DIY platform enables fractional ownership of rarely used items

We’ve seen the fractional ownership model applied to luxury goods including supercars, second homes, jets and high-end motorcycles. Aiming to expand the concept’s reach, diyFractional is a site that helps people set up and manage shared ownership arrangements for any type of infrequently used good. Consumers have long shared big-ticket items, of course, whether or not there was any formal fractional ownership program in place. New York-based diyFractional, however, aims to simplify the creation and management of such arrangements with a simple do-it-yourself platform. Users looking to share an item can search or browse opportunities by asset type or location; they can also post a new opportunity to share an item they own and then promote it socially. Members can create profiles and blogs on the site, and those interested in a particular opportunity can “follow” it Twitter-style and receive notifications when there’s related activity. Once sharing partners have found each other, they can use diyFractional to collaboratively schedule usage, share expenses, track issues, manage to-do lists, enable voting, resolve conflicts and more. Finding partners to share with is free on the site, as is managing any shared asset during diyFractional’s beta period; the fee for asset management thereafter will be USD 9 per user per month. In today’s frugal and eco-aware era, “sharing is the new owning,” as diyFractional says. One to partner with or emulate for all the transumers in your neck of the sharing woods? (Related: Directory lists businesses that are based on sharing and participation — Site helps neighbours share tools & equipment.)