I'm not involved in the rental industry, but have always been interested in it (hence multiple posts), simply because I've often wondered out loud how they make money, and I've seen many different business models. Obviously people do, so there is a business model there, and it isn't freely communicated to the public.
While some firms operate like yours, with detailed checkin/checkout process, others seem to care less as long as you turn up in something with the right plates on, that seems to be the right make and color. 10 minutes at one of the large rental locations in LA will show this. My thoughts are that these companies just work on volume, purchase the cars cheap, turn them over regularly and just work on pure numbers.
Whether this can translate to a mixed-lot private rental remains to be seen. It is just too easy for a one-time renter to do a lot of damage to a vehicle and disappear, taking their facebook account with them. The reputation model works well in many cases (see ebay with high reputation buyers/sellers) but breaks down at the starting point. I guess it can be covered by a higher premium for first time renters but then that is going to dissuade new people from trying out the service. Perhaps the company can offer cash bonuses to people willing to rent to first-time customers or something.
As for your last argument - I think - despite your valid claims, that a bog-standard rental car can be treated as a commodity, despite the mechanical complexity and insurance / liability issues. It just takes the right mix of legal protection and insurance underwriting. How you get that is the key to the puzzle, and the person that gets it right will win this battle, if it can be won.
Just to clarify my thinking on this one, the car isn't a commodity. What is actually the commodity is either x distance travelled. In the same way an airline seat is a commodity but a plane isn't. So what people are really selling and buying here is the ability to drive oneself a set distance at a set point in time. That's the commodity. The rest is just managing the capital cost around that commodity, like managing the ownership and use of a plane.
While some firms operate like yours, with detailed checkin/checkout process, others seem to care less as long as you turn up in something with the right plates on, that seems to be the right make and color. 10 minutes at one of the large rental locations in LA will show this. My thoughts are that these companies just work on volume, purchase the cars cheap, turn them over regularly and just work on pure numbers.
Whether this can translate to a mixed-lot private rental remains to be seen. It is just too easy for a one-time renter to do a lot of damage to a vehicle and disappear, taking their facebook account with them. The reputation model works well in many cases (see ebay with high reputation buyers/sellers) but breaks down at the starting point. I guess it can be covered by a higher premium for first time renters but then that is going to dissuade new people from trying out the service. Perhaps the company can offer cash bonuses to people willing to rent to first-time customers or something.
As for your last argument - I think - despite your valid claims, that a bog-standard rental car can be treated as a commodity, despite the mechanical complexity and insurance / liability issues. It just takes the right mix of legal protection and insurance underwriting. How you get that is the key to the puzzle, and the person that gets it right will win this battle, if it can be won.