Loanablog: let's change the world.

Interview with a Loaner - Annabel Knight

2011-08-16T22:22:00.000-05:00

Recently, we interviewed Annabel Knight, a very active Loaner who is enjoying being part of the Loanables community and wants to share her experience with the rest of our community.

Hello Anabel. Can you please tell our members why and when you decided to become a Loanables member?

I've been on Loanables so long, I don't even remember how I heard about it. But it sounded like a great idea, so I joined up. After a few months, I even contacted the founder and got some signs from him to put in my yard, because it's such a good concept.

Ok, so have you Loaned, Borrowed, or Both?

I mostly loan, although I have browsed from time to time looking for items to borrow.

What sort of Loanable items have you Loaned and Borrowed?

I have a Dyson "cyclone" vacuum which is very popular, and also a carpet steam cleaner.

See here for yourselves, folks:

Carpetcleaner/shampooer Hoover Platinum MaxExtrct

Dyson vacuumcleaner (HEPA allergy filter, extras)

How has your experience been?

Fantastic! I was nervous the first time I loaned out my Dyson--after all, it's a pretty expensive appliance--but everyone has been courteous and reliable. I love hearing from people how much they love the Dyson. One guy showed me that his carpet had actually changed colors: what looked like a dark green carpet was actually blue after the dirt was gone!

Think about your most popular Loanable -- the item that has rented out the most. Based on the income you've made from this item and the original cost of it, what has been the return on investment (ROI) for this item?

I don't really track it, but I would guess that I've probably earned back well over half the original price of the Dyson.

How does that return compare to your stock portfolio or favorite

investment?

Heheh, my stocks don't clean the floor! Seriously, though, for me, lending is not primarily about the money. It's more about sharing an expensive resource instead of having to buy your own or do without.

Would you recommend Loanables to your friends?

Absolutely. In today's economic climate, it makes sense to borrow an expensive item instead of buying it. The Loanables philosophy is community-minded and "green," and Loanables members seem to fit that profile.

What thoughts would you like to leave our Loanables members with?

Tell your friends about Loanables and get them to sign up... the more people we have loaning and borrowing, the better it will be for everyone.

There you go, folks. Annabel tells you to spread the word about Loanables. If you have a Loanables story to tell like Annabel just did, please comment on this post! We may even ask to interview you on this blog.

How I make $140/hour on Loanables

2009-11-14T14:33:00.002-06:00

I'm a very busy person, so any time I'm asked to do something that isn't strictly classified as "fun", I look at the time-value of the activity to see if it's worth my time - literally. I've found renting stuff out on Loanables to be one of the most profitable things I can do, given the amount of time it takes.

For example, I often rent out my Cash Flow board game, which is great for teaching people financial responsibility. It typically rents for at least 1 week, which fetches me $12. It takes about 5 minutes of my time each time someone rents it. $12 in 5 minutes equates to $144/hour.

Another popular item is my jon boat, which I rent to neighbors who just want to go fishing for a day or weekend and don't want to deal with the hassles of boat ownership. My boat rents for $30/day and most people keep it for 2 days, so that's $60. It takes about 30 minutes of my time each time I rent it, so that's $120/hour.

I find that most items that I rent fetch me around $120 - $180 for each hour of my time. That's not a bad hourly rate, and certainly worth a few minutes of time. Plus I get the added benefits of meeting some great neighbors and feeling good about helping them AND the environment.

Loanables ROI - Interview with a Loaner

2009-03-28T15:19:00.005-05:00

Today we are interviewing Dominic D., a real Loaner who is enjoying the money he has earned by loaning out his stuff on Loanables and wants to share his experience with the rest of our community.

Q: Why did you decide to become a Loanables member?
I couldn't think of a good reason not to become a Loanables member. I could have stuff sitting around in my garage collecting dust, or have it make me money. It was a no-brainer!

Q: Have you Loaned, Borrowed, or Both?
So far I have only loaned. Every person I have dealt with so far has been courteous and easy to deal with.

Q: How has your experience been?
A++. People that need an item only once get to use it at a fraction of the cost and don't have to store it, and I get to recoup the money I have invested. It's a win-win.

Q: Think about your most popular Loanable -- the item that has rented out the most. Based on the income you've made from this item and the original cost of it, what has been the return on investment (ROI) for this item?
My most popular item has been loaned out several times, and has more than paid for itself. Like I said before, it could have just been collecting dust. Instead, it is earning me money.

