Slim Ink book rental

Previously on ReadingHacks I wrote about a few book rental services, two from the US, and one, Slim Ink book rental, based here in Australia. Following that post Slim Ink invited me to try out the service for 3 months in order to provide a first hand review of their service.

The process of evaluating the service was an interesting one. I work at a public library, ie. an institution that provides a similar service to Slim Ink, but for free (unless you count late fines of course). I don’t want this review to be a “Is Slim Ink better than a library” and I don’t think the folk at Slim Ink are looking at things that way either. However, it feels natural to make some comparisons in specific areas to help highlight the nature of the service.

I will also confess in advance that a part of me initially wondered if the existence of organisations like Slim Ink are bad for libraries. I’m still not sure. Libraries provide a large range of services that could not be provided by web-based book rental service anyway. Also, if people stopped using free libraries in order to only use paid book rental services in enough numbers to cause the closure of libraries, this would clearly mean the libraries were being ineffective and need to improve their service. On the other hand, I am not sure if those who distribute funding to libraries would consider the existence of book rental services as a reason to decrease funding.

So, having got that out of the way, what follows is my take on three months of book rental from Slim Ink.

The process:

The sign-up procedure was straight forward for anyone used to filling out web forms. You do need to provide credit card details, not just for the subscription fee, but also to cover any damage to books.

After signing up, you are emailed a password and asked to add books to your reading list. This is the list from which they will choose books for you each time you are due for a delivery. I immediately added 7 books, including books 2,3, and 4 of Stephenie Meyer’s Twighlight series, which are very heavily reserved in my library. You ned to keep your reading list updated and each time you are due for a delivery, the appropriate number of titles are elected from your list.

In less than a week my first delivery arrived:

It all came packed in a padded bag. Inside were a Michael Connelly and one of the above mentioned Stephenie Meyer teen vampire romance novels. Also inside were several bits of paperwork about Slim Ink and their plans, a bookmark, a slip letting me know I had only five titles left on my reading list, a return address sticker, a roll of Slim Ink branded packing tape and a small bag of lollies (which did not last to the photo shoot).

The following packages I received were similar, with the exception of the roll of tape and introductory Slim Ink literature. They all included a bookmark or three, a return address sticker and some sort of little treat: things like a sachet of flavoured coffee, a tea bag, or a copy of Good Reading magazine.

The cheapest subscription, at $14 per month, is the Light Reader plan which allows you one book at a time. I was on the Casual Reader plan which, for $20 per month gets you two books at a time. Each delivery will include two books, and you need to return them together. The downside of this is that you will be without any books for a week or so during the changeover time. There are three more plans allowing 4, 8, or 12 books at a time, and cost $28, $42, and $60 per month respectively (of course these prices are correct at the time of writing). These three plans also allow you to return your books in smaller batches so you need never be left without reading material. All plans allow a maximum of one despatch every three weeks.

After finishing the books, you send them back to Slim Ink using the padded bag they came in, the provided address sticker, and you can even use the fancy Slim Ink tape. After a few days you should get an email telling you the titles of your next batch. You don’t pay for postage as this is included in your subscription fee.

The service
The level of service I received from Slim Ink was very good. Each batch of books was delivered promptly and came with all the bits needed to send them back. Having the books delivered to your doorstep is obviously convenient for most people, but how convenient when compared with visiting your local library is a question only you can answer. The non-existence of late fines is obviously a bonus for people who struggle to get library books back on time, but this is countered by a limit in the books you can have at one time (maxing out at 12 books on the $60/month plan)

I was generally happy with the website and there are several things about it that I would love to be able to add to my library’s site. The catalogue can be searched by author, title, ISBN, or publisher. It can also be browsed by category. The cool bit though is a set of links by which you can browse the catalogue by a group of really useful categories: latest titles by month; as mentioned in good reading magazine; books alive great read guide; various award shortlists; as mentioned on Oprah; and a few more. These links take you to a list of the appropriate titles from which they can be easily added to your reading list. Sounds simple and obvious, but very handy. There is also an RSS feed listing new titles as they are added to the system.

The collection
The collection is considerably smaller than the fiction collection of a typical public library service but very up to date. I suspect the difference in numbers is made up more of older and less popular titles. I checked a handful of authors and series with generally good results when looking for current and popular adult fiction. The young adult range was also reasonable, but again less than a public library. I got access to Stephenie Meyer’s books far quicker than I could do at the library. For a better idea of how their collection covers your tastes, you can browse the catalogue without signing up.

Conclusion
Slim Ink provides some of the same service as a public library, only differently. It has benefits and limitations when compared to the library. Obviously, it costs to join, although the lack of overdue fines is appealing. Having books delivered to your door is also very convenient, but there is a limit to how many you can borrow. Essentially, whether the service is right for you is a question only you can answer.

What I can tell you is that I was happy with the level of service provided. The website is easy to navigate, the books were all in very good condition, well packed and came with everything required to easily send them back.

Note: As mentioned, I did receive a three month membership in order to review Slim Ink’s service. I chose a selection of books to see how quickly I could get certain titles and didn’t actually end up reading most of them anyway. There is nothing in it for me if you join after this review.