Rentalic is a website that fosters person-to-person sharing of items and services online. Remember that extra bicycle that is gathering dust in your garage? Now you can make money, and keep your unused items out of the landfill, by renting to neighbors and friends in your community!

Through Rentalic, “Owners” can post items and services for free and “Borrowers” can search for items they need. These might be items that Borrowers only need for one-time use or wouldn’t necessarily buy outright. It’s also a great place to connect with local service providers for everything from housecleaning to music lessons.

According to the Rentalic website, “Rentalic enables people to make money and save money while promoting a greener lifestyle through reuse!”

Here are just a few examples of the varied items and services that can be found on the Rentalic website:

• Bicycle, $15/day
• 2-bedroom condo near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, $100/day
• Wine tasting van tour with driver, $400/day
• Wedding dress, $200/week

Rentalic uses a secure payment processing system. Think eBay vs. Craig’s List. On eBay, both the Buyer and Seller can be held accountable for their end of the transaction, and you can provide feedback for others to see. On Craig’s List, most purchases are made with cash, with no way to rate the Seller based on experience. The saying, “Buyer Beware” can apply in this type of situation.

When a Borrower is interested in renting an item or service, Rentalic verifies the Borrower’s funds to make sure the offer is legitimate. Both parties are given a security code, and must agree to the terms and conditions of the offer before the transaction is initiated. Multiple platforms are offered for processing transactions including the Rentalic website or an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) phone system. Payments can be processed online, by phone, or on a mobile device.

Using Rentalic is free, and Owners are unrestricted in regards to price setting, coordinating logistics like pick up / delivery, and choosing when they want to rent and to whom they will rent. Right now, there some local areas (ie., California, where the company is based) that have many items listed, and others (ie, upstate NY) with very few.

Rentalic is a great example of technology for change because it offers an environmentally sustainable solution from multiple perspectives. “Owners” don’t need to put their unused items in the landfill, “Borrowers” don’t need to purchase new items that may only be used once, and local economies and networks are strengthened in the process. Check out Rentalic today so we can continue building local networks all over the country!

Singlebrook is happy to share this story of technology for change! If you know of other great examples of T4C, we urge you to join our movement by sharing them in our LinkedIn Group: Singlebrook Technology for Change (T4C), or on Twitter using the hashtag: #SBT4C. Any tweets that use our hashtag will automatically get re-tweeted to our following.