Rentoid offers an eBay style variety of items, but with one distinct difference: the items are only available for rent.
The Melbourne, Australia based startup launched in beta last year and has slowly been growing its user base as it adds features and signs distribution agreements. Items for rent can be searched by type of item and location, and social tagging by members in encouraged.
Content comes from its user base and through agreements with rental companies; in Australia Rentoid has agreements with national rental providers including Coates, Kennards, and Radio Rentals.
Current rental listings on the site include private jets, Islands, Dogs, rubix cube, ladders, Ferraris, high end handbags, and more regular fare.
Rentoid currently has members in the United States, India, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the UK (as well as its native Australia), and the platform supports dollars and pounds.
Zilok is a similar service we’ve covered before.
I don’t see this working in America.
Not at all. They will definitely spread themselves too then in the States…
Rubix cube! Who would want to rent something (and pay for shipping) for an item that costs less then a dollar at the local Chinatown? Private jets have fractional ownership schemes and I don’t see this system replacing those. Nice idea but there are too many people out there who “permanently borrow” items. I would like to “rent” a full ipod with 10K songs on it though… that sounds interesting!
Jon
http://dreamclue.com …get the message!
Very interesting concept, will have to watch. I have heard about companies that rent designer items like purses etc.
This concept only works in a niche and it needs to be the right niche.
I know it works with designer bags and it’s begbarrowandsteal.com or something like that.
Obviously DVDs with sites like Netflix.
Focus on something like tools (drills, hammers, etc.) and this might work.
I think the idea is great and look forward to seeing how it goes.
Sign up didn’t work for me, clicking the button just brought me up back to the top of the page with no message at all, what a piece of crap!
Hello,
I think the idea is very great and could have a chance to work. However the idea is not sufficient to make it work, it will need a good site and a strong team, something that I see with Zilok.com but not with rentoid.com
Thibaud
The advantage of rental sites over ebay from a content perspective is that the list of available items will continue to grew (i.e. the listings do not disappear upon transaction). Has a neat environmental angle for getting publicity (reuse of idle assets).
Could be viable if it becomes the one-stop-shop for mainstream and quirky items…
Oh and I signed up with no dramas… what browser were you using Hendra?
A group of Swedish guys have started a similar site for the Swedish market, http://www.stuffly.se. Will open soon.
Hasn’t this idea already failed like 100 times? What’s different that will make this idea a success? RentAnything.com was decently funded back around 2000 and failed.
It reminds me of this gas station near my home. It’s been owned 4-5x in the past 15 years, always going out of business though. Then a new sucker(owner) comes along and thinks they’re the ones with the plan to make it work. Then 2-3 years later they blow all their money, probably their kids college education, and their retirement, then it’s time to find the next sucker(owner)
This idea of renting anything sounds decent on paper but who really wants to rent my socks, my dogs chew toy, or my brothers TV?
Save yourself the trouble and add these guys to the deadpool now.
Oy vey! My rentoids are flaring up again.
Seriously, how long does it take to quiz a few people to see if your name has a dual meaning, or worse, overtly anal connotations as is the case here. Now if you’re selling a cure for anal warts, lube, etc, maybe a name like Rentoid is a good idea.
I agree, send this puppy out for the Old Yeller treatment, because all that dawg does is twitch and shake and piss all over itself.
I guess every business model has it’s positive and negative opinions. Only time will ever tell.
One point to note to Idiot CEO - it’s a bit foolish to compare a ‘decently funded’ startup as you term it from the 1990’s. That was why most of them failed. They had too much money and squandered it!!!! It was a gold rush of fools.
A self funded web 2.0 model can be done at 1% of the cost of what startups invested, sorry wasted in the 1990’s. Isn’t it about return on Investment not IPO’s. (Imaginary Profits Only)