The Resurgence of Hyper-Local Online Lending Communities

We’ve recently featured a number of companies attempting to facilitate hyper-local online lending communities.  An article in yesterday’s New York Times re-affirms this growing trend that was initially established and abruptly ended in the waning years of the dotcom bubble:

Now, at least four companies have started in the last few months to try the concept again. iRent2u, based in Los Angeles, Zilok in France, eRento in Germany and HireThings, based in New Zealand, all want to be the eBay for online rentals. Another company, Rentmineonline, based in Britain, is focusing specifically on the real estate market and has introduced a Facebook application.

But, before any of these companies can take off, they face two problems: getting enough people to engage with the site that it actually becomes useful; and convincing people that their stuff will come back in the same condition it left in.

To overcome these hurdles, online rental companies are partnering with traditional rental companies to add cars and other frequently needed items to their inventory - because lenders won’t lend if there is nothing to borrow in the first place. Ideally, users initial trial will be satisfactory enough that they feel they can trust the community enough to lend out some of their own gear.  Which brings us back to trust - it’s all about trust, and foster a greater sense of trust, companies are developing rating systems and transparent feedback methods similar to that of e-Bay.

NYT: Rent Anything … From the Family Down the Street