steinemieten is a playful and great example for sharing economy: they rent out Lego sets and ship with reusable boxes

That's how steinemieten works: You simply choose your favorite set and the desired rental period through our calendar and place your order. steinemieten will send the desired products to your home, and you can start building comfortably. Once the rental period is over, you simply send the set back. 

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"At the very beginning, we used cardboard boxes, but they weren’t robust enough to last several cycles in good shape," explains Jan-Philip Wigger, who, together with Beate Faul, launched a rental service for LEGO sets.

"Since we need large boxes in small quantities, price is also a factor: purchasing new conventional boxes would be too expensive for us as a small business." They found a solution: hey circle reusable shipping boxes.

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LEGO bricks for rent

At Steinemieten, customers have been able to rent LEGO sets for periods ranging from two to eight weeks since summer 2022, saving space, money, and resources. Since it operates within a closed loop, shipping in reusable packaging is a perfect use case.

For the shipping and return of the LEGO sets, three sizes of hey circle boxes are used: M, L, and XL. The tension strap inside the shipping packaging serves as a secure place for the assembly instructions. Since the box size matches the set size and no fragile parts are shipped, Steinemieten avoids additional cushioning materials. The boxes are sealed with a seal with each shipment, protecting them from unnoticed access. The shipping labels can be removed without leaving a trace, and a zipper replaces adhesive tape.

Unpack, build, play, return

The use of reusable hey circle packaging is also advantageous for customers, as it provides a pleasant unboxing experience and can be folded flat in between uses, saving space until return shipping.

"We receive good feedback from our customers. When they thank us for the set via note or email, the shipping method is repeatedly praised."

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Throughout the year, about 60 sets are in circulation per month. During winter, especially around Christmas, almost twice as many sets are ordered. Due to positive experiences and high demand, the hey circle inventory at Steinemieten has already been expanded.

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Reusable shipping saves CO2 emissions and waste

The rental service demonstrates that sustainable action is comfortable and saves money. The associated CO2 and waste savings: If each box makes an average of 1.2 cycles per month, Steinemieten already saves 463 kg of waste and 575 kg of CO2 emissions over a two-year period compared to using disposable cardboard boxes.*