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Interest in an interconnect

Hello there, this is my first post here. My business friend and I have been kicking around the idea of starting an online interconnect "library" where it would be possible to rent interconnects. Our plan would involve a small one-time fee of perhaps 5 or 10 dollars, and would include your first rental. Thereafter, a one week checkout would also be about 10 bucks. Additionally, with each rental we would include a formatted page for you to fill out with your current system and a brief (1 paragraph or so) review of the sound with that particular interconnect and, ultimately, what was purchased; subsequent rentals of that interconnect would include these previous comments so that comparisons could be made.

Is there any interest in this sort of setup? What about pricing? If you have any helpful feedback, positive or negative, please post and let me know.

Thanks for your time!
ryanp100

Showing 1 response by sdcampbell

sdcampbell
2,136 posts
 
Well, my immediate reaction is: not a bad idea. I'd be willing to pay a nominal fee to try out expensive interconnects and speaker cables (which you might also want to offer) that I wouldn't buy without trying. I also like the aspect of being able to rent without feeling a sense of obligation to a retail dealer.

I don't see this business venture as a big revenue generator, since the audiophile community isn't very big, and the number of audiophiles that would be interested in your rentals would be a smaller subset of audio hobbyists. From a business perspective, your idea sounds more like a part-time business endeavor, but it might grow enough to keep one guy busy. The cost-to-profit ratio is something you will need to consider: how much do you need to make for this idea to be worthwhile to you, both personally and financially?

From your side of the equation, you will obviously have some start-up costs: buying the interconnects and/or speaker cables; getting an Internet site going; etc. You might want to talk to some other small business owners in the interconnect/cable field, such as BetterCables.com and HomeGrownAudio. They can give you some insight into the practical and business issues.
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