Q: How does that return compare to your stock portfolio??
Much, much better -- and with no risk!

Q: Would you recommend Loanables to your friends?
100% yes!!

What items do you have that others might want to borrow? Take 10 minutes today to walk through your garage, closets, and attic and post some stuff on Loanables today! What will you do with all the cash you'll earn?

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Loanables are your best investment

2008-10-18T18:40:00.002-05:00

As you watch your portfolio value drop like a rock, keep in mind that there are other investments besides stocks. For example, using Loanables is not only an investment in Mother Earth, but also a great financial investment. Let me explain, with two examples.

Making money by renting your stuff out
Last weekend, I rented out my live animal trap to a neighbor who needs to get rid of a skunk (please hold all political jokes!) This is the sixth time I have rented it out in the past year, and it has earned me a total of $80. I purchased it for about $40 originally (could have gotten it cheaper if I'd purchased off eBay or CraigsLIst.) So let's do the math:
$80 rental fee - $40 cost to purchase = $40 profit
$40 / $40 = 100% return

That's right, I've DOUBLED my money and gotten a 100% return on my original investment with this animal trap. How many stocks do you have that have returned 100% in 1 year??

Saving money by borrowing from others
Let's look at this same transaction from the perspective of the guy who rented the trap from me. He called the pest control company and they wanted $140 to come out and get rid of his skunk. Instead of $140, he's only paying me $10 for renting the trap. Loanables saved him $130. Who wouldn't want an extra $130 in their pocket?

I hear stories like this all the time of people who have earned back the original purchase price of their stuff, and made a healthy profit, by loaning it to their neighbors on Loanables. And remember, Loanables doesn't charge you any fees whatsoever. What great stuff do you have that you could be adding to your investment portfolio in this economy?

Austin EcoSchool is now enrolling

2008-07-04T18:39:00.000-05:00

We are long overdue for an update. Lots of exciting things happening at Loanables, including our coverage on KXAN and CNN (more on this later). I wanted to take a moment to pass along an announcement from Austin EcoSchool -- see below.

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What would a school look like if it were comprised of an old stone house, reclaimed furniture and school supplies, and trash for art supplies? Come to EcoSchool to find out. For two years we've been growing organic veggies, composting our lunch scraps, caring for the creek, and cleaning our building with vinegar. Our kids show up in used clothing, so they can play, create, and get downright dirty without worry. They've come up with hundreds of uses for the bamboo that grows in the yard, and they've given every oak a pet name. We pack our lunches as sustainably as possible, with real linens and dishes, not disposable stuff. This year our kids reached out to help men, women, children, and animals without homes. You need to meet this dynamic group of children;
they're expressive, compassionate, hardworking. Their hearts hold hope and their minds seek wisdom.

Austin EcoSchool is holding Summer Informational Orientation Nights:

Tuesday, July 1st, 6pm
Sunday, July 13th, 6pm
Thursday, July 31st, 6pm

The beautiful EcoSchool campus is located at 3000 Del Curto, Austin
TX 78704

Please join us to meet the community and discover if our school is right for your child. Austin EcoSchool is a 3-4 day/week school providing a bridge between homeschooling and full-time private education. Academic instruction is woven into a thematic and creative curriculum designed to make learning natural, relevant, and lasting. EcoSchool is a fun and loving place where every child is accepted and respected in their journey of self-discovery.

austinecoschool.org

(512) 447-8516

Please direct inquiries to kshoberg@gmail.com.

Now enrolling children ages 5 – 11 for Fall 2008!

The Story of Stuff -- you have to watch this

2008-03-10T18:38:00.000-05:00

If you haven't seen it yet, you have to check out The Story of Stuff. It's about 20 minutes long, but fun to watch and very well done. This should be mandatory viewing for all students. It shows just how harmful our over-consuming habits are to the environment and the global community.

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Eliminate unwanted catalogs with Catalog Choice

2008-02-23T18:37:00.000-06:00

Every now and then you run across an idea that is so brilliant, you hope the inventors win a Nobel prize. These are usually things that are:
1) very simple
2) very useful

While we hope that Loanables matches these criteria, I am actually writing about Catalog Choice, a service that I discovered a couple of months ago. This free service allows you to register catalogs that you no longer wish to receive. Catalog Choice will contact the merchants and inform them of your desire to not receive their catalogs. The site reports that in 2005, over 19 billion catalogs were sent out to U.S. consumers! Think about the enormous resources involved in creating, printing, and distributing those catalogs!

