Thank you for discovering
more about Borrow Freely.
To aid you, we have grouped frequently asked
questions into common areas of interest.
General questions about
Borrow Freely
What does Borrow Freely do?
What is the cost to join, and how long is the
membership?
Is there a renewal fee?
Is this a yearly membership?
Can I cancel at any time?
How does Borrow Freely make money?
What is a Hosted Community?
What is a Managed Community?
I hardly ever “need” things; why should I
participate?
What’s in it for me?
Can I make money?
Can I sell my services?
Are there any special deals or offers for referring
a friend?
What is an ‘extended’, ‘trusted’ or ‘related’
community?
Won’t this concept cause bad feelings between
friends, because one now wants to charge the other
to use their stuff?
How-to types of questions
How do I borrow something?
How do I get my stuff to the Borrower?
Can I borrow anything I see for free?
Is there a limit to what I can borrow?
How long do you get to borrow the item and is there
an extra charge if not returned on time?
How do I list things for my friends to borrow?
How do I advertise services or merchandise?
For gas-operated items, is there a charge for gas
and who measures the difference between what is left
and how much the person started with?
Is wear and tear on rental items factored into the
price?
Questions regarding
policies and behavior
Why should I trust individuals I don’t know within
my “Community”, and especially within “extended”
communities?
How do I know the Lender is honest? For example,
the borrowed item didn’t work as expected and the
Lender plays dumb when, in fact, they hadn't used it
in years.
How do we document the shape of my stuff when it
was loaned, so we know in what shape it should be
returned?
How can I depend on the Borrower to get my stuff
back on time and without the excuse "my dog ate it"?
How do I know my “stuff” will be taken care of and
that I will get it back?
How does Borrow Freely know when the borrowed item
is returned?
When something is lost, stolen or broken, who pays
and how is a fair value determined?
What happens if my stuff is returned broken or
damaged?
What happens if the Borrower disappears along with
my stuff?
What happens if the Borrower dies and my stuff has
never been returned; who is the secondary
responsible party?
How will the Loaner be assured their belongings
will not be damaged or lost?
If it is, what happens?
How do I know the Borrower isn’t someone casing my
house for a robbery?
What about liability? What if someone is injured
while in possession of my belonging?
Is a background check done for those individuals
that advertise their professional services to ensure
they are legitimate?
General questions about Borrow Freely
What does Borrow Freely do?
Borrow Freely provides online communities where individuals
share things. Communities are typically people who have something in common, such as where they live, work or worship. Members share things like DVD movies, music CDs, tools, toys, books, lawn/garden equipment, amusement/party/sporting goods, and services like handyman, household, baby sitting, etc. Borrow Freely helps members
- Build friendships within churches families, neighborhoods, communities and companies
- Reduce waste
and clutter in their homes
- Save money by eliminating rentals and purchases of things
seldom needed.
What is the cost to join, and how long is the
membership?
Is there a renewal fee?
Is this a yearly membership?
Can I cancel at any time?
Membership is free and takes only 1 minute to setup. Membership can be cancelled any time. An Advanced Membership is available for Members who want to sell their items and services. Current promotions and a complete price list
are available at
www.borrowfreely.com/terms_of_use/fees_credits.aspx.
How
does Borrow Freely make money?
What is a Hosted Community?
What is a Managed Community?
Revenue is in the form of community sponsorships.
There are two types of Borrow Freely
Communities: Open and Hosted.
Open Communities are free to individuals to join and are sponsored by local businesses.
Hosted Communities are also free to individuals, but are sponsored by a formal group such as
a church, homeowner’s association, business, etc.
These groups control
membership and members receive numerous extra features.
I
hardly ever “need” things; why should I participate? What’s in it for me?
Can I make money?
Can I sell my services?
Are there any special deals or offers for
referring a friend?
The ultimate answer to “what’s in it for me” is,
“You will be rewarded for lending freely.”
(Psalm 112:5 and Proverbs 19:17.)
However, we understand your intent and,
therefore, offer the following, which cover
different situations:
1) If you are blessed such that you rarely borrow, but
loan to friends and neighbors, then Borrow Freely
is an excellent tool to track who has
your belongings and to automatically remind them
when it is time to return what they have borrowed.
2) If you are opposed to borrowing and lending, and
unless you are in a rental or service business,
Borrow Freely is not for you.
We thank you for your interest.
3) Rental or service businesses can increase their revenue through
Borrow Freely’s Business Affiliates Partner program.
