Chattanoogan Mark Williams began looking around in his garage at all the tools, equipment, and sporting goods that he had collected over several years and began searching for an app that would allow him to rent these things out. There wasn't one. So he got to work inventing one.
He said Rent My Equipment "is a new tech company that has sprouted wings right here in Chattanooga and is growing at an unbelievable pace. It is the #1 peer to peer rental market place app."
Mr. Williams said, "A peer to peer app is what is often referred to now as a sharing economy app. In other words, RME makes it possible for one individual to rent personal possessions to another individual.
"For the typical person, there is so much lying around that you could potentially rent……..leaf blower, ladder, bike rack, soccer net, carpet cleaning machine, camping gear, cordless drill, kayak, trailer, and the list goes on.
"All you have to do is download the app on your Apple or Google device, register your account, begin taking pictures of the things you would like to rent and post them on the app.
"RME employs a third party reputable financial institution by the name of Stripe to take your financial info and store it securely and fulfill the transaction. The renter can simply use their credit card and RME pays the equipment owner at the end of the transaction when the item is returned in satisfactory condition via an (ACH) electronic payment.
"To grant peace of mind, RME has an EPP or Equipment Protection Plan that the renter pays and amounts to 10 percent of the total rental paid and covers damage and theft."
Mr. Williams said the app "was developed by engineers right here in Chattanooga and work begun in March of 2020. I had been intrigued by the car sharing app – Turo, and while looking around my garage at all the items I had collected over several years, I began searching for an app that would allow me to rent these things out. I didn’t want to sell them - just rent them.
"When I couldn’t find an app that did this is when Rent My Equipment was born. The app was launched in September of 2020 and marketing began. It went from idea to proven concept quickly.
"In just a little over a year, the app has been downloaded and registrations have occurred in all 50 states and five countries. RME is continuing to build inventory and rentals are occurring weekly. Without a doubt this is quickly becoming the most practical way to rent.
"The inventory is so diverse that you cannot find a conventional rental entity that has all that Rent My Equipment has to offer. Furthermore, the prices are great because this is your neighbor you’re renting from and he/she doesn’t have the overhead costs that the places you’ve been renting from do.
"Some people have used the app to start their own small rental business and start earning income with all those toys they have that go unused most of the time."
Here is how to register https://www.rentmyequipment.com/register