“The idea is amazing and the world needs it - and it's great to see someone actually trying to do this! Currently using Fat Llama is a pretty slow and cumbersome experience though.
Firstly, it's totally manual: there are no tools to make the renting process seamless. For example, even though Doodle has existed for 10 years, there are no built-in tools to make it easier to find a mutual pickup time and location, and instead you have to use slow back and forth exchange of text messages. That alone makes it completely impractical to use FatLlama to lend items where the rental value is under £5.
Second, the product itself still feels like a first version. This is probably growing pains, but nevertheless. By default they email, push notify, *and* text message you every time there is a reply to a message, and send follow-ups if you don't reply straight away. This means that if one person sends one message to you, you can end up getting 4-6 notifications. You have to email support to get the email notifications turned off (there's no setting in your profile to control that). On an iPhone SE, many of the critical buttons don't even appear on the screen because they are covered by a banner - it's been assumed that everyone is using a bigger screen.
Maybe most importantly, there's really not that much on FatLlama. They've gone for a "rent anything from anyone anywhere in the world" approach, which seems to have led to there being a few listings spread very sparsely around big cities, rather than a concentrated and varied group of listings in any single area. That means you will have to travel a long way to pick something up.
Ultimately all these things mean FatLlama is only really for renting very high value items right now. If they billed themselves as specifically for high end audiovisual equipment this would be totally fair enough, but instead they bill themselves as "rent anything from anyone". That's just not accurate.
I really hope they succeed though! The world definitely needs fewer copies of the same items when so much of the time they sit around redundant most of the time.”
“System is pretty slick, works well.
My biggest issues are that there are substantial fees for both the renter and hirer. For example, renting out kit for £100 results in the hirer being charged £15 extra, but also I lost £15 of that. This makes no sense in my mind, and I can't think of any other service that does this. For starters, that means you can quote a value in a message, but then look silly when they end up charging more.
My other issue is that while they say they cover items that could be damaged, lost or stolen, they expect you to go through your insurance first.
Again, this is at the expense of the renter, even though they take rougly 30% of the total cost.
The only possible justification for such high fees are that 20%+ of rented items are damaged/lost etc. I really don't see that being the case.”
“Recently bought a Macbook air. The item was in perfect condition and the app was extremely easy to use.
Besides that the prices were discounted by 10% compared to the cheapest alternative. There are some really good bargains there. Will use again”
“A refreshingly new idea making hiring of equipment cheaper and easier than the commercial market currently offers. Though not without its flaws, Fat Lama does what it does very well, and certainly well enough. If you're looking to use something you don't own, it is definitely worth a visit as you might find someone can rent it to you so you can avoid buying something you only need a for a short while. Don't think this is just for film-makers- though that is the first impression one might get. They have listings for a much wider market. Fat Lama would do well to address their first impression as it does put folk off. I feel it is a safe site and the renting security is very well thought through for both parties.”
“I recently completed a rental on here. On return of my item there was no physical damage to the item so I thought nothing of it.
A few days later I came to use the camera lens and realised it wasn’t working with my camera.
I got in touch with support and explained and was told ‘I am too late to claim any compensation.’
I am now having to foot a bill of £230 on my own. Which is probably the total of any money I have made from renting my gear out.
I am extremely cross and will not be using the service again.
I will also ensure that anyone who asks me about it I will strongly recommend they do not use the service or risk being kicked to the kerb as I was when something went wrong.
There is no security for lenders renting out their items on here.
A quick look at any review site has plenty of reviews exactly the same as mine where fat lama refuses to pay any money out for the people who put their gear at risk on this website.
If this is the ethos of the company then it will only be a matter of time until these reviews become too great a threat for anyone do do business with you as the middle man.
I strongly advise you to offer more support for the people who lend their gear on this site. Without these people, you are nothing.”
“When renting out my camera equipment It was great at the start (about a year ago) but now is saturated. Also people only want to rent for one day which means for lower priced items it's just not worth the hassle. Site works really well and the idea is great but with so many lenders all offering lower and lower prices I'll only be using Fat Lama to rent other peoples items.”
“Your lender guarantee clause about users own value estimate is terrible. My item was stolen and I am now offered half the market value due to my conservative estimate and pounds downward near history. I am currently getting legal council and drafting my strategy for how to escalate the matter in public with the most efficiency.”
“Mediocre support from the Fat Llama team, lack of insurance requirement for renters, poor safety guarantees for owners, and higher fees than any other platform. Fat llama has a long way to go if they want to succeed in the Los Angeles market.”
“The site is very good. Renters and borrowers are vetted so that gives a sense of security. It felt a bit unnerving at first renting valuable gear to strangers, but since the site seemed so reputable, and stand behind their rental community, I felt confident enough to go ahead. So far, it's all gone well.”
“Fat Lama is a good idea and works pretty well. However the calendar and booking system is appalling, and the messaging system is at best a bit ropey. Once they fix the bugs and get some decent develops on the case, it will be great.”