For more information, call 704-827-9919.
4) Individuals and businesses may use Borrow Freely to
rent and sell products and services.
An advanced membership and $9.95 annual fee is required.
5) Any Member can use Borrow Freely to giveaway
unwanted items and free services.
6) From time to time Borrow Freely offers a gift (mug,
T-shirt, free year, etc.) for referrals; however
your biggest incentive always is that the more
Members your Community has, the greater success you
will have in finding the items and services your
need.
You may invite family, neighbors and friends at
www.borrowfreely.com/invite_friends/default.aspx.
What is an ‘extended’, ‘trusted’ or ‘related’
community?
When you join Borrow Freely, you will be a Member of
a specific Community – a church, small town,
business or homeowners’ association, for example.
You may be a Member of multiple Communities.
The smaller the community, the more likely
you will personally know other Members.
On the other hand, the smaller the community
the less likely you will find items you want to
borrow.
Hence, the Borrow Freely system allows communities
to establish relationships with one another, so
Members can view and request items from Members in
other Communities.
This is what is meant by the terms
‘extended’, ‘trusted’ and ‘related.’
(Note you can set your personal options
to prevent Members outside of your
communities from seeing or requesting your items.)
Won’t this concept cause bad feelings between
friends, because one now wants to charge the other
to use their stuff?
We don't think so. First, our idea is that people
borrow from one another at no cost - neighbor
helping neighbor. Second, Members use Borrow Freely to protect friendships by using our system to send automatic reminders, so borrowed items aren't forgotten. Third, we beleive helping others goes beyond friends: Psalm
112:5 and
Proverbs 19:17 exhort us to be generous, lend
freely and to be kind to the poor.
How-to questions
How do I borrow something?
How do I get my stuff to the Borrower?
Borrowing on Borrow Freely is simple.
After logging in to your Community:
1)
Search for the item desired and review details about the item and owner;
2)
Decide which item you want and click the [Request
Now] button;
3)
Type a brief message (if you prefer, you don’t have
to) about your request, such as the day you’d like
it, and click [Send Request].
4)
Agree with Loaner when they contact you on arrangements for pickup.
These arrangements between Loaner and Borrower are similar to any
conversation you have presently when loaning or
borrowing things with others.
Can I borrow anything I see for free?
Is there a limit to what I can borrow?
The basic premise of Borrow Freely is that people
borrow from one another at no cost - neighbor
helping neighbor.
However, the Borrow Freely system is powerful
and supports features such as the renting, selling
and giving away of items and services.
When you query the system, you select options
to control the results.
Authorized Members can request anything and
there is no limit to the amount of things you
request; however, requesting an item or service does
not guarantee it will be made available to you.
The owner or Loaner is never obligated to
loan the things they list.
How long do you get to borrow the item and is
there an extra charge if not returned on time?
The Borrow Freely system allows the owner to
establish separate durations of use for each item. These durations are used with the date the
item is borrowed to generate automatic reminders. The system does not handle late fees, though
the owner may choose to include related wording in
the terms of use for specific items.
How do I list things for my friends to borrow?
How do I advertise services or merchandise?
Log in to
Borrow Freely and add the items and
services you wish to make known to other Members.
This is done through simple web pages.
If you are a Member of multiple Communities,
those things will automatically be available across
all your Communities.
Advanced Members who have permission to rent and sell
items and services enter their services and
merchandise in the same way, except they also
see extra fields, such as price.
For gas-operated items, is there a charge for
gas and who measures the difference between what is
left and how much the person started with?
The Borrow Freely system allows the owner to
establish separate terms of use for each item.
These terms should be viewed and agreed to by
the Borrower before the item is borrowed.
Is wear
and tear on rental items factored into the price?
The basic premise of Borrow Freely is that people
borrow from one another at no cost - neighbor
helping neighbor. Those who use Borrow Freely
to rent and sell have paid an advanced membership fee and they can establish their own pricing.
Businesses typically include 'wear and
tear' in their pricing, but it's up to them.
Questions regarding policies and behavior
Why should I trust individuals I don’t know
within my “Community”, and especially within
‘extended communities’?
We love this question, because it allows us to ask
the rhetorical question, “Why don’t you trust people
in your community?”
Borrow Freely Communities typically represent the same
group of people as those in your real world
communities.
This is a major intent of Borrow Freely – to
build unity and trust within churches, communities
and neighborhoods.
