Zilok Allows You To Rent Anything from Anyone
Ouriel Ohayon
41 comments »
The idea is not brand new, and the name sounds like a french guy learning how to say something in English, but the execution is good enough to catch the attention and maybe even take some bet on the future of this french startup called Zilok. They basically offer a service where anyone can rent anything he/she owns to anyone. The service was launched in France a few weeks ago and opens tomorrow in the US (accessible at us.zilok.com). It has attracted so far a few thousand users and even generated some business. So now let’s see how it will work on the other side of the atlantic.
Here is how it works: Once registered on the website you can add any object you own for rental purposes. You define the price, the area you can cover, and the rental conditions (period, deposit,..). Zilok will issue for you a rental agreement that you will use directly with the renter. A user can use several tools to find what is searching to rent for including a search engine, a category directory or google map mashup. Once he identifies what is searching for (an example with a Wii here), he will contact the owner and the closing is not happening on the website but in real life. Zilok does not provide a payment system or a third party deposit service. But like on standard marketplaces they have created a reputation system to filter easily power-owners or power-renters and to optimize the process.
What is missing for me is a wizard to assist an owner in evaluating the rental price of his goods. If i know how to find a second hand price benchmark on the web (checking eBay for example) i would not know how to find the rental price of a piece of furniture (specially if it is unique). Zilok will not be appropriate for many categories of objects (cloths for example) and in many cases the rental price (even if rented several times) will not be a better bargain than just buying or selling the same product second hand or third hand. But i can see how this could catch with some product categories (some equipments and accessories, or utilities).
The service is open to both private individuals and professionals. I would tend to think that the big chunk of the business is on the second part and i think it will take some time before users get used to this new way of ‘monetizing” their goods. Not mentionning it requires a bit more logisitic than just selling over eBay (since the transaction is manual). The business model is based on the payment of a listing fee by the owner. Until 2008 the service is free.
RentMineOnline is another startup, winner of the Seedcamp startup competition is addressing the same need but building its service on top of social networks (they have a Facebook app) in order to solve the trust issue. Zilok claims that geographical proximity is the #1 trigger to make a decision. I think the truth is somewhere in the middle and that the online rental model is very likely to get a lot of fine-tuning until it finds its way. But it eventually will.
The founders have some good experience with MarketPlaces. Zilok is based in Paris, self-funded and has been created by Gary Cige and Thibaud Elzière, the founder of the online image bank Fotolia.com. For more details here is a full tour and here is their blog
This is another great was how the web (web 2.0 ) is enabling us to connect th to the world.
This app is more than a social exchange network. The data that will be compiled at Zilok will prove to be priceless to the creators, marketers, and deep pocket corporations.
Great idea..good timing…usable design.
http://www.meetignflex.com
Social Network + Video - Crap
I am not impressed by this startup; I think the niche is too tiny and their business model (charging for listings) is fundamentally flawed (because if you charge for listings, you are restricting the size of your inventory and thus downgrading the user experience).
However, I think it is fantastic that TechCrunch is covering non-US, or non-Silicon Valley for that matter, startups. There are many great startups around the world, and it would be fun to see more posts like this in future.
It will be interesting to see how they get to the critical mass. This idea will succeed eventually, but i fear a lot of dead companies will have to pave the way for the winner first.
Hmm.. Not sure what I would like to rent.. but this is really a new idea though! Never imagine you renting something from other people :p.. prolly a toaster or a bbq set XD
But I’m feeling pretty evil today.. you can read it on my blog.. really REALLY EVIL
Looks nice. Seems, that they are not too “frenchy”.
Back in the Bubble we had an office near a start up called “RentAnything.com” they even paid to have their ad on the back cover of the telephone book in the Bay Area. Had a team of about 50, a couple million in VC, etc. Anyone heard of them? Exactly. This is a stupid idea. It didn’t work then and it won’t work now. Doing the same thing and mashing in maps doesn’t make it any more workable.
What is one of the easiest, cheapest, and most wanted items to trade? DVD’s. There are a few startups based around trading those and none of them do well. If you can’t even get an easy idea like tradind CD’s and DVD’s to work how are people going to rent a vegetable steamer like they show in the picture?
Please whoever invested in this company get a grip. Come to your senses. If you head my warning and send me half of whatever you plan on dumping into this dog you’ll be doing yourself a favor! I’m going to save you a lot of $$$ or Francs or whatever if you’re french. Ha!
Many models pre-Bubble that did not work, are fine today. let’s compare apples with apples. context is different.
Lots of things happened since the bubble; for example : The French Franc became The Euro
The site just screams: “We are french”
they should hire some U.S. people to do their write ups.
Example fees: Instead of using $.50 they use $0,5
not a big difference I know, but I personally would be put off by such weirdness
French is sexy isn’t it?
hi guys, there’s one sucessful company already in the market: http://www.erento.com. They’re big in the German market but they will dominate the European market soon, maybe also the world. So the idea can work…
DUMBEST…. IDEA…. EVER
Certainly not a dumb idea ! Simple it could be, but sometimes the simpliest ideas are the most succesfull… Anyway, I’m very curious to see how they’ll do on the US market…
We are launching with a much better site using a similar model in two weeks, on Nov 15th.
Check out iRent2u.com, the Online Rental Marketplace. It’s one place to rent anything from anyone.
We are launching with over 1 million items on day one, effectively giving us instant critical mass.
We are presently looking for industry experts to give early access to the site, starting this Thursday. If anyone is interested send me an email and a short bio at tim@irent2u.com
Tim McCormack
Co-Founder - iRent2u.com
somehow i see this turning into another craigslist “exotic services” listing….
this is a GREAT idea… if this is a dumb idea than what the hell are all these crappy ideas out there are?
