Zilok

[SavannahLion]

Anyone ever hear of this? http://www.zilok.com/

Saw it on the news today. It's boils down to a DIY rental site really. Person A has a table saw, Person B needs a table saw for the weekend, Person B pays Person A $50 (or whatever) to use that said table saw.

At first it seems like a good idea. But after reading the site FAQ's I realized there's a few things I don't really like. Namely, letting people know what I own. Kind of the same problem with SwapTree. Is it really a good idea to have a virtual shopping list for some thief to peruse? I know we share what cabinets we have around here, but stealing a cabinet from someones home is a far cry from thousands of dollars of tools.

Not to mention, do people realize how hard it is to get your tools (or anything else for that manner?) back after you loan them out to your friends? I can't imagine renting my tools out to total strangers, contract or not.

It also makes me suspicious that such a relatively small site is suddenly getting national attention on CBS news.

Anybody ever heard of this site?

[danny_galaga]

Don;t you have tool rental places there? Why wouldn't you just go to one of those and rent proper tools, rather than bargain bin crap from the supermarket...

[ChadTower]

Don;t you have tool rental places there? Why wouldn't you just go to one of those and rent proper tools, rather than bargain bin crap from the supermarket...

Not for common tools... it would be really hard to rent a tablesaw.  A trencher, a tiller (as jim's shot at shardian mentions), log splitter, bobcats, powerwashers, stuff like that you can rent but not things like woodworking tools that I've ever seen.


EDIT:  look at the amount of vids and pins available... and the per day rental fees... 

[shardian]

Home Depot used to rent any/every tool you would want...but you would pay more than the tool cost off the shelf!

I looked into renting a tiller, and it was gonna be something outrageous like $200 for a weekend. I just think Jim is funny, considering we if you replace the word "tools" with "Vid" or "Pin", and it is the same story.

[JeepMonkey]

Does the owner of the tool take on any responsability if the barrower hurts themselves?  That would be my biggest worry.

[ChadTower]

Does the owner of the tool take on any responsability if the barrower hurts themselves?  That would be my biggest worry.

Yeah, liability protection is a serious issue here.  I bet there are a lot of licensing issues, too, if the item was originally for commercial use.

[JeepMonkey]

Also, what if I rent something to someone ane the renter returns the item damaged?  What protection is there for either the lender or the renter?

Loaning something I personally own to a complete stranger?  Not sure about that.

[RayB]

semi off-topic, I've been thinking lately that neighborhoods should have communal sheds with basic yard tools etc in them. Give only neighborhood residents the key for access. But I figure that could never work thanks to there always being a couple "tools" who ruin it for everyone else...

[shardian]

semi off-topic, I've been thinking lately that neighborhoods should have communal sheds with basic yard tools etc in them. Give only neighborhood residents the key for access. But I figure that could never work thanks to there always being a couple "tools" who ruin it for everyone else...

This is the case with pretty much everything 'communal'.
Our neighborhood traditionally has a "cleanup week" in the beginning of June. The Homeowner's Association would pay for a large dumpster or 2 for the subdivision to dump all their large junk. Unfortunately, some brilliant people in the neighborhood took it upon themselves to tell all their friends about it. The result: outside folks came the first day and completely filled the huge dumpsters before most people in the neighbothood even knew they were there. They were so full, we had to pay for another dumpster to offload the overflow.

We will not be providing this service this year due to the abuse.

[ChadTower]

Yeah, and given that our neighbors won't even talk to us, I just can't see that working here either.  I suggested an equipment swap, offering to coordinate it, for our baseball league.  They looked at me like I was insane.