There has never been a better time to pull the camper out of the garage, hose it off, and earn some cash for your next big trip.
In Australia, there are over 500,000 registered RVs. On average, these RVs are being used for only six weeks of the year.
Australia’s largest peer-to-peer RV sharing system Camplify is encouraging RV owners to make some extra money, as well as help bring in tourism dollars.
As Airbnb does for spare rooms or Uber does for cars, Camplify does for caravans, camper trailers and motorhomes.
The idea for Camplify was born from CEO Justin Hales’ childhood love of caravanning.
Justin and his family used to holiday in their 1980 Viscount caravan every chance they got. However, on one of these trips Justin’s family were run off the road and had an accident. After this experience, his parents made the decision to sell their caravan and finish their love affair with caravanning.
As an adult, Justin wanted to make new caravanning memories. However, buying a caravan just wasn’t an option for him. So, he set out to develop an innovative way to link holidaymakers with owners of caravans, camper trailers, motorhomes and campervans. And so, Camplify was born.
Now, just 18 months on, Camplify has more than 10,000 registered members.
“The concept of sharing is not a new one, it has always been very common for people to stay in home stays, borrow their neighbour’s equipment, and share rides,” Justin said.
“The new internet sharing economy is a wonderful thing, it brings community back to enable the sharing of assets that were otherwise under-used. The internet allows us to communicate, organise and act like a bigger community than we have been able to in the past.
“The other key concept of the sharing economy and especially businesses like Camplify is that they create a true marketplace where customers set their own prices, rules, and take hirers that suit them.”
Justin said Camplify is a fabulous way to “try before you buy”, as well as connecting passionate owners with families wanting to experience the joys of camping – without having to own an RV.
“Before Camplify, it was impossible to find a way to truly test drive all different kinds of RVs and also ask real owners what their thoughts are on the caravan, motorhome, or camper trailer,” he said.
“We have hundreds of owners who are retired or semi-retired and use the sharing economy as a way of leveraging the asset they have purchased.
“We have a line we use to describe Camplify, which is ‘hire an RV from an expert owner’.
“Our owners love to help our hirers become caravanning and camping fans.”
Camplify emerged from the 2014 NRMA Slingshot Jumpstart Accelerator Program – a tech accelerator that helps innovative companies launch into the great beyond of high growth tech businesses.
Sign up at www.camplify.com.au.
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