Lenderise launches in Brighton

New website Lenderise launches in Brighton this month and looks set to change the face of consumerism…

Need a surfboard or a Superman outfit? Want to make some cash from those power tools lurking in your garden shed? Lenderise, a new website that could revolutionise our buying habits, is to launch in Brighton on 15 October.

Set to become one of the pioneering business success stories of the year, Lenderise is a smart way to make and save money. Just as Ebay is about buying and selling, Lenderise is about borrowing and lending.
If you have a house full of tools or sports equipment you rarely use, instead of selling them once, Lenderise lets you rent them again and again. You can turn all the things in your loft, garden shed or under the stairs into an income you didn’t know you had. Simply list them on Lenderise, start lending and make money.

And of course, log on to www.Lenderise.com and you will be able to borrow pretty much anything – from roof boxes to camping gear, from fashion to DIY skills – at the click of a button.

Lenderise was founded by Toby Gunton and Ben Long, who met while working at one of the UK’s Top Ten advertising agencies, and Marko Kruustük, a friend of the pair who has worked with a number of technology start-ups. They have chosen Brighton as the launch city for Lenderise, which then plans to roll out over the rest of the UK.

Toby explains, “Brighton is the perfect place to launch Lenderise. The whole concept is based on communities working together, and we believe Brighton has an incredibly strong sense of community. It is also a forward-thinking city, full of people who, we believe, will ‘get’ the idea of Lenderise.”

In the 500 years since Shakespeare wrote the immortal phrase, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be,” consumption habits around the world have changed dramatically. Perceptions of ‘ownership’ are changing, with a significant shift from owning to simply having access to products; music (through streaming subscription sites such as Spotify), cars (with car rental schemes such as City Car Club), and even house ownership, with the increase in renting.

The idea for Lenderise was born out of a concept called ‘collaborative consumption’, named by Time Magazine as one of the ten Ideas That Will Change The World. Lenderise founders Toby Gunton and Ben Long believe the company will be part of a growing trend that changes the consumer habits of 21st Century Britain.

Ben explains, “We’re in a time when the world is changing significantly. Not only does the macro-economic climate mean we have to be more careful about what we buy, but increasingly, even if we want to buy things we have nowhere to store them. We believe Lenderise will be at the forefront of a new way of thinking.”

Here’s how Lenderise works. A Lender lists an item or skill on Lenderise that they wish to rent out. Anything from a vintage dress to a campervan; tools to sports equipment; DIY skills to dog walking.

The Borrower searches for what they want to borrow and finds people in their community who have what they want. The Borrower pays a small fee to the Lender, and the item is theirs for the time they need it. Lenderise take 10% commission on every transaction through the site, also covering credit card transaction fees.

Security for borrowers and lenders is a priority for the team at Lenderise and there are a number of measures in place to ensure this. The site will have feedback, ratings and profiles so you can get an idea of who you are borrowing from or lending to. If you login with Facebook you can even see if you have any mutual friends. Lenders are offered the opportunity to ask for a deposit, so that if your item gets damaged you are covered. Full details are only shared once both people have agreed to a lend. There is also a dispute resolution process as an additional safety net. Lenderise also expects to be offering insurance on lends in the near future. With such an innovative site sure to influence our consumer habits, why buy, when you can borrow?