Excuse me if I’m drooling…

No I’m not talking about the fondue fountains again or even the new Strip-o-gram boys, though they do look very fine…

We girls all know what really makes us drool – a designer handbag!

Do we care that they are worth several thousands of dollars? YES!

Are we thrilled that we can hire it for a fraction of that? Absolutely!

Do we want all our friend to know? of course – theres nothing like a little “handbag” envy.

Whats great is that you can just keep swapping for a new style, a new look and never get bored.

If you don’t have quite the right outfit to go with your bag you can hire that on hire things too, with dresses from a range of international designers such as Vera Wang, Dolce and Gabbana, Ralph Lauren, Versace , to name just a few

.

A girl doesn’t have to limit her choices on Hire Things!!

Iona

Comments (1) »

HireThings.com – world famous in Spain!!

Hire Things got profiled recently in an article in El Pais, the Spanish national newspaper, where they looked into the growing trend of hire and rental marketplaces around the world.

Check out http://www.hirethings.co.nz/resources/elpaisnewspaper_july2008.pdf for the article in english…  it’s a good overview of the trend, the isssues, and the opportunity.

El Pais on hire and rental marketplaces

El Pais on hire and rental marketplaces

Leave a comment »

Searching for “woman in cake”

Part of my job is checking what’s been searched for on Hire Things so I can see that we do have everything everyone might need to hire. This helps me see what we need to look to add to our site, how we are searched and gives me a feel for who might be using Hire things for their hire needs.

Usually I get the run of bad spellers, annoying techy types testing the system (go for it guys) and sometimes things we don’t have on that I can immediately source for our customers.

Wednesday took the cake – literally. It started with searches for “stag do” – OK I get this – party, bring your friends – went to “recliner chair” viewing platform? and then to “woman in cake”!!!

“What sort of site do they think this is” I said to my husband. ” He looked at me and said “I wonder where you get something like that”.

Well that shut me up. Where do you go to hire something a little bit different, plan your party, do all your hiring in one place? Well, to Hire Things of course and thats exactly where he came.

So I’m sorry we don’t have a “woman in a cake” (yet), I am trying to find a cake large enough to jump out of but, you would have to supply your own woman.

Leave a comment »

From Feathers to Formula 1

Whilst we are always listing new and interesting items and services on Hire Things, this week has been even more diverse than usual.

As well as some great Dj’s and bands, wedding cars, office furniture and costumes, the week got off to an fabulous start when we listed a Formula 1 simulator!

“These vehicles are all life like, life-size and allow you to enter the world of virtual reality. Create your own in-house A1 Grand Prix”

You get suits and can actually drive and service the cars too, how cool is that! Forget getting cold and wet working our how to cross a river, this is my kind of team building.

(note to self: send info to boss)

Then we have my personal favourite of the week, 50 glorious ostrich plumes. Stunning as decorations or centerpieces, I just immediately think of the Fan dance and the Windmill Theater.

Maybe I should just hire them for decoration, I think my fan dance days are over, and more worryingly, not sure 50 is enough…

Any way, I wonder what next week will bring?

Leave a comment »

The Hire Things team

Darryl, our lead developer, had been with the team for 1 year today (Happy 1st birthday Darryl!!).  

The core team went out to lunch to celebrate, and this is us just after we came back (all happy after a good feed!!).

The core Hire Things team

The core Hire Things team - Peter, Shoaib, Iona, & Darryl

Iona Elwood-Smith is our sales and marketing manager, Darryl Hamilton is our lead developer, Shoaib Ali is our web developer and Peter Torr Smtih is the founder and CEO. 

Our new marketing & community coordinator, Trish

Our new marketing & community coordinator, Trish

STOP PRESS!!  Recently joined… Trish Veugelaers as our marketing and community coordinator…

It takes a lot to put together a business like Hire Things, and to keep in going and growing.  Thankfully we have a number of other talented and helpful people that contribute part time, or have contributed in the past, to make Hire Things what it is today. 

Part-time contributors:
Paul Gold (Auric Solutions), Tim Philips (RND group), Lulu Pachuau (analysis and interaction design), Ken & Rebecca Hope (infographics and graphics). Nik Wakelin (CodeToCustomer).  Liora Saad.

