Borrowing website aims to take on eBay (From The Argus)
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Borrowing website aims to take on eBay
8:00am Thursday 22nd April 2010 in Business News By Sam Thomson, Business Editor
Kelly Scales, who has set up Bid & Borrow, an online shopping site where people can lend goods rather than sell them
A new shopping website aims to be the biggest thing on the internet since eBay.
Bid & Borrow has been set up by former business teacher Kelly Scales and allows people to lend, rather than sell, their goods to others.
Almost 100 people have signed up since its launch only a few weeks ago.
Among the items on offer are a pair of new Jimmy Choos for £20 a week, a Nintendo DS Lite for £10 a week and a three-man, pop-up tent that can be snapped up for £25 a weekend.
If people don’t have the budget for what they want, they can make a “bid” on the item and then haggle with the seller.
Users can also create a wish-list of what they want to borrowand the site will let them know if it becomes available.
Ms Scales, 34, who lives in Horsham but is about to move to Hove, said: “EBay is a helpful comparison because Iamkeen to give the same power of control to the consumer.
“But the Bid & Borrow site means people can make money over and over again from the same item. Then they can sell it on eBay if they want to.”
Ms Scales previously worked in London for a number of years and wanted to do something with an ethical business angle after deciding to set up her own company.
She said: “Bid & Borrow’s elementary philosophy is, ‘don’t acquire, hire’.
“It encourages people to reuse and capitalise on things they already own, from personal assets to time and their talents.
“While borrowers save money on items and services they hire, the lenders can generate some income for themselves from the comfort of their own home.”
The site is currently free to join.
At the moment, transactions are arranged offline but Ms Scales aims to introduce greater security so all deals can be done online in the future.
Within nine months, she hopes to have built up a large user base and wants to start charging a small joining fee of about £5 per year for lenders, while taking a tiny fraction on each deal as commission.
Ms Scales said: “As more people join up we can keep the pricing low and transparent.”
For more information, visit www.bidandborrow.com.
