Noticed a shift in how people treat borrowed tools over the last year

I run our tool library out of a garage in Portland and I've seen a big change since we started charging a $5 deposit for things like the tile saw. Before that, people would return stuff caked in old mortar or missing parts, but now they actually clean them and bring everything back. The deposit system we put in place last March cut our damage rate by about 40%. Has anyone else tried a small fee and seen better returns?

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the_dylan29d ago

I read a piece in the Urban Tool Library Association newsletter last fall that mentioned a place in Seattle doing the same thing with a $10 deposit on their pressure washers and saw a 30% drop in missing nozzles and hoses. We tried that on our own tile saw after I saw a guy return it with a broken blade guard, and the deposit seems to make people stop and think before they just toss it back in the garage. It's weird how a small fee changes the whole vibe of borrowing, like people suddenly remember it's not their stuff.