Ask HN: Why aren't there more rental apps for renting personal items?

#1

Post by fil_a_del_fee_a » Fri, Aug 11, 2017, 1:21 PM UTC

Why aren't there more rental apps for renting personal items?

I have some DJ equipment sitting around that I would like to rent out to fellow DJ's. I did some googling, and only came up with peerrenters (which I cannot find the US App Store) and Zilok (which has no app, and is online only). Then I found frntal which seems promising. Then this article (with a clickbaity title), but has some good information on why renting personal items isn't a thing.

https://www.fastcompany.com/3050775/the-sharing-economy-is-dead-and-we-killed-it

Thoughts?

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't there more rental apps for renting personal items?

#2

Post by djinoz2 » Fri, Aug 11, 2017, 1:38 PM UTC

Sharing economy is usually supply side constrained. There needs to be enough incentive for the "seller". If you are renting your mower for $20, the $ benefit is way lower than renting your house.

An acquaintance of mine setup http://www.rentoid.com/ a looong time ago and I never asked but this is probably the reason.

What I saw was professional hire companies using the site as leadgen because it was free advertising and they had lots of inventory. Makes sense right?

So the sharing economy had problems a long time before fastcompany shared its wisdom ;)

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't there more rental apps for renting personal items?

#3

Post by celticninja » Fri, Aug 11, 2017, 1:42 PM UTC

It's hard for a renter to disappear with your house/apartment but easy to never return your DJ gear.

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't there more rental apps for renting personal items?

#4

Post by fil_a_del_fee_a » Fri, Aug 11, 2017, 3:27 PM UTC

djinoz2 wrote: post #2

Sharing economy is usually supply side constrained. There needs to be enough incentive for the "seller". If you are renting your mower for $20, the $ benefit is way lower than renting your house. An acquaintance of mine setup http://www.rentoid.com/ a looong time ago and I never asked but this is probably the reason. What I saw was professional hire companies using the site as leadgen because it was free advertising…

That makes sense, thanks!

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't there more rental apps for renting personal items?

#5

Post by fil_a_del_fee_a » Fri, Aug 11, 2017, 3:28 PM UTC

celticninja wrote: post #3

It's hard for a renter to disappear with your house/apartment but easy to never return your DJ gear.

Very True!