Personally, I don't need catalogs anymore -- I use the internet for all at-home shopping. And yet dozens of companies insist on shoving their catalogs into my face each week. I used to call them up and unsubscribe, but somehow I get back on their lists (without even buying anything or opting in.) While Catalog Choice hasn't eliminated all of my mailings, I've definitely noticed some reduction. And they make it easy to report companies who continue to send catalogs even after you have unsubscribed.

In addition to the environmental impact, I have another reason for not wanting all of those catalogs. We have one of those community mailbox stations, where our box is only about 6" by 6" large. It only takes a few catalogs to fill that up, and then your important mail has to be stored at the post office for pickup. What a pain!

You can see a list of all merchants who have begun taking data feeds from Catalog Choice here: http://www.catalogchoice.org/pages/merchants. I certainly hope others will follow their lead and end the wastefulness of unwanted catalogs. Go check out Catalog Choice and see how easy it is to use. And tell your friends!

Top 10 ways to live a more sustainable life

2008-01-01T18:36:00.000-06:00

Ok everyone, it's time for New Year's resolutions! Here is a suggestion -- try to live a more sustainable life by reducing the amount of CO2 produced by your lifestyle. Not sure how to do it? Well, the great folks over at YouSustain can help you out! Start by reading their great article on the Top 10 Easiest Ways To Become More Sustainable For 2008. Then, check out their Sustainability Challenges (there's even one for Borrowing durable goods instead of Buying.)

The thing I love about this site is that it goes beyond just offering suggestions by helping you measure the impact of a more sustainable live -- both environmentally and economically. It is great to see both the CO2 reduction and the monetary savings that result from even the smallest changes in our daily lifestyle. I'm participating in a couple of challenges, and plan to incorporate more of them over time. What will you do to live a more sustainable life in 2008?

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Fair Indigo - a fair trade company who is changing the world

2007-11-11T18:35:00.000-06:00

At a conference a couple of weeks ago, I had the distinct pleasure of hearing Bill Bass, the CEO of Fair Indigo, speak about his fair trade clothing company. (I even got to meet him afterward.) Fair Trade is social movement that is still in its infancy, but beginning to gain popularity. The essence of fair trade is to pay a fair price to the people who make goods, and to respect the environmental and social situations in their communities.

Bill spoke about how difficult it is to find clothing suppliers who will participate. Tongue in cheek, he explained about calling up factories in 3rd-world countries and saying "hello, we would like to pay you more for your clothes, so that you can pay your employees more" and having the person at the other end just hang up, thinking it's some kind of Nigerian money-laundering scam!

There are 2 wonderful videos showing the folks who make some of Fair Indigo's products. These are people who not only live in impoverished areas, but are themselves disadvantaged physically. They refer to Fair Indigo's customers as "Anonymous Angels" for supporting their life-changing occupations. Watch the videos -- they are quite moving.

Hats off to you, Bill, and your entire team. You are truly making a difference in this world for a lot of people.

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Loanables is now free!

2007-10-16T18:34:00.000-05:00

We are very excited to announce that we’ve been able to remove transaction fees from Loanables! Sharing your stuff has never been easier! We’ve been offering Loanables for Teachers at no cost since its launch, and instituted the Green Neighborhood program to reward neighborhoods who appreciate green values. We have now put this into effect for everything on Loanables.

This is an exciting milestone because our goal is to make it as easy as possible for people to loan their stuff out to others, and this simplifies the process to be purely between the Loaner and the Borrower. Both parties will still benefit from our Rental Agreement, which clarifies the responsibilities between Loaner and Borrower. And we have lots of enhancements in the works, including electronic facilitation of the security deposit and a new mobile-messaging system to speed up communications between Loaners and Borrowers.

Like what we’re doing? Please let us know ... or better yet, help us spread the word!!

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What if everyone in the world lived like you do?

2007-09-25T18:33:00.000-05:00

On NPR today, I heard about this great website called Consumer Consequences. Basically, you answer a bunch of questions about your lifestyle, and it tells you how many earths worth of resources it would take if everyone in the world lived like you do. What a wake-up call!

