Rental Marketplaces: Great Idea, Tough Reality

Rental-focused marketplaces have always sounded like a great idea—but they’re notoriously difficult to scale.

Why? A few key reasons:

  • Average order value is often low (think $50–100 for a weekend rental)
  • Marketplace take rates are small (maybe $10–20 per transaction)
  • Acquisition costs for both supply and demand eat into margins
  • Niche inventory needs make scaling even harder

Peer-to-peer rental platforms do exist—and some are successful—but at scale, it’s a tough model to pull off.

You’re running into all the classic marketplace challenges, plus time-bound availability and logistical complexity.

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