Startup lets you try tech before you buy
New electronic gadgets are always coming out but some shoppers are hesitant to buy something they may not like later. Now a new company is letting consumers take these gadgets for a test spin before they buy.
Fitness instructor Robbie Ann Darby is in the market some type of wearable fitness tracker, but she doesn't know which one to choose.
"Heart rate has to be a key component, and of course the GPS for the running," she told CBS News' Jill Wagner.
Rather than take a chance on one of the many fitness trackers on the market, Darby is renting a handful of gadgets for a few dollars a day from a startup company called Lumoid.
The try-before-you-buy business is being used by companies like Stitch Fix to sell clothes and Warby Parker to sell glasses. Aarthi Ramamurthy started Lumoid early last year, focusing on photography equipment. But she quickly expanded to include gadgets like GoPros, wearable devices and even drones.
"Customers can try and test drive different items before they commit to buying them," said Ramamurthy. "It's catering to a new generation of people who want access rather than ownership."
Lumoid will let people test out the Apple Watch when it's released later this month. Thousands of people are already on the wait list.
Darby plans to take each of her gadgets for a trial run -- literally.
"There's probably one, after I try them all, that has everything I need," she said.
She wants to find the right one now so she doesn't have buyer's remorse later.