Updated August 10, 2010
About: RentAFriend.com is the largest online platonic friendship website in the world. It's currently available in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. RentAFriend.com is NOT a dating website and NOT and escort website. There is no physical contact allowed between any members and friends on the website. RentAFriend.com is for platonic companionship only.
History: RentAFriend.com was started in October 2009 in Stewartsville New Jersey by Scott Rosenbaum. The idea came from the increasing popularity of "rent a friend" companies in Japan. Scott noticed that the "rent a friend" companies in Japan were catering mainly to single parent families. "Family structure is a very big part of their society, and the companies were offering "fill in or stand in" family members. If there was a divorce, death, or situation in which a parent was not available, one could hire someone to pretend to be that family member. If a child had a school activity in which the parents needed to attend, it was common for a single parent to hire a spouse to fill in for the school event."
"After reading about the companies in Japan, I realized that there weren't any companies that were catering to the "friend market" on the US. There are thousands of dating websites, but no websites where you could hire a local platonic friend." After doing some market research, Scott realized that there were many reasons why people would want to rent a friend. Some of the ways people are using RentAFriend.com are:
●People who travel to a new city can hire a local to show them around town. It's always good to know someone from the area who can give you first hand information about where to go and what to avoid.
● Many Friends on RentAFriend.com have unique talents and skills. They can teach you a new language, tutor you, share a new hobby, art, dance, and much more. It's also a great way to meet people of different cultures and religions.
● People who travel often for business that are looking to find local Friends to go out to dinner with, go to the bar with, or watch a sports game with. It's always great to have Friends in different cities.
● Just looking for someone to give you personal advice. There are lots of people who just want to get real advice about a situation and it's always great to get an outsiders point of view.
How the Site Works: Anyone can apply to be a friend on RentAFriend.com. It's 100% free, and the friend get's to keep 100% of the money they earn. The members can contact the friends directly to arrange times, prices, and activities.
All of the profiles on RentAFriend.com are public except for the friend's contract information. Anyone can view the friend's photos, details, and read their profiles, but in order to contact the friend you must become a member. Membership fees are $24.95 per month or $69.95 for an entire year. The friends charge between $10-$50 per hour, and almost all of them are willing to negotiate or even waive their fee depending on the activity that the member wants to do.
Statistics: Currently there are over 283,000 friends available for rent and currently over 2300 members on RentAFriend.com
Future: By September 1, 2010 we are looking to have RentAFriend.com worldwide. We are currently in the hiring stage of friends from around the world.
Investments: RentAFriend.com is currently privately owned and is not looking for investors. Though we appreciate the attention we are not looking for any venture capital. We are willing to listen to any partnership ideas, business ventures, or possible acquisitions.
Partners: We are looking to partner with new unique companies, ideas, and programmers. If you have an idea that can increase RentAFriend.com's value for it's members or friends feel free to contact us.
Download RentAFriend Logo: JPG or PSD Download RentAFriend header
Contact Information: Scott (at) RentAFriend.com
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