I will, embarassingly, share my score. 10.4. That's right. If everyone lived like I do, it would take 10.4 earths to sustain us. My worst scoring category was transportation, which I imagine would apply to lots of folks who do a lot of driving by themselves (that's a lot of energy just to transport the weight of one person!)

Try it out (it only takes a couple of minutes) and share your score with us!

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Loaners keep your engines running

2007-09-16T18:32:00.000-05:00

Have you ever known someone with a car or boat that just sat on their lot for years without being used? When they finally put in a fresh tank of gas and tried to start it up, what happened? It didn't start! Why? Because engines are meant to be used, not to sit there abandoned. When you use an engine regularly, the various seals and other parts stay properly lubricated and moist so that they do not dry out. It also keeps fresh gas and oil running through the system instead of letting stale fluids sit there. Simply put, an unused engine deteriorates over time.

This is one of the many great benefits of loaning your stuff out to neighbors. The extra use is actually good for it! I have found this to be the case with all of my engine-equipped Loanables, including my fishing boat and my lawnmower. The fishing boat is something I just don't use as often as I thought I would, and an outboard motor is expensive (the 25HP motor is worth more than the boat and trailer combined!) By sharing my boat, it gets much more use and stays in better condition than if I just let it sit there, deteriorating.

Same for my lawnmower, which I don't use these days since I pay the neighborhood kids to cut my lawn. A guy in my neighborhood rented it once because he has a small electric mower which is too small for his large lot. He wanted to rent it every other week, so now I just let him borrow it (free of charge) whenever he wants. He has even offered to service the mower for me the next time he borrows it! It has truly been a win-win scenario for both of us. The only losing party in this is the lawnmower manufacturer who missed out on selling 1 more brand new unit. But hey, I think they'll get over it...

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Meeting people is the best part of loaning

2007-09-02T18:31:00.000-05:00

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the extra money that I earn from renting out stuff I'm not using anyway. In fact, I believe that for most people, their unused stuff can be the best investment in their "portfolio" when rented to neighbors for a small fee. But that's a story for another post...

I've found that the best part about loaning out my stuff through Loanables is meeting the Borrowers. I've formed friendships with some of the of the people who have borrowed my stuff. This was somewhat of a surprise to me. When I first started using Loanables, I thought that meeting Borrowers would be a hassle. After all, these were random people that I had no connection with. Isn't this the mentality that is so prevalent these days? If I don't know you, then I don't trust you. From what I see in the media, everybody is bad!

But it turns out that most of the people out there are -- believe it or not -- good people! Most of them are folks who live in my neighborhood, or at least my part of town. In a time when people seem to be drifting farther apart, it's nice to find something that brings neighbors closer together.

Loanables for Teachers is here!

2007-07-29T18:30:00.000-05:00

I am excited to announce the launch of Loanables for Teachers! Earlier, I wrote about the problem of teachers being under-funded and having to spend their own money on classroom materials. I've also gotten a strong response from homeschooling parents who often face the same kind of economic crunch. Loanables for Teachers will open up a broad source of loanable teaching aids to our communities of educators.

Now it's your turn - and you can help in 2 ways:

Help us fill up the inventory of items available on Loanables for Teachers
Help spread the word by telling your teacher/educator friends about Loanables for Teachers

On the left side of the Loanables for Teachers search screen, you can see some of the items that are already in demand, including musical instruments, telescopes, art books/slides, and even van de graff generators. Take a look and see how you can help out our students!

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The difference between borrowing and renting

2007-06-27T18:27:00.002-05:00

I've been loaning out a lot of my own stuff lately through Loanables, and I really enjoy meeting and chatting with the Borrowers. I had a great experience today that I wanted to share.

On Monday, a very nice guy named Chris requested to borrow my ladder. He was putting his house on the market 2 days later and just needed to hang some shutters, so he only needed a ladder for a day. He picked it up yesterday. The price was $8 for the day.

Tonight, he was a couple hours late returning it because his A/C died and he had to deal with that crisis. When he returned the ladder, he shoved an extra $10 into my hand and wouldn't let me give it back, then proceeded to thank me profusely for letting him use the ladder. Wow. Just for grins, I checked the rental prices at a local "Depot" store. $26/day for a comparable ladder. If he had been late returning it there, guess what? They would have charged him another $26. Instead of being forced to pay an extra $26, he gladly gave me an extra $10. That's the difference between borrowing and renting, folks.

