their high fashion retail costs. A ‘try it before you buy it’ scenario.
Photos courtesy of official websites listed above.
