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The Rental Marketplace- A Complete Guide

Why not make some extra cash by renting out clothes, jewellery and bikes that you've grown out of? It's a great way to give others a chance to use items that they might need or want for a fraction of the price.

To help you overcome this we have designed a complete guide on how you can get started with your own booking marketplace..

Rental Marketplace Checklist

  • Build with right platform & features
  • Manage your Vendors
  • Generate Revenue
  • Grow with the right strategy
  • Launch Your Marketplace

According to Statistica,the renting construction equipment rental market is expected to experience significant growth in the next few years with a forecasted market value of about $140 billion U.S. dollars by 2027

What is interesting to note is, rental equipments aren’t the only thing fast gaining popularity -in fact theonline clothing rental marketvaluation was aroundUS$ 1,861 millionin 2021 . In today's world where prices are high and utility is low, renting is a viable option that is both economical and environmentally friendly.If you're looking to start a rental business, a quick glance at this guide how yoy can get started.

Fun Fact:

  • Renters insurance is relatively cheap. That’s because you only pay for personal items and not the structure.
  • While renting equipments you get access to latest and well maintained equipments
  • Rvs are home on wheels. Renting RVs can half your vacation costs.

Select Your Platform

Decide the platform which you are going to use to build your marketplace

CMS Platform Recommend

CMS is a content management system with a set of scripts for creating, editing, and managing site content.

  • Get ready-made infrastructure from the provider
  • Add any feature compatible with WordPress
  • With many developers, you save time
  • The Support team's got your back
  • Save cost on development
Custom Platform

Custom platform is created keeping specific needs of users in mind.

  • Personalize your platform
  • Added feature equals to added cost
  • Customisation takes time
  • Create a unique platform
  • Not ideal for future customisation

Top Rental Marketplace Features

Location Management Tools
  • Map Integration
  • Pick-up Manager
Product Management Tools
  • Product Listing Option
  • Inventory Manager
Marketplace Analytics Tools
  • Business Analytics Tool
  • Detailed Sales Report
Payment Management Tool
  • Real-time Split Payment
  • Location Manager
Communication Options
  • Real-Time Live Chat
  • Question and Answer Section
Post-Sale Management
  • Invoice Manager
  • Review and Ratings

Know Your Vendors

Understand the variations available in the marketplace

Healthcare Professionals

On track for fitness? Include sellers looking to rent out gym equipments like dumbbell, olympic rod, gym balls and other equipment

Clothing Rentals

Clothing businesses was and still is one of the most profitable rental marketplaces worldwide. The best part being all one need is a stack of clothes.

RV or Camper

There’s a big market for RV rentals from campers and travelers which can put a lot of extra money in your pocket. Don’t ignore these owners and lose potential customers.

Vehicle Rentals

Vehicle rentals include e-bikes or cars, which is yet another highly famous and profitable rental industry.

Storage Spaces

You can consider owners willing to rent out extra space in garages, basements, attics or shed as part of your rental marketplace

House or Spaces

With Airbnb as an example, having a list of owners looking to renting out spaces or home is definitely a plus .

Solve the Chicken and Egg Problem

Who Comes First Buyers or Sellers? Easy tips to add sellers

Marketplaces are built on the premise of buyers and sellers transacting with each other. But when you start, you have none of those. So how do you convince sellers to join a platform without buyers and vice versa?This problem is referred to as the chicken and egg problem of online marketplaces. Read Here to gain an in-depth insight. Ensure excellent service providers Build a community

  • Ensure excellent service providers
  • Build a community
  • Find an enterprise client
  • Be the single-player
  • Promise to find buyers for your suppliers
  • Create a super niche and leverage

Marketplace Monetization Strategy

Sales Commission

This is the most common way for an online marketplace to make money. A seller pays a predefined % only when they make a sale. This monetization strategy is best for small transactions. Uber and eBay work like this, for example. The platform usually gets a commission fee of 5-15%.

Subscription Fee

Choose this model if you don't want to depend on the sales volume. Just charge your users a small fee every month or once a year. You can also have different subscription packages. Offer limited functionality for free and the full package for a monthly fee, for example. Or charge only the vendors. Or only the clients. You get the idea.

Listing Fee

If your marketplace has a lot of traffic and active users you can implement a listing fee. A user can place ads for free. If they want their ad to be placed above all the free ads from other users they can pay for the placement.

Pay Per Contact

This is a common monetization model for a service marketplace. There is a fee to contact a customer, while no one guarantees a successful transaction. In this case, the vendor relies on long-term cooperation with the client.

Pay-Per-Action Fee

A pay-per-action revenue model implies the vendor has to pay a fixed amount when a client performs an action. For example, when a user books a table in a restaurant through the marketplace, the restaurant pays a fixed fee to the platform.

Mixed Model

You don't have to stop at one monetization strategy. Many marketplaces use a combination of multiple monetization strategies. The ad-vantage of the mixed model is that it creates additional value for some marketplace users. While not interfering with everyone else's work.

Study of Important Marketplace Module

Key Takeaways

Components Rent The Runway Gear Flow
Type A Clothing Rental Brand An online equipment rental marketplace that rents out construction equipment.
Revenue Generating Process Rent the Runway offers one-time rental or subscription plans to users who wish to borrow expensive designer goods at an affordable price. GearFlow follows the standard stratergy of charging its vendors a cetain commission fee for the sale of each product, forgoing the usual practice of selling ads on websites.
Customer Benefits Customers get to try out dresses from high-end designers at a fraction of the original price Gear flow allows customers to avail equipment that wasn’t typically marketed or avaiable.
Advertisement Strategy Rent the Runway uses a mixed strategy of social media posting and word-of-mouth to bring in loyal customers. Gear flow too uses tradition word-of- mouth strategy to add customers.
Synopsis It’s unique concept and pricing strategy allowed this business to flourish. A B2b marketplace that benefits users looking for equipments on hire.

Grow Your Marketplace

If you are looking to grow your business, here are a few option for you to try

Right Price

Product price should be the same as market price

Competition Research

Make sure to analyse your competitors

Surprise Offers

Surprise offers always keeps customers coming back

Social Media Marketing

A current generation marketing strategy