A variety of small galleries here in the US offer the option as well, with great success. We're hoping we can expand the number of people with access to this type of art buying to a more national, and hopefully global, community.
Great question. The renter agrees to a rental agreement, very similar to one you would see on Rent the Runway or Bag Borrow & Steal (fashion rental sites). The agreement states that they are responsible for any damage to the work. If the damage is reparable, such as a cracked frame, then the fee could be quite low and if it is not reparable the renter essentially buys the work.
Thanks for your thoughts. The site is still very new and in many ways we are still uncovering who our exact target customer will be, as the current customers vary quite a bit in demographic and use cases.
To clarify a bit, the target customer we are currently targeting is a first time (or very new) art buyer who is unfamiliar or uncomfortable with the traditional gallery sales system. The pain points include generally very high priced work, cold salespeople, and a general fear of commitment that we see in purchasing today (ie. the rise of free returns.)
We think of our site as providing the option to "try before you buy". Essentially, lower the risk to seeing how the work will look in your space for $50/month, knowing you can return it if it is not right for you. We do not expect many customers would continue to rent if they love the work they choose, instead potentially choosing to purchase at that point. Because our work is by young emerging artists it is generally more affordable for the new collector as well.
To clarify, we are primarily looking for interns, but we're actively recruiting for fulltime as well for the right person. Applications for both are welcome!