You can’t really become an Airbnb superhost unless you can afford a bunch of rental properties — but you can rent your jeans, apparently.
Several apps let people rent out everything from clothes to power tools, with some users making up to $36k a year, per Wired.
… but how does it work? Basically, find an app that deals with whatever stuff you have lying around and see if anyone will pay you to use it. A low-hanging fruit? Clothes.
Unlike platforms like Rent the Runway, which ship subscribers curated outfits they can try or buy, apps like Pickle, Celeb, and Tulerie allow users to rent their own clothes to each other.
Pickle claims it has 200k+ items — from casual outfits to designer pieces — available to rent for a fraction of what it’d cost to buy, and offers same-day delivery by local couriers.
In 2024, Pickle’s biggest users were earning $3k+ a month. Pickle takes a 20% cut.
Some platforms are for big-ticket items — Turo lets users rent their own cars — but many exist for smaller stuff. For example:
… appeals to younger consumers who are budget- and environmentally conscious — and that makes sense.
The price of everything is rising, and many people can’t afford or don’t have space for single-use items.
Renting is cheaper, more sustainable, and less nerve-racking than trying to convince Amazon you didn’t just buy a karaoke machine for your birthday party with the intention of returning it.
One Pickle user did tell Wired it was occasionally inconvenient — like when a courier showed up at 1am — but that it made her feel “less guilty about the things I already own.”
So, at least you can feel better about consumerism while you’re making $40 to spend on more stuff.