What's new at Rent a Dress?
Welcome to the new and improved Rent a Dress. We are so excited for you to start exploring our new site and hope you love it just as much as we do. We've had a major facelift, but we've also made changes to how we operate. We're talking automation, easy browsing and filtering options, an online booking platform and more. For those of you who have been using us for a long time, this means the way you use and interact with Rent a Dress has changed too, but we promise it's for the better.
HOW IT WORKS
The new Rent a Dress is fully automated. Lenders list up their items (for free!) and customer’s can view and book them directly through the website in just a few simple clicks. Each listing displays all the item details like previously, but also includes an availability calendar that blocks out unavailable or rented dates. Customers can select their preferred rental period based on the calendar, add the item to their cart and check it out through the website. The lender will then receive a notification of the booking and will ship the item directly to the customer for arrival by their rental start date. At the conclusion of the rental period, the customer ships the item back using the satchel provided by the lender. It’s as simple as that! The entire transaction, including payment, goes directly through the website in a few quick steps, making the process streamlined and easy for both the customer and the lender.
Absolutely! Any existing rentals you have coming up are still valid. As these rentals were organised directly with the owner, just continue to reach out to them via the initial communication method. Our terms and conditions for the previous site are still in place for these rentals. If you have any issues with an existing rental from the previous site, feel free to contact us directly, we are happy to help.
Unfortunately not. We've moved to a more automated way of working which means you can both book and receive your rentals with just the click of a button. All rentals on the new site will be delivered and returned via Australia Post.
To make it easier for both you and owners on our site, all rental transactions go directly through us as opposed to needing to contact the owner. If you have a question regarding size or fit of an item, please contact us and we will get in touch with the owner on your behalf. This should make for a much faster response time and more professional experience for our customers.
We've removed any need for a customer to clean an item. This responsibility is now on the owner. All you need to do is wear your item and post it back using the satchel provided, it's as simple as that!
Because of the changes to how we operate, we've made some changes to our Terms of Use. Make sure you read them carefully before using the new site.
You will need to create a new account on our new website. We had a lot of obsolete accounts on our previous site, as well as a lot of users with multiple accounts using different email addresses that were no longer in service. As such we made the decision not to transfer your member accounts over, allowing for a fresh start for Rent a Dress and a fresh start for you! Click here to register now.
Absolutely! The new site allows lenders to register for an account and upload listings (we call these products) at anytime for free. All rentals are booked directly through the website using the integrated online booking system. When your item is booked, you will receive notification of the booking and will need to fulfil it. The new site requires all rentals to be posted via Australia Post express post. You will need to arrange for postage to the customer with delivery on or before the first day of their rental. You will also need to include a prepaid, filled out return express post satchel in with the item. The customer will use this to return the rental to you on their last day. We also require the lender to take care of cleaning the item. This ensures a faster turn around for you between rentals and makes sure you know the item is being cleaned properly.
No, it's now free to list your items with Rent a Dress. We do however charge a 15% service fee on each rental. This is based off the rental price and does not include shipping fees - those will go directly to you. This means there is no loss if you upload your item and it doesn't rent.
We have removed try-ons as an option on the new site. While this was previously at your discretion, the automation of the new site and subsequent service offering means this option is no longer available.
There is no need to speak directly with a customer anymore. All you need to focus on is posting the item in time for delivery by the rental date, and cleaning it on return. We'll take care of the rest.
We will not be transferring listings over from the old Rent a Dress website. There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, the new site operates differently, and we understand that the new way of renting may not be for you. Not transferring the listings over means you can determine if you do still want to use Rent a Dress as a platform for your clothes - which we hope you do! We also had a lot of listings on the previous site that were no longer available for rent. This is a great way to ensure that what is uploaded to this site is still available for hire.
On the previous website, we charged a once-off listing fee for your item to be active on our website for a period of 6 months. We never enforced the 6 month period though, so a lot of you had extended listings at no cost. For those of you with listings that were uploaded more than 6 months ago, the service fee for the listing has been fulfilled. To continue renting your items through us please register and upload them again, just make sure you're happy with the new way we operate. It's free to list though, so why not try it out and see what you think? We'd love to continue working with you.
For those of you with listings uploaded within the last 6 months, we will be offering you a 0% service fee on any bookings for the listing/s during the remainder of the 6 month period. This way you aren't negatively impacted by the change. If you would like to redeem this offer, please register as a lender, upload your item and email us at hello@rentadressaustralia.com. The waived service fee is not automatic, so please contact us to implement the discount for the remainder of the listing's period.