This is an interesting website that caught my eye because of the uniqueness of the idea behind it. But… it also got my attention because it could actually prove to be a pretty cool side-hustle! Can you really make money with FatLlama.com?
Making Money With FatLlama.com
Let’s start with the basics. Fat Llama is basically a lending website. To be more specific—it is a website that lets you list things that people can pay to rent from you.
Cameras, drones, projectors, audio equipment, etc. Almost anything you can think of that could be rented out for money can be found on Fat Llama.
Obviously, there are some limitations. This isn’t always going to work as a long-distance thing.
In other words, you would be somewhat limited by your geography if you were to choose to either rent things or list things through Fat Llama. But… this is not all bad either.
It kind of cuts down on the competition for people who want to list items, but it also makes it so that you can browse items by location—finding the items closest to you so that you can cut down on travel expenses to pick them up.
Is It Realistic To Turn A Profit With FatLlama.com?
As with most side-hustle ideas involving geography-based advantages and disadvantages, this will depend on a number of factors.
The idea behind the website certainly lends itself to being profitable if utilized—but that does not necessarily make it profitable in every case.
If you do not live in an area with very many people, for example, then it is possible that you will not actually be able to rent as much equipment out as you normally would be able to in an area where more people lived.
As with a lot of sites like this, you may find that those in more densely populated areas will discover a greater need for equipment rental than people who live in less densely populated areas.
But… with that being said, it is also true that catering to your market could make a big difference. If you live in the middle of a sparsely populated area surrounded by farmers, then putting specialty farm tools up for rent might actually turn out to make you some decent money!
It all just goes to show that strategy may be equally important to geography for this particular side-hustle idea.
Another thing to consider is that, if you already own the item anyway, there is no cost to list it on the site. Even if it doesn’t rent, there is really no risk involved… so you might as well list it, right?
If you are wondering how FatLlama.com makes money doing this, I also researched that. It turns out that they charge lenders a 15% fee when they get paid for transactions.
They also charge borrowers an extra 15% fee on top of the cost of the rental… so on every transaction, they are earning roughly 30% of the price of the rental, taken equally from both participants.
What Are The Requirements To Start Listing Items On FatLlama.com?
I did some digging, and very quickly found a page that outlined exactly what it takes to list items on the site. Here is a screen shot of it.
It is actually a pretty simple process. You just create the listing, set your own price, approve incoming rental requests, arrange meetup/pickup times, and get paid via the secure payment system built into the site.
If you are concerned about the safety of your items, don’t be! FatLlama.com actually covers all items loaned out with a guarantee for up to $30,000. So even if something gets damaged, you will be covered and protected.
But as far as actual requirements go, there is actually not much to talk about. If you own an item and wish to list it, you may do so. You also set your own price, and create your own listing with your own photographs of the item.
I can see that there would be a bit of an art to creating listings like this. I feel like better-quality listings, that include higher-quality photographs, are probably more likely to gain attention than listings that don’t look as good… so keep that in mind as you create listings and prepare to list your own items.
How Much Can You Make Every Month On FatLlama.com?
I took a look at some listings in my local area, and here is what I learned.
There were literally ZERO listings in my area!
From what I gather, this website is especially popular in larger cities. New York City, especially, seems to make great use of the service. You can even get FatLlama.com rentals delivered for you there!
I was curious about whether or not the site has an app, so I checked it out. I was happy to see that they DO, in fact, have an android app on the Google Play store. It only has 3.5 stars, but there are some pretty good reviews on it… and it looks like the app is quite useful, despite a few bugs.
It almost looked to me like this company is a bit on the ‘newer’ side.
So I checked that out as well, and found out that I was right. They have only been in business since 2015. Plus, they got their start in London… so it makes sense that it would take a little while to establish a presence in the United States.
But, with all of this being said, there is still a lot of stuff that people are renting out and earning money for on FatLlama.com. People are renting projects for $21 a day, cameras for $28 to $60 per day, drones for anywhere from $40 to $280 per day, etc.
As you can see, there are all kinds of things on this site, and all kinds of opportunities. I was surprised that my area did not have any listings. But… does that mean that the opportunity is wide open, and that I should consider trying to score on it before it gets cluttered?
I do have a few things I could list. I might just try it out and see what happens!
Non-Monetary Costs Of Using FatLlama.com
The only real non-monetary cost that I can see in reference to using this website as a side hustle is the fact that you would need to take the time to photograph your items and list them. This wouldn’t take very long—but it is something that you would have to do.
You would also need to take a bit of time to create your profile and such.
My Personal Feelings About FatLlama.com. Would It Make A Good Side Hustle?
Actually, my answer to this question is a resounding ‘yes.’ You are not guaranteed any money on this site, but you do have the option of listing items to rent and just letting them sit there until they get rented out.
It would require no further work on your part. But at the same time, the chance also always exists that you will actually get some rentals, earn some extra money, and be that much further ahead.
You will need something of value to list on the site, of course. But that is also the beauty of it. If you own something of value that you do not use every day, it could be an awesome way to make some extra money. This is especially true if you only use the item once in a while!
I do not necessarily know if buying things, just to rent them out, would be worthwhile or not—mostly because this would depend greatly on the item and the area that you are operating in.
I suppose that, as with any good side-hustle, there is an art to this business. With practice and patience, you would likely figure out how to make it work for you.
But that is also just part of the side-hustle mentality. It often takes practice, patience, and determination to get these things down. They are not always easy at first—but over time, you get better at them, and that helps you to make more money.
I don’t feel like you could get rich using FatLlama… but I also feel like it could prove to earn you some pretty decent extra cash in the right types of situations.
I also feel like this is a really awesome idea for a website from the perspective of cutting down on waste. Sometimes, it is just a waste of money to buy something that you will only use once… and it is a waste of an item to just have it sitting around never being used.
So in the sense of conservation and cutting down on waste, FatLlama.com is a pretty cool idea!
And, of course, FatLlama.com is just one of many sites that offer the chance to earn money by renting out items. Other sites offer the chance to earn by renting out clothes (like Style Lend), boats and even bikes.
Our Final Thoughts About FatLlama.com
Should you sign up, list some items, and try to earn money renting them out?
There are a lot of ways to make money online. Some are good, some not, but ALL of them are still just trading hours for dollars.
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