With the rise of sharing economy, you can always earn some extra money if you know which things to rent out, along with where to rent. In this article, we will not only guide you on which things you can rent, but also where to rent your things.
9 Proven, Easy Things to Rent Out for Profit
Gone are the days when ownership seemed to be the best option when considering new experiences. As luxuries are getting more expensive, people are starting to realize the value of the stuff they own.
This results in a fast-growing sharing economy, as people are now more open to sharing personal commodities.
Nowadays, people don’t necessarily look to buy the things they need and face buyer’s remorse later. Instead, they prefer renting items for themselves temporarily.
If you’re a person looking to make money with side hustles but don’t have the time or energy to take up jobs in the gig economy, you can make money renting your assets.
Yes, you might have lots of things to rent that others might need. Even if you don’t, you can also consider buying stuff to rent out.
Here’s a list of the best things to buy and rent out that you can try for yourself.
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Renting Out Your Home
You don’t need to invest in real estate rental properties to earn a rental income anymore. Any extra space you have in your home, from a spare bedroom, a separate unit, or an entire floor, you can rent it out for some extra income.
According to your comfort, you can go for both short-term and long-term rental deals. It’s a great idea to take in tenants when there’s an event nearby your place or rent your room out to tourists throughout the year.
Platforms like Airbnb and VRBO make it easier for you to find temporary tenants for spare rooms. These sites connect tourists and students in need of temporary accommodation with people who’re willing to share their space for some money.
Renting your rooms through sites like these make the process more comfortable. The websites also help you verify the people you’re letting into your home. Besides that, you don’t have to worry about negotiating the price.
You’ll get timely payouts from the company.
However, both of these platforms are ideal for people who’re looking for short-term tenants. If you have a permanent empty space, you can rent out for the long-term.
See Related: Airbnb vs VRBO – What is Best?
Rent Out Your Car
Let’s face it. Our cars are sitting around in the garage or in the parking lot at work most of the time. Why not rent them out to people who’re willing to pay to use them? It's worth good money and can be a significant contribution to the environment as well.
We know what you’re thinking. Probably not an option for you if you use your vehicle frequently. If that’s the case, you can even buy another car to register on a car rental company and earn some steady, passive income.
An accessible way to begin renting out your car is through an online car rental platform. One of the most popular peer-to-peer car-sharing platforms is Getaround.
It operates in more than 300 cities across the US and lets you find people who’ll rent your car near you.
You can decide whether you want to drop your car off to a location or have it picked up. Besides, the payouts are timely and hassle-free.
Another car renting online platform operating in major US and Canadian cities is Turo. Turo works in the same way as Getaround and connects people who need vehicles with people who own cars.
Turo also has an earnings calculator. It helps you determine your income before you rent out your vehicle. This way you can make an informed decision.
We understand that not all of us are comfortable renting our cars out to strangers. In this case, you can sign up for apps like Carvertise and Free Car Media and get paid to advertise your vehicle.
You can earn up to $200 to $400, depending on how much you drive daily.
See Related: Why Do People Steal Catalytic Converters? How to Prevent It
Rental Garments
When we think about things to rent out to make money, we often forget our formal apparel and suits just sitting there in our wardrobes, waiting for a formal event.
If you’re a person who owns clothes that are really expensive to buy or unique and hard to find, you can rent them out for some money.
You see, not everyone can afford to buy clothes they will wear only once. Also, renting your clothes out may help you mend the hole they made in your pocket, so everyone wins.
Besides that, you can even put up your Halloween costumes or theme-based attire as well and cash your creativity. You can charge good money for vintage and designer clothing items from your closet.
Sites like Rent My Wardrobe and StyleLend can help you advertise your clothes for potential renters. All you have to do is sign up and put up pics of your prized garments. Next, just watch as people flock to pay for them for temporary use.
However, you’ll have to invest some amount into maintaining your clothes. This can be done by dry cleaning and ironing.
Extra Space
We mentioned earlier that spare rooms or home units are great things to rent out for profit. However, it’s not necessary that you need to have some extra living space to earn rental income. You can rent out other useful spaces you have as well.
First, you can rent out your extra storage space for people who need it. It’s an excellent option for people who don’t want guests around.
Online platforms like Store At My House and Neighbor give you access to peer-to-peer storage space renting. With the right apps, you can earn about $1000 a year. This is cheaper than storage lockers, so you’re likely to find clients quickly.
