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Looking to get some feedback about a potential peer-to-peer motorcycle rental website.
There's a growing trend in peer-to-peer sharing of stuff - cars, tools, space (rooms, parking, etc.). Compared to car sharing, bikes are easier to steal and require more skill to operate - which make it a slightly more complicated "transaction".
For those that are unfamiliar with the concept:
- Bike owners can list their bike(s) for rent (owner sets experience requirements, hour/day/week rates, and can choose who to approve/deny)
- Users who are approved to rent (need to provide all information you typically provide for a motorcycle rental) can request to rent from owner
- The site takes a cut of the rental transaction to cover insurance costs and running the site, owners can make some cash while the bike isn't being used, and riders can experience a wide variety of bikes
Some of the features we're building in to address issues around motorcycle rental:
- Bike location is not revealed until owner approves rider for a rental - owner can choose to never reveal location and contact renter by phone (to prevent people from just joining the site and having access to all the bikes' locations)
- Verification of rider includes: driver's license # (driving record checked), phone number verification, address, facebook verification (all names/records have to tie)
- Complete insurance coverage while the bike is on a "rental" ride - liability, comp, collision, PIP, and underinsured motorist
- Riding experience - all users have to rate their experience level, list bikes owned and # of MSF courses taken (we're considering limiting what bikes a user can request to rent based on # of years they've had a class M license)
Questions:
- As an owner, would you even consider renting your bike? Under what circumstances?
- As an owner, what else would you want to know about a rider to demonstrate experience (or be more comfortable with them renting your bike)?
- As a renter, what would you want to know about a bike before renting it? What kind of bike - if any - would you like to rent?
- Gear rental would be more difficult but possible - is BYOG (bring your own gear) a deal breaker for renters?