Yoodlize

What is Yoodlize?

Yoodlize is a rental platform where owners of anything from cameras to chainsaws and skis to surfboards, can offer to rent out (or rent) almost anything.

How it works

Using Yoodlize is as simple as downloading the app and filling in a little bit of personal data. You can list your items for rent — or rent other people’s items — from your phone

Yoodlize review

The concept behind Yoodlize is simple: Everybody has stuff that they rarely use. This can range from camping equipment to power tools.

What if you could monetize those little-used items by listing them for rent to people who have a temporary need for, say, your carpet cleaner? That’s what Yoodlize (pronounced U-dl-ize) is all about.

You decide what you want to list for rent; how much you want to get paid per day; and whether you have specific rules for your rentals.

What kind of rules?

What kind of rules might you have for your rental? Whether the item needs to be cleaned before it is returned or whether the renter needs to have experience with the item being rented. In other words, you can restrict rentals of your surf board to just seasoned surfers. And, you might decide that only someone with building experience can use your nail gun or chainsaw.

Rentals

If a renter books your item, you chat via the app on when and how the renter can get the item and when it needs to be returned. The renter’s credit card is charged and you get paid via direct deposit, when the rental is returned.

What if the rental isn’t returned on time? Yoodlize can charge the renter twice the amount of the rental if it’s late.

Damage and theft

What if your item is damaged or the renter takes off with it? Yoodlize says covers damage and theft to $2,000.

It also verifies all renters, with a photo identification, and a payment method to reduce the risk of loss through damage or theft. The renter is ultimately responsible for paying the damage.

The catch?

Yoodlize’s $2,000 guarantee doesn’t cover losses due to normal wear and tear or damage that cannot be proven to happen during the rental period. The owner also must make a claim against his or her own insurance; make a claim to Yoodlize within 24 hours of the rented item being returned. And provide proof of purchase to determine the value.

It’s also worth noting that most homeowner’s insurance policies do not cover personal items that you rent out. They’re excluded under a clause called “voluntary parting.” The short version of this is: If you gave somebody your stuff, even if they promised to give it back, it’s not stollen. So you can’t submit a theft claim. This makes it imperative that you have a discussion with your insurance agent before renting out any item of value.

And, if you rent items that aren’t particularly valuable, your rental rates are likely to be modest — $5 to $20 per rental. So, you have to wonder whether that little bit of cash is worth your time.

Other rules

Owners who cancel a rental within 72 hours of the customer picking it up pay a 30% penalty to the platform.

You need to respond to rental requests within 48. hours or they expire.

Commissions and fees

The site takes a 10% commission from owners and charges renters an additional 10%.

Recommendations

Many generic peer-to-peer rental platforms (much like Yoodlize) have come and gone. And, unfortunately, what kills them isn’t that they’re poorly run or inherently unfair. They simply die out because the need to rent somebody else’s hedge trimmer is limited. And sites like Nextdoor can help you simply borrow these items from nearby neighbors.

The one platform that’s survived in this space is called FriendWithA and it appears to specialize in sporting goods — one wheels, bikes, skis and surfboards. This also allows professional rental companies to advertise on the site.

Nonetheless, if you want to try renting out your household goods or sporting gear, Yoodlize’s terms are reasonable and its guarantee gives you some assurance that you’ll get your stuff — or the value of your stuff — back at the end of the rental. You can sign up with Yoodlize here.

What their users say (from Google Play)

Great so far. Setting up is easy. Just growing in Hawaii so no bookings yet, but a cool platform.

Great app. Old complaints seem to have been rectified. Just wish it was advertised more so people can write more reviews and add more products.

Only used once, but my experience as a renter was very positive. I did reach out and it took a while to get a response back, but that isn’t the apps fault, unless they don’t alert the person who is renting out their equipment about a rental request, then I think it is kinda their fault, but I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt.

Needs users

I’m a new user as of April ’23. I’m reading old reviews, and it seems most of those things have been fixed. I’ve listed many of my items. And it all seems to be working fine. At this point we just need more users, and more items listed. The search results are still a little interesting, with some irrelevant results. I can partially chalk this up to lack of enough items currently listed on the app. The FAQ’s page could be a more robust.

This app isn’t bad. I think the problem is there aren’t enough users. I’m starting to see more activity in Phoenix AZ but it’s still in its infancy. I have items to rent but never rented anything yet. It would be good to limit items showing only in your area as default. It would be great to share a listing without it requiring an install. Or at least when you share it, have the shared photo be the cover photos. Not a generic app photo.

4/15/2024