Miley Li Qinxin

Having over 400 active members and over 400 different types of toys, Taiwanese Chen Huiru basks in her toy rental business. It is leading the bandwagon in Taiwan, but its going to get tough in Hong Kong.

Ms Chen became a kindergarten teacher when she was 19. Since then she had worked with children for more than 20 years . As one of the closest person with children, she knew both children and toys well.

In Taiwan, most of the kindergartens have a special holiday every week called “toy-share day”, when children share their own toys with others.

Ms Chen found that the toys they brought were different every week and always pristine. After talking to some parents, she was surprised to know that a single family spends 3,000NTD to 4,000NTD (HK $730 to HK $970) a month on toys on average. Still, children kept asking for new ones.

All of these inspired Ms Chen to set about running her toy rental business. The former kindergarten teacher collected relevant information and studied the market to make sure she was well-equipped.

Sterilisation of toys was an important step on which Chen spent a lot of time.

“I knew it when I worked in kindergartens. I learnt and followed what the west did to make sure the toys were clean,” she said, “now I work particularly well in this aspect. I have various ways to disinfect different toys.”

With a cost of 500,000NTD (HK $120,000), she set off on her new career. Her customers can rent toys for a week by paying 15 per cent of their original prices, after paying a membership fee of L000NTD (HK $250).

Ms Chen has done a lot to make her business on the right track. She required herself to be familiar with every toy and created an assessment system for toys.

Ms Chen also set up some rules, such as an agreement with members on compensation if toys are broken or lost.

Free door-to-door service is provided if members rent an amount of toys in one go. To keep her toys up-to-date, she brings in new toys every month.

Her turnover grows at a rate of 30 per cent monthly. She has faith in her business. She said, “we’ ll evolve further and better.”

While toy rental is brisk in Taiwan, it meets with a cold acceptance in Hong Kong.

Ten years ago, a woman named Qiu Mei-lian started toy rental business, according to source. Just like a Hash in the pan, nowadays, toy rental is unavailable in Hong Kong. Instead, toys retail works well. The Toys “R” Us opened its ninth branch in North Point on June 16 this year.

“On average, toys cost us HK $500 monthly,” the Xiao family prefer to buy toys for the sake of health. Mrs Xiao said, “I just don’t want to take risks since I can afford the toys.”

Among the 16 parents who were interviewed, 11 showed their concerns on hygiene.

Something else also bothers parents. Mrs Lei is afraid that her son won’t be willing to give it back once he gets the toy. Mrs Emi’s daughter loves only brand new toys and doesn’t give a glance at the used ones.

Whilst toys are innocent and childish, businessmen have found its other side.

In mainland China, under the name of renting out toys lie frauds.

In 2003, a toy rental store named Xiao Ling Xi in Tai Yuan ran away after it got its first batch of membership fees. The same thing happened in Beijing and Zhejiang.

On the other hand, some parents have already found other accesses to more toys by sharing toys with relatives and joining private club. Toy library and community center also provide free toys.

Toy store owners’ lack of confidence may be another reason for the depressed market of the toy rental business.

In fact, though popular in some areas, toy rental is still a green business since the management system is ineffective. In Hong Kong, trust from investors and customers are yet to be found.

Edited by Anna Chen Wenhua