Rent.com
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rent.com is the largest apartment listing service on the Internet. It was acquired by EBay in 2005.[1]
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[edit] History
Rent.com was co-founded by Scott Ingraham and Arthur Oakley Hunter Jr. in 1999. The Company was the first pay-for-performance online rental site, a business model that outperformed competitors who went with subscriptions, listing fees, or costs-per-lead revenue models.[2] Rent.com charges the property manager $375 when a verified lease is produced through the site.
Much of Rent.com's early success was due to its strategic investors. The Company raised $17 million in financing in November 2000 from some of the nations largest REITs (real estate investment trusts). These REITs controlled nearly 20% of the rental apartments in the US.[2] This allowed Rent.com to open new markets with immediate sources of apartment vacancy listings.
Rent.com enjoyed better conversion rates than its early competitors by collecting more user information during the registration process, allowing the Company to better tailor its search results. Rent.com also incentivized users by offering a $100 reward to customers who signed a lease through the company. The company launched by spending no money on traditional marketing, relying solely on search engine marketing.
[edit] Sale to EBay
In the winter of 2004, eBay decided to expand its reach into classified markets, buying at 25% stake in Craigslist and purchasing Rent.com for $415 million in cash plus acquisition costs, net of Rent.com's cash on hand.[3] Rent.com was rumored to have $40M in 2004 revenue, with strong profit margins, giving the company a 10x trailing revenue multiple upon acquisition.[2]