I’ve used a similar service in New Zealand called Hire Things - http://www.hirethings.co.nz/
I put an Apple Airport Express and a GPS unit online. So far only one rental of the Airport but at $10 a week for 2 weeks it was some beer money. It is a great idea if people can get over the hump of lending to strangers. At least with auctions you get rid of the itme but with renting you ideally want the item back in one piece.
A lot of people have trouble renting something to someone they don’t know. I certainly dont….what happens if the item comes back broken or with missing pieces? A lot of people abuse rentals (e.g. cars)
I think physiology has to change before this takes off. I’m can’t imagine people making a lot of money renting things. The risk is that an I make enough to cover the cost of the item, the one time it comes back broken?
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For those who are curious, In French, “location” means “renting”, so that explains the “lok” part. The “zi” part appears to be them poking fun at themselves in terms of how the French are perceived to pronounce “the”. Pretty cute.
moogul
what happened to that site, they were doing something like this but disappeared almost in days (literally). This site is 100 times better designed than moogul was and also “next genration”.
Best Wishes
http://www.nuvorent.com
…has been doing this for a while now!
Good luck to you and your great project Gary ! Hope to see you again soon.
Best wishes
Gregory Bronchart
It’s the definition of a bubble, 5 people in this thread alone are “doing” this “already” and none of them are making any money.
I’d love to be able to take odds on this on Bodog. What are the chances any of these 5 become even a top 5,000 site within the next 2 years. I’d say very low. How about it? Tech Crunch mentioned companies odds on Bodog? Now there’s an idea that would make some money. Or a Tech Crunch fantasy league.
In regard to post #6. It’s the same thing with the same model. RentAnything.com did exactly this and was well funded in 2000. If it didn’t work before why would it now? I can’t think of a lot of ideas that failed in the bubble that are now kicking butt. I think it would make a great read to see companies that failed then that have either come back or exactly the same idea has been done now and works.
#22 I see “Patent Pending” on your site. Thank you for the laugh.
The problem with this rental idea is that it sounds great on paper but it just doesn’t work in real life. If this were such a great idea there would be stores all over the place renting vegetable steamers, pod chairs, and HP Laserjet printers like in the screenshots that accompany this article. But there aren’t.
If this is such a great idea who here has gone to any of these sites after reading this and rented something? Set a tickler in your calendar to come back to this thread in 6 months to ask yourself that same question. It’s going to be 0. Nobody. And I’ll tell you why. It’s because this is one of those ideas that sounds really great, but isn’t. You just gotta see it to believe it. If you don’t trust me, then trust my gut. It’s giving this idea 2 thumbs way down.
@ Enough,
We thank you for your balanced comments. Unfortunately, writing twice exactly the same argument does not make it right.
Zilok aims to revolutionize the world of online rentals by opening it up to individuals, and by bringing together the currently very fragmented world of professional rentals in the US ($100 billion worth). As new ways to consume are being created and explored, renting becomes a positive, sustainable alternative to buying and selling.
There are numerous examples of ideas that were not well exploited but we will not enter into this argument.
Since the bubble, as many have already put it, many things have evolved and changed. New tools appeared, the use of the Internet changed and the number of Internet users has seriously increased.
As for companies that have done the same in the past, you should know that the ideas remain a small part of any business model. The tools we implement, the process, our marketing and of course our team are completely different. What was not successful then can definitely become a huge success now.
Anyway, we would be pleased to discuss with you our business model, do not hesitate to contact me directly : gary@zilok.com
Kind regards,
Gary
Co-founder
Zilok.com
We here in New Zealand have been running http://www.HireThings.co.nz for the last year and are gaining traction, albeit slowly. These things do take time, but I’m certainly in the camp of “it can work”…
- because of the feedback we get from those hiring things out & hiring things to use (good and otherwise which we listen to)
- because of the massive growth in internet usage,
- because of the sustainable nature of hiring (renting), and
- because I think the companies doing this now are going about it in smarter ways, hopefully avoiding “bubble” mistakes as much as possible.
Power to you Zilok, irent2u, erento, nuvorent.
Peter & the team @ http://www.HireThings.co.nz
I like the idea, but the issues of taxation will make this too complex.
Fascinating to see all these sites springing up. I wouldn’t be surprised if a few them are related to the springwise coverage of http://www.HireThings.co.nz about eight months ago.
Good luck to all of them!
Fascinating to see all these sites springing up.
I have been watching the team at http://www.HireThings.co.nz for the last six months…they’re certainly working hard to avoid the mistakes of the past.
Good luck to all of them!
We are in the online rental business since 2003 and we are profitable since 2004. We are running a huge plattform in Germany http://www.erento.com/mieten quiet successfully.
There is a clear trend to rent items in Germany and people who are using it are quite satisfied. I strongly believe there is a change in the mindset of consuming products. Renting items based on your specific needs is already becoming more and more used in Germany. I don’t see any reason why this couldn’t succeed in other countries.
We have just expanded our business to the UK and also offering our service in the U.S. We are happy to see other companies helping to make the rental business more known.
rent it all online!
Volker Wohlfarth from http://www.erento.com/rent
Tim,
Are you launching today?
We have been operating Rentoid.com successfully in Australia for a while now and are well established. We are growing strongly and have coverage in every corner of Australia. We’ve had positive press in every major newspaper in Australia and national ABC radio. The model works - when it’s done right.
Sure renting isn’t for everyone, but neither ebay or facebook - Longtail! I
It’s great to hear there are many renting websites out there sticking to it. Well done and we hope it helps us all grow the category and the model together.
Cheers,
Steve
Founder http://www.rentoid.com
its cool and nice looking site.