Neighborhood Renting and Loan Systems
Description
"Jean Hsu, Chief Product Officer at the start-up Frenting, was inspired to create her business when she and her husband were reupholstering chairs and needed a sewing machine; rather than buy equipment they might not need again, they decided to email friends and ask to borrow a machine. "We realized among our friends we are constantly shuttling things back and forth to lend or borrow for parties, outings, and projects: a step ladder, cameras, folding chairs, a juicer, etc. Clearly we knew friends in general were happy to lend, but just didn't know who had what and what they were willing to lend." She decided to create a website to meet allow friends to list and share products among themselves, and soon met two business partners with a similar vision.
Frenting isn't alone. Neighborrow is a similar site. Also similar, but with a focus on renting, and open for anyone to browse are Rentoid and I Let You. Neighborgoods, founded by Worldchanging contributor Micki Krimmel, offers renting and loaning, and is intended for use by strangers. While Frenting's market research led the company to limit networks to friends, in part to help users feel more comfortable, Neighborgoods has adopted the philosophy that borrowing from friends and strangers can help build community. In big cities, where it can be common for neighbors to be strangers, requesting a vacuum online may be easier than knocking on someone's door, and a way to make a new friend.
Building Bulletins is designed to help apartment dwellers meet the others in their buildings and includes product sharing. GoGo Verde, Bright Neighbor, and Barterquest offer other community-building tools beyond product sharing, like discussion boards and skill-sharing. WeCommune provides software for resource sharing. Other sites that promote product sharing include Swaptree, Techtain, Loanables, and Return My Pants." (http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/011171.html)
Directory
Updates via http://del.icio.us/mbauwens/P2P-Neighborhoods
- http://www.frenting.com/
- http://www.beta.neighborrow.com/
- http://www.rentoid.com/
- http://www.iletyou.com/
- http://buildingbulletins.com/
- http://www.gogoverde.com/
- http://www.brightneighbor.com/
- http://www.barterquest.com/
- http://www.swaptree.com/
- http://www.loanables.com/
- http://returnmypants.com/