Anything You Can Rent Out to Earn Extra Money
Everyone loves to make extra money. Starting a side project or business can be profitable, but it can also take a lot of work. If you’re looking for an easier way to make some money on the side, why not start with what you already have?
We told you how to make money on the side . Of course, the more time and energy you have, the more money you will make. But if you miss both, there are a number of services that make it easy to make money by renting out what you already have. Here is a long list of them.
Transport
Companies like Uber and Lyft allow you to make money by offering rides, but it takes your car and your time. If you don’t have a second, you can still rent it out. There are other ways to make money related to transportation.
Cars
RelayRides is a peer-to-peer car rental company that lets you rent out your car when you’re not using it. You will be insured under their $ 1,000,000 liability policy and you will review requests for tenant approvals. This is a great way to make some extra money if you don’t use your car much or have a spare. According to their policy, you take home 75% of your car rental cost and additional mileage costs.
Getaround is a similar service, but only available in the San Francisco area, Portland, and Washington DC. Their home rate is 60% and they offer a similar insurance policy.
When it comes to insurance, AutoTrader warns :
P2P sites maintain additional insurance (for example, RelayRides carries $ 1 million) for the vehicle, as well as liability for accidents involving other vehicles and drivers. But only a few states are addressing P2P insurance issues, such as who pays for what in an accident. So as not to take risks, anyone who offers their car for rent may want to strengthen their liability insurance.
While RelayRides assures that you are in the US, it might still be worth checking your own policies and locations.
Here are some peer-to-peer car rental options for countries outside of the US:
- Drivi (France)
- Mitfaren (Germany)
- Social Car (Spain)
- iCarsClub (Singapore)
- DriveMyCar (Australia)
How much you make depends on what kind of car you have and where you live, but this is true for all of these categories. For example, for RelayRide users, prices range from $ 15 to $ 200 per day.
Parking places
If you have a coveted parking spot, you can make a couple of dollars from it. On sites like Spot and JustPark (UK), you can specify a parking spot to rent out, be it a sidewalk, driveway, garage or dedicated lot. You can choose your schedule and rate for the day, week or month.
Spot takes a 15% commission on everything you earn. JustPark makes money by charging the driver an additional 25% of your rate, so you don’t pay them anything.
They both offer suggestions for prices, depending on where you are and where you are. Rates range from a couple of dollars a day to 50 dollars a day in some areas (if you look at you, New York).
Bicycles
If you have a bike, you can rent it out. Here are some bike rental businesses:
With these services, you publish information about your trip and potential renters ask to rent it for a specific date and time. They are returning the bike; you get paid. Spinlister and Spokefly provide protection in the event of theft or damage to your bike.
At Spinlister, you can set the rental price based on the hour, day or week. Whatever rate you set, the company takes 17.5% of your income.
Again, your fee depends on your location and your trip. Some bikes cost $ 20 an hour, while others cost $ 3 an hour. CyclingBoom also allows owners to set their own price, and Spokefly sets its own price at $ 0.15 per minute, capped at $ 45 per day, so you won’t make any more money.
Routes or public routes
If you are traveling somewhere and don’t mind delivering something by road, you can check in with a local transportation network like Roadie orCitizenShipper . It connects people who need to get things done with drivers who travel to their destination, whether it’s an area in the distance or across the country. Rhodey says local concerts typically pay between $ 8 and $ 20, while long distance performances can be paid up to $ 200.
Cloth
If you have clothes that you rarely wear, you can rent them out rather than get rid of them . And here are some services that will allow you to do this:
- DateMyWizard : You can rent clothes, shoes and accessories.
- StyleLend : They havecertain brands that they accept.
- RentezVous : Currently in beta, mostly available in London and Paris.
Borrowers are responsible for cleaning and returning the item. If they don’t, each service offers a certain type of reimbursement policy. StyleLend, for example, will charge the borrower the current market value of your property if they don’t repay it.
StyleLend says they recommend pricing your item based on 10% of its retail value at the time of purchase. Obviously, your mileage will be slightly different. Prices on all sites range from $ 25 to $ 45 per week for various items of clothing.
