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

2 points by fil_a_del_fee_a 8 years ago | 4 comments

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?

djinoz2 8 years ago |

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 ;)

fil_a_del_fee_a 8 years ago | |

That makes sense, thanks!

celticninja 8 years ago |

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

fil_a_del_fee_a 8 years ago | |

Very True!