money Boat-sharing ‘a natural extension’ in peer-to-peer rentals, Boatsetter CEO says
Turning your boat into a side hustle or a full-time entrepreneurial opportunity is now easier than ever through boat-sharing.
Similar to ridesharing made popular by Uber (UBER) and Lyft (LYFT), and vacation rentals like Airbnb (ABNB), boat-sharing allows individuals to rent boats directly from their owners through peer-to-peer services. Roughly 14.5 million Americans own a recreational boat, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
“Those 15 million owners use their boats an average of 12 to 14 days a year,” Boatsetter CEO Jackie Baumgarten said on Yahoo Finance Live (video above). “So there isn't really an asset that's more expensive and less utilized. And we are enabling the sharing economy to take root with boats as a natural extension to homes and cars.”
Boatsetter is one of a few companies offering boat-sharing services through its online marketplace. The company saw bookings grow 200% year over year in July as customers sought refuge during COVID on the water and enjoyed recreational time away from crowds.
“A lot of people were in lockdown and they were looking for a safe way to be able to be outdoors with their family,” Baumgarten said. “So we saw a huge spike in demand across all markets within the United States for people to get out on the water.”
Boatsetter offers more than 50,000 boat listings in 700 locations around the world. According to Baumgarten, it’s the only boat-sharing company that’s legally compliant and insured, meaning that private owners don’t have to worry about ensuring their boats are covered if something goes wrong during the rental. Boatsetter also connects novice renters with U.S. Coast Guard-licensed captains.
“Whether you want to go boating, go fishing, sandbar hopping, sailing, water-sport activities, Boatsetter exists to enable any experience on the water for anyone, anywhere,” Baumgarten said. “We make that happen across the U.S. and across the globe simply with a few clicks on your phone or your computer. And we’ve been able to enable over a million people to date to enjoy the experience of being out on the water through Boatsetter.”
The boat-sharing company has also responded to the inflationary environment that has caused consumers to pull back on non-essential spending by offering “more affordable options for our users,” Baumgarten said.
“So we’ve offered broader durations,” she said. “You can go out for two hours, three hours, six hours, or a day or multi-day if you rent a home and you have a dock and you want access to a boat for a weekend. And that’s enabled a lot more activity, particularly across the U.S.”
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Rachelle Akuffo is an anchor for Yahoo Finance Live.
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