Bag Borrow or Steal often gets compared to Netflix. And when you look at the business model you can see the similarities.

A Dolce & Gabbana snake skin leather bag

The difference is that Bag Borrow or Steal -- which moved its headquarters from Florida to Seattle last summer and today is announcing $8.25 million in venture capital financing -- is focused on renting high-end designer handbags. With the latest capital infusion from Madrona Venture Group and others, it plans to expand the concept of "luxury borrowing" to include watches and jewelry. A name change also might be in the works.

There is some serious firepower going into this idea. In addition to Madrona, the Seattle firm that backed Amazon.com and HomeGrocer.com, the company has received money from Adam Dell -- founder of Impact Venture Partners and brother of Michael Dell.

Leading the company is Michael Smith, the former chief executive of Lands' End, Nordstrom.com and Classmates Online. In my story today, Smith says that Bag Borrow or Steal has the potential to be a billion dollar company.

As I point out, the startup has encountered some hiccups recently as it shifted distribution to Chicago and grappled with inventory problems -- something I discovered in this blog that covers handbags.

I previously wrote about the company in this story last December, which includes comments from analysts, customers and competitors.