The property
Airbnb has become a popular home or apartment rental service. But there are other options:
- VRBO : stands for Owner’s Vacation Rentals and focuses primarily on holiday homes.
- Homestay : Their highlight is host-present rentals where you have to be there to act as a local host for travelers.
- TheHitch : Lets you rent out your property for a wedding.
- Evening events : You can rent out your loft or conference room for professional events.
- Venuelust : Rent out your home or property for parties and weddings.
- Glamping : You can rent out your land so people can camp.
When you rent out your property, there are a number of factors to consider. Most importantly, think about taxes and insurance.
Most of these services offer insurance coverage. Airbnb, for example, has Host Protection Insurance, which gives you up to $ 1 million if a tenant harms your property. Most homeowner’s insurance policies do not cover injuries to paid guests. But if so, Airbnb’s insurance is secondary to yours. The point is, you need to know how the homeowner’s insurance fits in with the company’s insurance coverage policy .
Nolo’s legal website notes that tax regulations can be complex . But if you are renting for a short time, you don’t have to worry about it. They report:
You can rent out all or part of your house or apartment for up to 14 days a year, and all rental income you receive is tax-free, no matter how much you earn. In fact, you don’t even need to report income to the IRS. Your rental income is tax deductible if, during the year:
• you rent out your home for 14 days or less); and • the home is used personally for more than 14 days or more than 10% of the total number of days that it is rented out to others at a fair price. (IRC Section 280A (g).)
If you only rent out a room in your home or apartment and continue to live in the rest of the space, you will have no problem meeting the requirements for personal use. But if you are renting out an entire house or apartment, you need to keep a close eye on the days that you rent out or don’t rent out.
Anything beyond this short term definition and you will have to report and pay income tax on the money you make. Check out Nolo’s full post for more on this , and Airbnb has some useful information .
How much you make depends on where you live, what kind of property you have, etc. Finance writer Paula Pant of Afford Anything reported that she was making about $ 1,600 a month through her Airbnb experiment . She said that this is more than she could have earned by traditionally renting out her property. Again, your mileage will be different.
Camcorder
Photo and video equipment is expensive and many people find it cheaper to rent than to buy. If you have equipment that you don’t use often, consider sharing it for a little extra money. Here are some services that will allow you to do this:
- Cameralends : You can lend to nearby borrowers or ship your equipment.
- ShareGrid : These are currently only available in Los Angeles, but plans to expand cities soon.
- Kitsplit : They are currently in closed beta testing, but you can request an invite.
How much you earn depends on what kind of equipment you have and what the demand is in your city. In Los Angeles, I found several Canon 5D cameras, body only, priced between $ 75 and $ 100 per day.
Companies also offer insurance options for damage or theft of your equipment. CameraLends, for example, reports theft to authorities and replaces your equipment entirely. They also pre-screen all tenants to prevent theft.
All the rest
There are some peer-to-peer sharing services that are too specific to be classified. Here are some of the little things you can rent out:
- Bathrooms : Airpnb lets you rent out your bathroom. The founders came up with this idea during Mardis Gras, when party people in New Orleans are looking for a beautiful, clean place to run their business.
- Wi-Fi network : Fon. Lets you rent out your Wi-Fi connection in exchange for free Wi-Fi from other people renting out their network. This can come in handy when you are traveling or just looking for a Wi-Fi connection in your area. They say they have millions of hotspots around the world.
- Boat : Boatbound allows you to rent a boat by offering $ 1 million in liability protection and $ 2 million in hull damage protection.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are a number of shared sites that let you rent all kinds of household goods, from power tools to camping gear and Halloween costumes. These include:
Each of these services allows you to collect a deposit, so if your item is damaged or stolen, you can leave money that the renter will pay in advance.
Of course, with any of these exchange services, you want to know what you are getting yourself into. Read the small print, find out your responsibilities and understand the fees. Also, some of these services may take longer than others. But in general, renting things out is a relatively easy and passive way to make extra money, and the number of options available is constantly growing.