Umbrella-sharing company loses most of its 300,000 umbrellas

A Chinese umbrella-sharing company has lost almost all of its inventory just weeks after making its 300,000 umbrellas available to the public, a Business Insider article says.

The company, Sharing E Umbrella, launched a scheme similar to public bike-sharing models in which people can rent and return umbrellas at their leisure.

The program had launched in 11 cities in China’s mainland last month, and the company reported that most of the umbrellas are now missing.

Though exactly how many umbrellas have been whisked away was not reported, company founder Zhao Shuping plans to continue with the business model, the article says.

Zhao said they will produce 30 million more umbrellas that will be available across China by the end of 2017.

Individuals have to pay 19 yuan, around $2.75, to rent an umbrella. They then pay 0.50 yuan, or 7 cents, for every 30 minutes of use, the article said.

Each lost umbrella costs roughly 60 yuan – $9 – to replace.

According to an article by Sixth Tone, there are currently 13 other umbrella-sharing companies competing in the Chinese market.

This story was originally published July 10, 2017 at 4:28 PM with the headline "Umbrella-sharing company loses most of its 300,000 umbrellas."