With the economy in a downward spiral, borrowing instead of buying seems like an ideal plan. BorrowMe.com provides a borrowing and lending service where users can share things ranging from textbooks to digital cameras.

BorrowMe.com founder Sean Young had the idea in 2005, but did not release the site until earlier this year.

‘When the economy went south around a year and a half ago I got back together with some people to discuss the project,’ Young said. ‘And a little over a year ago we started working on the site again.’

Now the site has more than 1,000 users and hundreds of opportunities for users to share, anything from textbooks to vacuum cleaners.

‘I am a big supporter of sustainability initiatives and this one has incredible potential,’ said Rosalynn Dodd, a senior entrepreneurship and innovation major at the University of Calgary, and a user of the site. ‘There is no reason not to check BorrowMe before buying new stuff or throwing old stuff out.’

Since college students make up the Web site’s largest audience, Young wants to expand its textbook sharing section.

‘I think a textbook borrowing service is a good idea, though I doubt that I would feel comfortable lending out things on the Web site,’ said Moira King, a sophomore English major at Syracuse University. ‘Even if the person had a good track record with the Web site, I don’t know them and I wouldn’t feel comfortable lending things out to them.’

Some potential users may fear having their stuff broken while being used. Many of the things people lend out are used and on their last leg. So an item like a digital camera that is sent to another BorrowMe user does have the possibility of being broken while borrowed, as would a crib or stroller, two commonly lent out items, Young said.

‘If you borrow something and you break it, you are responsible for fixing it or replacing it,’ Young said. ‘When you lend something out you can take collateral, a deposit or there are other ways you can also protect your belongings through the site.

Users can also rate the people they loan items to, and the site does not recommend lending those with poor records.

Now that the site is gaining publicity, Young is preparing for more users and available lender transactions.

‘We have enormous plans to expand,’ Young said. ‘The amount of interest that we’ve had has been substantial and we are scrambling on our end to get the resources we need to help our customers.’

rltoback@syr.edu

Published on September 29, 2009 at 12:00 pm