A New Zealand based company, Hire Things, has launched a new marketing channel for hire and rental services. Its sort of an Ebay for renting goods. People register on the website, list and price items they have available for hire. You can choose which items you want to make publicly visible and which you only want visible to a trusted network. You receive an email when someone submits a booking request for your item, along with the estimated costs calculated automatically by the system. Its up to the lessor to accept, counter or reject the request. Once the lessor and customer agree, the system confirms the booking and provides each with contact info so delivery can be arranged.
At the moment the system is in public beta so its not charging for listings or completed bookings, but later this year they plan to charge fees for successful bookings (5% for bookings up to NZD100).
The company has expansion plans initially in Australia and the UK but later throughout the world.
The concept currently focusses on hiring of goods, places and services. Initially the takeup is likely to be around goods but the real growth potential is likely to be in services, particularly if they manage to get a scheduling feature built into their system.
