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DeletedUser2
Guest
someone here locally tried that. asked me to come in and look at his biz, on why it wasn't working.
he was trying to be the craigslist of rentals, and be in every city.
all at once.
so here is some feed back I gave him, after looking at the whole model.
craigslist did not start out big.
it was very small.
VERY small at first.
THEN gained traction in 1 area, then added more, and more areas. and then more and more cities.
he tried to go nation wide first thing. but no capital to sustain any kind of advertising, even locally.
2. the thing things he was trying to rent...
cars, bikes, drills chainsaws ect.
so look at it from 1. a person who rents perspective
and the person who rents out perspective.
1. so im a renter, I want ot rent a drill. on your site I have to come up with 20 bucks, and drive to get the drill, and have 20 dollar deposit. and drive back the same day.
if its across town, I have to coordinate with the person who has the drill, put up 40 bucks, hope they are home when I need it, and then coordinate when they are home to get it back to them, and get my money back.
OR, I have 40 bucks in my pocket now, I buy a drill, and use it. I dont have to coordinate with anyone, and i can use it multiple times.
now if the drill they give me doesn't work, i may or may not get my money back, because they could say I broke it. but since I didn't test it before I rented it. its their word against mine, but they have my money, so they keep it, and now I bought a 40$ broken drill.
as someone renting my stuff out
1. someone I dont know comes to my house, and sees my stuff,
asks me when I'm going to be back to the house, so they can deliver it and get their money back. Risk 1. they come rob me when Im gone
if its an expensive item, and they dont have the money for the full value, (that's why rent vs buy right?) what if they dont come back? if they have a credit card, Do I need a merchant account? do i need to incur merchant fees? what if they charge back on the card? RISK 2. what if they steal it. what If they break it and I am out more money than I made? was it worth the risk?
Do i have a waiver? am I protected if the drill through their hand? can they charge me for getting a shock if the cord was frayed? rental places have attorneys who have spent alot of time getting rental agreements in place. does the average Joe have time for that? no.
If its a larger expensive Item, Do I have LOjack on it? did they put enough money down? what if the credit card they gave me was stolen?
What happens if I leave work, to "rent" my riding mower, someone got hurt loading it, they want to sue, the guy who Rented it on a stolen card, keeps my mower, gave me a bogus address, and no cash, now has my mower for sale on Craigslist?
as with any system there comes abuse. craigslist spends alot of their time just combating all the scammers on there. and its grown into a HUGE industry.
would I Put my stuff up for rent? nope. sell it on Craigslist, at a cheap enough cost someone can buy vs rent. sure. the idea sounds good, until you add the human element.
and if you caught the last of another thread, you can see someone who "stole a website and niche" from someone who helped him out. claiming his 2 kids as reasons for doing so. people are like that.
you wont get rich, on a site like this. but you will learn a ton of lessons. esp when people try to sue you for their stolen riding lawn mower.
Good luck
Z
he was trying to be the craigslist of rentals, and be in every city.
all at once.
so here is some feed back I gave him, after looking at the whole model.
craigslist did not start out big.
it was very small.
VERY small at first.
THEN gained traction in 1 area, then added more, and more areas. and then more and more cities.
he tried to go nation wide first thing. but no capital to sustain any kind of advertising, even locally.
2. the thing things he was trying to rent...
cars, bikes, drills chainsaws ect.
so look at it from 1. a person who rents perspective
and the person who rents out perspective.
1. so im a renter, I want ot rent a drill. on your site I have to come up with 20 bucks, and drive to get the drill, and have 20 dollar deposit. and drive back the same day.
if its across town, I have to coordinate with the person who has the drill, put up 40 bucks, hope they are home when I need it, and then coordinate when they are home to get it back to them, and get my money back.
OR, I have 40 bucks in my pocket now, I buy a drill, and use it. I dont have to coordinate with anyone, and i can use it multiple times.
now if the drill they give me doesn't work, i may or may not get my money back, because they could say I broke it. but since I didn't test it before I rented it. its their word against mine, but they have my money, so they keep it, and now I bought a 40$ broken drill.
as someone renting my stuff out
1. someone I dont know comes to my house, and sees my stuff,
asks me when I'm going to be back to the house, so they can deliver it and get their money back. Risk 1. they come rob me when Im gone
if its an expensive item, and they dont have the money for the full value, (that's why rent vs buy right?) what if they dont come back? if they have a credit card, Do I need a merchant account? do i need to incur merchant fees? what if they charge back on the card? RISK 2. what if they steal it. what If they break it and I am out more money than I made? was it worth the risk?
Do i have a waiver? am I protected if the drill through their hand? can they charge me for getting a shock if the cord was frayed? rental places have attorneys who have spent alot of time getting rental agreements in place. does the average Joe have time for that? no.
If its a larger expensive Item, Do I have LOjack on it? did they put enough money down? what if the credit card they gave me was stolen?
What happens if I leave work, to "rent" my riding mower, someone got hurt loading it, they want to sue, the guy who Rented it on a stolen card, keeps my mower, gave me a bogus address, and no cash, now has my mower for sale on Craigslist?
as with any system there comes abuse. craigslist spends alot of their time just combating all the scammers on there. and its grown into a HUGE industry.
would I Put my stuff up for rent? nope. sell it on Craigslist, at a cheap enough cost someone can buy vs rent. sure. the idea sounds good, until you add the human element.
and if you caught the last of another thread, you can see someone who "stole a website and niche" from someone who helped him out. claiming his 2 kids as reasons for doing so. people are like that.
you wont get rich, on a site like this. but you will learn a ton of lessons. esp when people try to sue you for their stolen riding lawn mower.
Good luck
Z