What I am reading:
Let’s pretend that you don’t have very many geeky or sporty friends. It could happen. Say you wanted to try and iPad or a bike or a Kubb set. What would you do? Walk up to complete strangers? Ask them for theirs? Well, in a way, Snapgoods hopes you will.
Think of Snapgoods as Zipcar for stuff. You reserve an item – an iPad, a bike, a pommel horse, a chainsaw – pay a small amount per day ($10-$15 or more for pricier items), put down a security deposit using your Paypal account, and you pick up the item after meeting the lender or, barring that, you pick it up and drop it off at a place local to you both that acts as an escrow point.
In short, Snapgoods assumes that most people won’t break your stuff and that there are people out there who want to try or use your stuff for a few hours. This could be an iPad or, in a more practical case, a concrete drill. In order to ensure that the renter doesn’t break your stuff, they require a number of verification measures including SMS replies, Facebook connections, and “group” creation for different parts of each city. Most important, however, is that Snapgoods is hyperlocal. You’re not going to get offers for people in Kansas City (unless you’re in Kansas City). In fact, Snapgoods is New York only for now, and will be expanding over the next few months.
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