Advisors:
Michael Elwood-Smith, Melissa Clark-Reynolds, Mauricio Freitas (Geekzone)

Past contributors:
Nahum Wild. Paul Flewelling. Eddie Would. Gaëtan De Brucker. Ken Foncé. Elicia Gold. Phil Dinius.

(I’ve probably omitted someone, sorry, let me know if I have).

Plus we have a number of friends and family shareholders that have put their trust (and money) with us, and our co-director of the company, Letizia who helps us keep an eye on things legal and organisational.

If you think you have something to offer the Hire Things, whether that be skills, time, money, or other resources, and would like to be part of our growing online business success, drop us a line on contact@hirethings.com

Cheers.

Leave a comment »

Don’t Tell my 6 year old Son!

We are very pleased to have listed this week a 1965 Bedford TK Fire Engine, the Wellington Fire Museums fundraising fire engine. They offer very exciting Children’s Birthday packages which includes pick up from school by a uniformed fireman – how cool is that!

They are also available for Children’s Parties, Charter tours, School Balls, Weddings, Hens nights, Film work, special events, advertising or promotional work.

I also have inside information that they are planning to offer $99 specials, airport transfers, surprise your boyfriend or your girlfriend, lunch out, bosses shout! Contact Matt Silver at the Wellington Fire Museum Trust for more info. These guys are happy to help and can come up with a package for you.

All proceeds are donated to The Wellington Fire Museum Trust.

The Wellington Fire Museum Trust was established in March 2003 as a not for profit charitable trust to develop a Fire Museum and Education center to preserve Wellington’s firefighting history and honour the thousands of paid and volunteer Fire fighters that have protected their community and city, whilst also educating the public about the dangers of fire.

Hire Things believe in supporting our community and think this is a great cause. We have been happy to list these guys and donate all success fees back to the Fire Museum Trust.

So think who you can surprise with a trip around town in a fire engine – did I mention the siren and lights?

We are all kids at heart and its not just for the boys!

Iona

Comments (2) »

Hiring things is part of a sustainable future

Hiring as part of our sustainable choicesOne of the reasons behind Hire Things is the fact that hiring is such a great sustainable business model… both environmentally and socially.

If you look at the 3 R’s… Reduce, Reuse, Recycle… hire businesses demonstrate most, if not all of these….

Reduce: Hiring provides an alternative to excessive consumption / consumerism. Hire businesses buy good quality gear that will last a long time. They can even afford new gear that is leading edge in fuel or power efficiency and emissions (for example, most rental & leasing car companies offer hybrid vehicles).

Reuse: They let lots of people use it, meaning people don’t have to buy stuff that doesn’t get used much, or buy cheap goods that end up on the landfill after only a few uses. They also employ / contract in people to maintain & repair the equipment, giving jobs/employment as well as extending the life of the gear. As gear is well maintained, it means it can be sold onto a consumer once it passes it’s effective hire use-by-date, giving it yet another life.

Recycle: Because hire businesses tend to stay at the leading edge of the equipment they use, as recyclable equipment becomes more prevalent, hire businesses are likely to lead the way in bringing this equipment into use. By being used and visible to consumers, this also serves to help this type of equipment become mainstream. One would hope also that it is businesses that seek to adopt good practices around recycling.

Resource Sharing: Hiring is all about resource sharing, and that is what excites us about what we are doing… creating a space where people work together, using things, to make life better now.

Proven to make sense: Hire & rental businesses are one of the oldest forms of businesses around, and are truly one of the greenest in our society. It is something they should be proud of, and something we as consumers should keep in mind as we more and more want to make better, smarter, more sustainable lifestyle decisions.

In a world of increasing consumerism, mixed with growing concerns about social and environmental sustainability, hiring and renting stands out as being the smartest form of business… to share resources amongst many people.

Some links on hiring and renting as a sustainable choice:

Hire or rental companies offer you everything under the sun. You only need pay for the time you use it. When you don’t need it, someone else covers the cost of that item, because they’re now using it. Why pay for a lawn mower that spends 167 hours per week in the garage, and 1 hour being used. Wouldn’t you rather pay for just the hour of use?http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/01/ecotip_product.php

Leave a comment »

The Toy Box Birthday!