You have several options to establish a level of trust with your ‘neighbors’:
1)
You are never obligated to loan the things you list.
You may always respectively decline any
request.
2)
The Borrow Freely system allows you to set personal
options, one being to not allow Members outside of
your direct communities to request your items.
The Borrow Freely system is so powerful you
can set this option for all items or for
selected items only.
3)
Start slow and build trust.
List only items you can live without, for
example, small things like books and movies, or
things you no longer use like high chairs, Halloween
costumes or board games.
Better yet, list services and show your love
for others.
List your willingness to help a neighbor move
in/out, swap babysitting services for a couple’s
night out, pick up groceries for elderly neighbors.
These things can’t be stolen and they will
build unity.
(See also answers to the below two questions.)
How do I know the Lender is honest? For
example, the borrowed item didn’t work as expected
and the Lender plays dumb when, in fact, they hadn't
used it in years.
How do we document the shape of my stuff when
it was loaned, so we know in what shape it should be
returned?
The Borrow Freely system will eventually include a
Member reputation system to aid in deciding if you
want to loan to or borrow from the other person.
However, we believe time will prove the best
control of this is the fact Borrow Freely
communities are small and locally focused.
The ‘built-in’ reputation system and real
world social patterns inherent in small communities
(like churches and neighborhoods) will weed out
undependable and untrustworthy persons.
In addition, the Loaner may establish
separate terms of use for each item.
One such term may be that Loaner and Borrower
document the condition of the item before it is
borrowed.
Galatians 5:13-15 and
James 2:8-9.
How can I depend on the Borrower to get my
stuff back on time and without the excuse my dog ate
it?
How do I know my “stuff” will be taken care of
and that I will get it back?
How does Borrow Freely know when the borrowed
item is returned?
The Borrow Freely system includes automatic reminder
e-mails when an item is due back. Eventually a
Member reputation system will aid you in deciding if
you want to loan to the person requesting, but we
believe time will prove the best control of this is
the fact Borrow Freely communities are small and
locally focused.
The inherent reputation system built into
small communities (like SPBC or Belmont) will weed
out undependable persons.
Galatians
5:13-15.
When a borrowed item is returned the Loaner
updates the system indicating the item was returned.
Until this happens both Loaner and Borrower
will continue to receive reminder e-mails.
When something is lost, stolen or broken, who
pays and how is a fair value determined?
What happens if my stuff is returned broken or
damaged?
If something is broken, lost or stolen in your
possession, Borrower is expected to repair or
replace it.
If Borrower is found deceitful in this
regard, he/she is expected to repair or replace it,
and give 20% more of the value to the owner.
Leviticus 6:1-5.
See also questions immediately below.
What happens if the Borrower disappears along
with my stuff?
What happens if the Borrower dies and my stuff
has never been returned; who is the secondary
responsible party?
How will the Loaner be assured their
belongings will not be damaged or lost?
If it is, what happens?
Borrow Freely is national, but your Borrow Freely
Communities are small and locally focused.
Many are churches, homeowners’ associations,
groups of friends, etc.
Borrow Freely’s goal is to help you develop
deeper relationships with your friends, family and
neighbors.
No doubt eBay® faced skeptics in the early
years, but has since shown most people are
trustworthy when given the opportunity.
In short, we do not expect these will be
problems.
However, Borrow Freely understands the
concern, so we follow defined
dispute resolution guidelines.
See also
questions immediately above.
How do
I know the Borrower isn’t someone casing my house
for a robbery?
If you have doubts about the person requesting an
item, you may always respectively decline the
request.
Members are never obligated to loan the things they
have listed.
A better option, though, is to offer to
deliver the item to the Borrower.
This helps validate the honesty of the
request and you can get a glimpse into their home
and lifestyle; more importantly, you begin to
establish a friendship with your
neighbor.
What about liability? What if someone is
injured while in possession of my belonging?
When Members agree to Borrow Freely’s terms of
service they agree to behave honestly and not to
hold other members liable.
1
Corinthians 6:1-8.
Is a background check done for those
individuals that advertise their professional
services to ensure they are legitimate?
Borrow Freely only allows validated businesses to become Business Affiliate
Partners, so we are comfortable with the legitimacy
of these businesses. Individuals and
home-based businesses may pay a premium membership
fee to list items and services for a charge, but no
background check is performed.
The future reputations system should resolve
any doubt you may have with regard to a specific
individual, but remember, you are never obligated to
borrow from or loan to anyone.