RentalShare Utah: Getting Paid to Let Someone Else Store My Stuff

I love passive income. Those who know me also know I love saving money. Finding ways to turn expenses into income just makes me giddy. Here was the situation. I enjoy outdoor activities and have a lot of gear — more than I should have. Like, I’ve got 7 sleeping bags right now for my family of 3, and about that many sleeping pads and hammocks. There’s a lot. I also have a lot of gear that I don’t use all that often, but I don’t really want to get rid of it. I probably should get rid of it, but I don’t want to. To my wife who watches organization shows, yes, my snorkels I have never used bring me joy, which means I get to keep them! Thank you Marie Kondo.

The issue becomes, what am I going to do with all this stuff? We just upgraded from a 2 bedroom apartment to a 3 bedroom apartment. I was feeling pretty good about this until we moved all our stuff into it. 4 months into our new place and we’ve filled up that space. Whoopsies. I even still had a kayak sitting in my in-laws garage and a bunch of other water gear at my folks house. Both are more patient than they should be, but it’s the adult thing to take care of your own stuff, so I was looking for how to do this.

First I looked into a storage unit. It cost more for a month than it cost for me to buy the kayak, so that idea didn’t last. Then I was trying to defy physics by fitting a 10 foot kayak into an 8 foot closet. The laws of nature apply even to me, so that didn’t work. Then I discovered RentalShare.

Discovering RentalShare  

The facebook add I saw looked too good to be true. Let us store your gear, and pay you for the opportunity, it said. Ridiculous right? Well, as a writer, its my job to explore these too good to be true claims, expose the scams and time wasters, and let you all know about the diamonds in the rough. Here’s a diamond for you.

I was skeptical, so I started messaging Rental Share, asking hard questions. The response: “In a nutshell, we handle storage, rental logistics, inspection and cleaning after each use, repairs if needed, and reimbursement in worst case scenario where your item is unreturned or damaged beyond repair. You receive commission on each rental. Commission varies by type of item, but is typically about 30% of the rental fee.”

Then he sent me their contributor agreement and payment information, and I took the leap. I took over my kayak. They were doing a promotional event where I got a $20 Amazon gift card for contributing it. Then, there was some minor damage to my kayak, which he repaired for me. This was towards the end of the water season, so I essentially got $20, free repairs, and storage for the kayak. It was easy, smooth, and straight forward. I can take my stuff back any time I want (as long as its not being rented out at that time).

Disclaimer: I don’t get paid for sending referrals to Rental Share, unless you rent my gear. But, I REALLY want them to succeed. I love having my gear stored. I like the monthly Venmo of my commission for the use of my rentals, but the best benefit is having that kayak out of my in-laws garage. I don’t want it to go back there, so I fully support this place, and encourage others to go to them as well. If you’re interested in more about Rental Share from the business perspective, check out this article about the business from all the questions I asked about their business outlook and direction.

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