Pistol-Forum AIWB "HELP" (Holster Evaluation and Lending Program)

[Rich@CCC]

I can only speak for myself, but I have no problem with donating a Shaggy an Uno and possibly one of the new unreleased holsters(pending positive T&E reports) to a P-F holster pool. Said pool to administrated by forum staff or ownership. Hell, Let TLG handle it, he's got time. I would not expect any remuneration for the test holsters. I think it would be a fantastic service to the forum members, though the effort involved may be more than anyone has truly considered. Only time will tell if it is a viable plan.

[orionz06]

I can toss in a few as well.

[EricM]

Cool idea...and I could see this growing to other things besides just holsters. Mag pouches, sights, sight pushers, WMLs, lasers, ...

My initial thoughts go to two extremes:

1) Run by users. Individuals and holster makers submit a list of what they have available for lending for the good of the community. People get in line and pay the actual shipping costs to get the item from wherever it is to wherever it's going. Limiting to site supporters seems to be a good idea. Should coordinate with staff on details, but IMO failure to return the holster, pay for its replacement, or communicate in a reasonable period of time = ban. Don't loan something unless you can afford to lose it though. There's probably a way to send mailing labels such that the recipient buys a self-addressed shipping label and emails it to the sender, that way there's no money changing hands. There's still the matter of maintaining the list of items and queue of interested users, that could be a lot of work for one person but it also gets complicated to try to share the responsibilities.

2) Run by staff (and possibly other volunteers) as a fund-raising effort for Pistol-Forum to pay for the site, events, prizes, and so on. As others have suggested contributing an item would give you some kind of credit to try other stuff, otherwise you pay some amount -- maybe $X per item per week + shipping both ways? Funds could be used to purchase additional items and replace those lost, damaged, or worn out. If the inventory was large enough, could allow the option to purchase at the end of your rental period, applying your rental fees as credit. I've seen other companies do this, such as with rentals for camera lenses. Obviously this is a smaller market, but how cool would it be to be able to rent a top quality holster and keep it if you like it, without the multiple month wait period that accompanies pretty much all of the best stuff? But could you make enough money to run it profitably...don't ask me.

[YVK]

Great idea.

A sporting equipment website that ive used a lot has run a successful equipment demo program for over a decade. You order the demo unit online, you pay shipping both ways, they send it when it becomes available ( they give their best estimate when it will be available), you keep it for a week and send back. If you don't, you pay several bucks daily rent fee and after one week of delay you bought it, full retail. If you return it on time, it is free except for shipping (it comes in via UPS with a prepaid return label).
Considering that this would be an extra work for the pf staff, if administered through them, it should cost something, I think.

[Luke]

Bump

i was looking at a keeper holster last night. Reminded me of this thread.

[Malamute]

Great ideas. I just mentioned something like it and was referred to here.

Having people put up used holsters for sale isnt bad either, I think most just dont think of it. I've bought a couple used holsters for pretty reasonable prices, and somebody sent me a nice holster for nothing that they werent using, asking that I pass on a good deed if possible.

I dont know how it would work, but having a listing of available or wanted things might work, though it could get lost several pages back pretty quickly.

I never saw this thread, I dont think to look at the help desk section, if it doesnt show up on the new posts page, it may get seen as much either. A post or link in the gear section or somewhere else that gets looked at more regularly may get more attention.