Just for being such a great Borrower, I've credited his account with $10 in rental credit. And I was glad to do it.

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Anyone need a horse?

2007-06-24T18:25:00.001-05:00

When one of our members posted a horse a few weeks ago, we got a big chuckle out of it. I mean, I can understand renting out an air compressor, or a tile saw, or a chafing dish. But a horse?? Well I'm happy to announce that this horse has found a borrower! There's a girl out there who has been taking riding lessons for several years and now will have the chance to ride a lot this summer, thanks to the Loanables community. At $75 a month, you can't afford NOT to rent a horse!

It just goes to show how valuable our infrequently-used treasures are to those who need them ... even the ones the need to be fed!

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B Corporation: serving more than just shareholders

2007-06-03T18:24:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we applied to become a B Corporation. This is a new type of corporate entity whose mission is to create benefit not just for shareholders, but for the community, environment, employees ... the stakeholders. A traditional Corporation has a legal mandate to maximize shareholder return, which often comes at the expense of these stakeholders. B Corporations are a new community of companies that seek to be good stewards of our natural and human resources, while still providing a return to their shareholders.

We at Loanables were excited to learn about the B Corporation movement, because it is exactly in line with the company we want to build. We believe that companies have a duty to serve their communities and employees, not just their shareholders. By being explicit about this, B Corporations will attract like-minded shareholders who are willing to allow social & environmental benefit to play into corporate decisions. Thus it becomes not a conflict of interest, but rather an expression of interest.

Would you invest in a B Corporation?

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Loaning to Learn

2007-05-24T18:21:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine whose wife is a teacher shared with me an interesting tidbit of information. School teachers (who are among the most underpaid members of our modern society) often end up spending their own money to buy materials for their classrooms. Perhaps you can give an adequate education using public funding. But I can understand how those who are driven to be great educators would be willing to sacrifice a bit to give their students a superior educational experience.

Let's help them out!

I ran across a great charity called DonorsChoose (http://www.donorschoose.org). It allows teachers to submit project ideas that require funding, and donors can pick out specific projects that they wish to support. Brilliant!

We are also considering adding a special Teachers section to Loanables, whereby teachers can share these materials with each other, track who is borrowing what, manage security deposits for valuable items, etc. Watch this space for more news, and let us know what you think!

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The Loanables Mission

2007-05-18T18:14:00.001-05:00

We are long overdue for a more interactive way to communicate with our fans! For starters, here is a little more background behind who we are and what we're trying to accomplish. We have a humble goal: to change the world through community bonding.

In the beginning...

Loanables started out as two families living in Austin, TX who realized the untapped power of neighborly connections. More specifically, we observed a couple of trends that we felt needed to be changed:

1) Neighbors tend to be strangers.

We enjoy our neighbors and our neighborhoods, and we welcome the opportunity to meet more of the folks who live in our area. The trend today is towards less neighborly interaction. Many people communicate more with folks halfway around the world than with the families living just a couple of doors away. That seems odd to us.

2) People have a lot of unused stuff.

We realize how much "stuff" the average family accumulates, and more specifically, how much dust this stuff collects from not being used most of the time.

So we said "hey, why not put these together in a way that benefits everyone!" And Loanables was born.

But wait, there's more

The idea quickly expanded. You see, we also believe in charitable giving. The borrowing idea seemed like a perfect way to benefit non-profits, schools, and other groups and individuals who often need to borrow things that they cannot afford to buy or rent from conventional stores. Donating money is great, but why not also donate items you aren't using? Thus we added a new role at Loanables, that of the CCO -- Chief Charitable Officer. We now let Loaners offer up their items to schools & non-profits at no charge, and are always looking for other ways to benefit those in our community who are in need of help. We have a couple of programs in the works, including one to provide baby clothes/items to parents who cannot afford to buy stuff that their children will outgrow every 3 months.

We also realized that the flip side of borrowing is not purchasing. In addition to saving money, our community is helping to save the earth by reducing the consumerism that seems to be rampant these days. We gave our Chief Charitable Officer another hat to wear, that of CEO -- Chief Environmental Officer. (She is now the CCEO, and is always on the lookout for more letters to add to her title.)

Most importantly, what do you think?

We love talking to like-minded folks, in Austin and around the world. Do you like what we're doing? Do you have ideas for how we can do even more with this community? Please share your comments with us!

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