Second, if you have a terrace garden or a large backyard, you can rent them out for events. It sounds far-fetched, but people pay good money because formal event spaces are costly.
Apps like Peerspace and LocationsHub can help you rent out your space for photoshoots, meetings, and other events. They charge a nominal fee to put your place on their list. However, it pays off once you get a good gig.
Third, you can rent out one of your rooms as an office or meeting space through Optix or LiquidSpace. It can be an extra space in your office or home that would do as a working space. You can list your space for rent on these websites and find a renter nearby.
Lastly, for people living in high-density areas, good parking or garage space can bring reasonable rent as well. Everyone wants a safe parking space for their vehicles. People living in apartments and condos only have streets as their parking options most of the time.
Platforms like SpotHero and ParqEx are excellent platforms to list your parking space and give them out for rent.
Tools
You probably haven’t given it a thought before, but all those expensive tools lying around in your garage can bring you a steady income if you rent them out.
For example, attributing to different weather conditions in every state, you can rent out your snow removal equipment to people who need it when you don’t need it.
Even if you don’t like the idea of giving away your tools to a person in another area, you can rent them out on an hourly basis to people nearby.
You can quickly charge your renters $20 to $30 for an hour, considering that new snow removal equipment costs about $1,000 to $1,500.
Besides that, you can rent out other tools like digging, measuring, and even home improvement appliances like sanders and jigsaws.
See Related: 9 Ways to Get Paid to Read Emails
Musical Instruments
How many times have you taken up a new hobby passionately, only to grow tired of it after some time? In that case, if you have musical instruments that you don’t use frequently, you can make good money by renting them out.
Let’s face it. Owning musical instruments is not cheap.
You have to go through repair, improvement, and maintenance expenses. Even if you do use your tools regularly, you can rent them out on an hourly basis to help pay off your costs.
Also, high-quality instruments can cost anywhere from $1000-$5000. You’ll be doing a favor to aspiring musicians as well.
Sites like Spark Plug can help you find people who’re interested in your musical equipment. If you own a guitar, you can enter peer-to-peer guitar sharing on Fretish.
Photography Equipment
Another expensive hobby that has a profitable rental market. Most beginners in the photography field cannot afford to spend so much on high-quality cameras. They usually prefer to rent them for temporary use.
If you own professional photography equipment that you don’t use often, it’s a great idea to share it with someone for some hard cash. Besides your camera, you can get reasonable rental prices on equipment like lenses, reflectors, speed-lite, and polarizing filters.
You can charge renters about $200-$400 for lenses and $20-$50 for other equipment per day. Cameralends and ShareGrid are popular sites where you can list your stuff for aspiring photographers.
Also, these sites have strict insurance policies to make sure your equipment does not get misused or stolen. Additionally, they also scrutinize all renters before allowing them on the platform.
Baby Products
It’s astounding how fast babies grow out of the stuff their parents feverishly buy for them in a matter of months, even weeks.
While some people usually sell off their baby things as their babies grow older, some might want to cling to the memories they hold in them. In that case, parents can still pay off their baby stuff expenses by renting them out.
For example, BabyQuip is an app that lets traveling parents find baby gear when they’re traveling abroad. This way, they don’t have to carry all the essentials with them.
If you have baby items you don’t use anymore, you can sign up on the platform and look for traveling parents in your area.
See Related: 12 Best Rental Business Ideas
Books
Books are profitable things to rent out. We’re not talking about low-cost books that can be purchased by anyone. Instead, go for vintage, classic, and high-profile books that cost a lot.
You might even have some of them on your bookshelf right now if you’re an avid reader or a scholar. If you know it’s valuable; you can rent it out to reading enthusiasts or researchers like you.
On the other hand, if you want to run a rental book business, your investment will pay off well.
Think about it this way, even if a book costs you $500, you only have to rent it to 10 people for $50 and pay it off.
Apps like CampusBooks are such book rental businesses that help students save money on expensive textbooks.
See Related: 12 Ways to Get $20 Right Now
Conclusion on Renting Items
That wraps up our list for money-making things to rent out. When you’re looking for some money-making side hustles, the easiest way is to look around for something you own that people might be willing to pay for.
Also, if you’re looking to invest in a profitable endeavor, you can buy valuable things to rent out. These include vehicles, professional equipment, and other miscellaneous items.
You can get access to potential renters by signing up on various sites depending on your commodities. Remember, only to rent your expensive stuff out to reliable clients.
Or else, you’ll end up losing money instead of earning. Who knew sharing could be so beneficial?