Own Things You Don’t Use? Rent Them to Others with Rentalic

Own Things You Don’t Use? Rent Them to Others with Rentalic
Author: Mark Alvarez
http://www.atelier-us.com/category/e-business-and-it

Some people have a lot of stuff. Others don’t.
Rentalic gives each side the chance to profit from this, enabling people to rent their possessions or services to others.

Users can also request things that they need to use for a limited time. For example, right now a San Francisco user is trying to find a scanner to digitize bank statements and tax records, while a Los Angeles user is looking for a soldering iron they can rent on a daily or weekly basis.

Renters pay via PayPal and meet the owners to get the items.

Advantages of the service are that it reduces consumption – so it gets the green push – it also raises the value of possessions for owners and allows renters to find inexpensive items.

There are some big barriers to adoption, like trusting strangers with your possessions. As with most sites, Rentalic uses a reputation-based system to rate lenders and borrowers. Items are not insured, which can be prohibitive for some lenders. A security deposit can be placed upon items, though.

The selling point is that Rentalic is green, but what could cause the service to be big is that possessions are unevenly distributed, and a lot of spending (and manufacturing) power is wasted on one-off purchases. People buy tools they use for only one job or equipment for hobbies they never pursue. There is a potential mass economy in exchanging these items.

Last month, Rentalic won the PayPal X Developer Challenge at last month’s DEMO. It is currently in public beta.

Proven Topics For Subscription Websites

Coming up with the right mix for a subscription website is one of daunting tasks for those wanting to start such websites. There are however 5 such subjects which are the most popular ones.

It’s a serious business to start and run such a website. But the ongoing research has shown that there are 5 such subscription websites, which have performed well time and again. These are -

• Trade association websites
• Print newsletter
• Job and career sites
• Personality or insider profile website
• Product library downloads

We can look at them one by one

1. Trade association

Most trade associations provide various kinds of services and benefits to their members. In this case, the same is extended over the Internet. In a members’ only subscription website, they are able to provide the same kind of benefits. Many trade associations extend such benefits. These include financial, marketing, legal and other such benefits. Latest news and information from the trade circles.

There are many such sites. Some sites boast of even membership of 85,000 and above. Such is the popularity of these websites. While many membership subscription websites are interactive, the rest are just billboard type websites having one or two pages listing the names and the contact information of the members.

2. Print newsletter

A print newsletter, which is a successful one can be very easily uploaded on to become a subscription website for members only. There are many advantages of carrying the print version online. Though not a newsletter, the online version of the ’The Economist’ is also available online. The various benefits that accrue to the subscribers are -They can search for articles in the previous issues -The current issues are available at a touch of the mouse and they don’t need to wait for the mailman to deliver the issues -Other value added benefits might be available on the website itself –Many new members can easily subscribe to the newsletter online

3. Job and career sites

There are literally hundreds and thousands of sites, which provide news and information on jobs and careers

-They provide job listings -There are many articles, tips, and tricks on how to prepare for these jobs -Have links to educational sites, employer sites etc. -Provide information on startup business, marketing tools, financial tools etc. -These sites charge subscription fees, which fall in the range of £300 – £500. Many of these sites are also free (they are supported by many advertisements)

4. Personality or insider profile website

The subscription site is developed around a personality. This personality would be considered an authority and an expert in their chosen field around the world. They usually charge subscription fees, which can be quite steep. A particular stock analyst charges almost £2,000 per year. Subscribers log on daily for his analysis of stock movement and the advice provided is considered sacred. This is because he has an amazing track record and is the best in the industry.

5. Product library downloads

There are various product library downloads for example clipart, music files, scripts, .pdf files etc. The members to these subscription sites are in need of professional products, which they can download. For example clipart and templates for PowerPoint presentation for the professionals. There are many free sites as well as paid sites, which are available. Some of these can charge upwards of £150 onwards for downloading their entire product library.

Since there are both free and subscription sites for members, the paid sites need to differentiate them from the rest. The paid subscription sites need to deliver the specific and requested information conveniently and quickly.

Source: Computer Technology