Rob and Lorelle of

The Toy Box

have a 2nd birthday celebration and opening party coming up

for their new shop at 121 Manukau road Pukekohe on

Saturday June 14th

 

 

They have Fairy Katrina doing a show and there’ll be free sausages, ice cream and coffee too.

Rob is one of our founding members, one of those brave and pioneering businesses and individuals that took the plunge to list their things for hire on Hire Things in the first year of us being live.

We at Hire Things thank them for taking the lead, for giving us feedback on how to improve the service and sticking with us through some of the early bugs & problems on the site, and for being part of the reason that Hire Things is growing like it is.

So head down to see their new store and check out all the cool stuff they have for hire, think about the cold indoor months ahead (“mum I’m bored…”) or that next kids party you might be planning.

We like to know whats going on in the community so if you have an interesting event or just have something to say, drop me a line, iona@hirethings.com

Stay warm,

Iona.

 

 

 

 

Leave a comment »

Mohawk Media / Radio NZ Virtual World site of the week!

I’m an avid Radio New Zealand National Radio listener, and recently have started tuning in to watch Oliver Drivers great new digital TV channel ALT TV.  Both are great commentaries on what’s going on in New Zealand society, and the wider world.

Helen & Chelfyn Baxter are actively involved in sharing techno goodness on both media channels (Virtual World on Afternoons with Jim Mora, producing & hosting ‘the g33k show‘ coming to ALT TV), and run MohawkMedia.co.nz, highlighting good design, trends in social media, online collaboration, and music, to name a few.  They have a combined 30 years experience in TV, Radio, and Online media, so certainly have proven they keep up with the play on what’s hot, what’s new, and what’s going down!!

So it’s a great compliment to us all here to be named by them as their “Site of the Week” this week, both on their Radio NZ Virtual World show, and on their own site. 

You can hear the show online for a while at http://www.radionz.co.nz/__data/assets/audio_item/0015/1523004/aft-20080521-1510-Virtual_World-wmbr.asx or download it at http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/aft/aft-20080521-1510-Virtual_World-048.mp3 (The “Site of the week” is the 2 minutes from 20:29 through to 22:28).

 Site of the week on Radio New Zealand\'s Virtual World show

Site of the week on social media website MohawkMedia

 

We started Hire Things for all sorts of reasons… but a core part of that is people working together, using things, to make great events and projects happen, without having to own everything. We think encouraging people to hire instead of buying everything is just part of our contribution to a more sustainable world 🙂

We’re a small team with big plans, so getting noticed and commented on by bloggers and media all helps us keep moving forward bit by bit.

Thanks, and welcome to listeners and readers 🙂

Peter & the team

 

Leave a comment »

Request a quote, or a booking… it’s up to you!

Some of you will have already noticed or used our our cool new “Request Quote” facility.

We have separated our booking and quote buttons to give more flexibility to our users… so you can now request an obligation-free quote on the things you need to use, and then after receiving the quote response you can chose to accept the quote and make a firm booking, or decline it, or request a bit more inforation.

Planning events and projects isn’t always straight forward and generally you need to hire-in a variety of things.  With the new “request quote” facility, you can ask for a firmer quote than the estimates shown on the website, and by explaining in the quote request what event or project you are trying to make happen, the hire supplier may well be able to quote you on a number of other things that will help you out, and offer you discounts or specials.

Now you can find who’s got what you need, when you need it, and ask for a quote without having to commit to a firm booking first.  Of course if you see what you need and you want to get it organised straight away, just go ahead and “Make Booking”. 

With the “Make Booking” process, customers place a request with dates, and if the hire supplier confirms the pricing and availability, the booking is confirmed and set to go ahead.

With the “Request Quote” process, customers place a similar request, but the hire supplier has to respond to the customer either confirming the estimate on the website is correct, or with a more accurate price.  It is then up to the customer to accept the quote before the booking is confirmed.

my hire-ins

So for customers…

– Send out quote requests for things you need.

– Get back quotes indicating availability, pricing, and other ways the hire supplier can help you out.

– Accept the quotes and offers that work for you.

– Sit back and Relax knowing you have booked-in the things you need for a great event, project, or adventure!!

So let us know what you think

Love it, hate it, want to know more?

Send me an email

I’d love to hear from you.

Iona.

Leave a comment »

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started