Who will love it:
Need a bike, power generator, or GoPro for a few days and don’t want to buy one? Friendwitha is a great way to rent gear locally through their peer to peer network. Or, if you have items going unused, rent out the gear to make up to $1000 per month. The service offers insurance protection coverage for your item and the communication between both rental parties is slick.
Friendwitha Discount Code:
Get $10 bonus on your first rental using this Friendwitha coupon code: Electric
What I think:
Friendwitha is a Seattle based company that is basically an AirBnB or VRBO but for gear instead of rental homes.
If you have something like the Onewheel that you would like to rent out to make money or that you would like to rent to use, FriendwithA could be a great option.
I usually use SUPrents for all my Onewheel needs when I travel. They deliver the Onewheel to whereever I’ll be traveling to and I’ve done reviews and multiple videos on their service in the past which you can check out here.
I’ve used Friendwitha now to rent an electric unicycle while visiting Seattle and a Onewheel while in Hawaii.
Because SUPrents does not ship Onewheels to Hawaii, I’ve used Friendwitha to rent a Onewheel XR while in Oahu.
I first went to the website to see if they had a Onewheel in the area that I would be traveling to. Once I found a Onewheel for rent in Oahu, I registered on their website which was super easy.
To verify that I am who I am, I have to provide my drivers license and enter a credit card. I then rented the Onewheel on the site just like you would book a rental car.
After booking, the website connects you with the person renting out the gear via online chat or through text. The cool thing is you can text back and forth seemlessly but your personal information like your cell phone number is never directly shared.
I was able to text with the person I was renting the Onewheel from, we arranged a time and place to meet, and he delivered the Onewheel to me to enjoy for the next few days.
Super easy!
I’ve never tried renting out any gear through this site, but I could see this a pretty convenient way to rent out your Onewheel or lawn mower and other specialized gear to make some money.
The nice thing is you get a certain amount of coverage through Friendwitha when you use their service which will help to cover you in case of accident, injury, or damage to your device. I think this is great because as I will share in a future video, one of the biggest reason I don’t let very many people ride my Onewheel is because of the potential for injury and liability.
I would feel much better about using my Onewheel knowing I had the coverage backing me from Friendwitha.
Is Friendwitha Safe to Use?
Friendwitha uses two partners (PrimeIs and Athos Insurance) in addition to a reserve to cover all aspects of the business. This covers the lender for up to $125,000 property insurance and up to $100,000 liability guarantee.
You can find more information on the Friendwitha insurance page and their terms of service.
In addition to the coverages, both the individuals borrowing and lending equipment need to go through various checks each time they rent, in order to ensure everyone’s safety:
Borrowing Equipment:
1. All renters must sign a liability waiver (vetted by our attorneys and insurance partners)
2. Pass a basic quiz before they get out and ride their first time if borrowing a Onewheel.
And Onewheel renters get this message as well:
Your Onewheel rental is coming up. Here’s some helpful videos and information to make your first float session a success!
Before you ride, watch this!: https://friendwitha.com/s/94/
Onewheel training video series: https://friendwitha.com/s/2y/
Onewheel manual: https://friendwitha.com/s/2g/
Lending Equipment like the Onewheel:
1. All rentals are to be maintained and inspected before each rental and safety gear provided.
2. Renters are encouraged to provide a brief tutorial before each rental as well.
The flaws:
The biggest flaw with Friendwitha is the lack of inventory, largely due to how new the service is.
Bigger cities will have more to offer than smaller cities, but as the word gets out that there’s an easy way to rent out gear to make a little money, I think Friendwitha will be a hit.
My other concern with using this service is how my gear will be treated. I know there is insurance coverage to protect the rental items, but am I okay with the wear an tear that the item will go through? That is up to each individual.
As the service grows, I would like to see reviews on people renting my gear so if I’m going to rent out an item like a Onewheel to an individual, I can have an idea of who I am renting to and how they have treated other rental items in the past.
If you are interested in Friendwitha, check it out through my link. I may get a small referral bonus if you use their service which costs you nothing and helps me to grow my website and YouTube channel.
For a $10 bonus on your first rental, use this Friendwitha link or coupon code: Electric
This will be an evolving review so be sure to subscribe to my newsletter for future updates. I’ll never share your email and I’ll never spam you.