Peer to peer RV rental is really gaining in popularity. I am a huge advocate for it since I love to camp and I have no desire to buy an RV or camper trailer. Renting an RV on craigslist is very risky and the possibilities of someone being able to scam you are endless. So who wants to put themselves in the type of situation where you have a trip planned and the RV is a no show and they have all your money or a portion of it.
This is where peer to peer RV rental comes in. For condos, houses and rooms you have Airbnb, VRBO, and Homeaway to name a few that facilitate the peer to peer rentals.
For RVs and camper trailers you only really have 2 main players right now and they are RVShare and Outdoorsy. There may be a few other small players out there but for now those two are the main ones you get to choose from.
The concept with both of them is the same. You have an RV or camper trailer owner that wants to make some money renting their RV and you have a renter that wants to rent an RV. What these two websites do is they help the two parties find each other and take care of all the risky stuff such as facilitating payment and handling the insurance stuff.
They both function pretty much the same way. A person goes to either RVShare or Outdoorsy and they put where they want to rent an RV and the dates and then the websites list all of the available RVs to rent and the prices. The two websites are similar in a lot of ways but they are also different in a lot of ways also.
Lets look at some of the features of both RVShare and Outdoorsy and compare and contrast them:
RVShare
- Up To $500,000 Liability & $200,000 RV Value Coverage Insurance
- 24/7 RV Rental Roadside Assistance
- Instant Book Option Where You Don’t Have To Contact The Other Party To See If It Is Available
- Extremely Large Rental Selection And It Is Only Getting Bigger By The Month
- Great Prices
Check Out RVShare For Yourself Here
Outdoorsy
- Up To 1 Million On Approved Bookings
- 24/7 RV Rental Roadside Assistance
- Instant Book Option Where You Don’t Have To Contact The Other Party To See If The RV Is Available
- DMV Check On All Drivers
- Dedicated Customer Support Team
- 93% Average 5+ Star Reviews
Check Out Outdoorsy For Yourself Here
You do have a few difference between the two. Outdoorsy has better insurance and customer service. RVShare has a bigger selection of RVs to rent and tend to have cheaper prices. From all the reviews and research I have done it seems that RVShare is almost impossible to get a hold of and Outdoorsy is a lot easier to get someone on the phone or to answer an e-mail.
You also have to take into mind that both companies are still relatively new and growing like crazy and keep adding on new features. A good example is that when I booked an RV on RVShare in late 2017 they did not have the instant book feature and now both websites have that.
You are going to continue to see both sites add on new features and improve the services that they do have such as I heard that it is easier to get ahold of someone at RVShare now.
As far as everything I have read Outdoorsy edges out RVShare if you need to get ahold of the company for whatever reason. But RVShare tends to have a bigger selection to choose from and a tad bit better pricing. But as a write this article I am sure more and more people are listing on Outdoorsy.
When I recently booked an RV I looked at both sites to see what one had a better deal. Now I will tell you that I was not going to an area that was very populous so I did have a limited selection. Now the selection was not bad but I was not near a major city where you tend to have a lot to choose from. What I found was that RVShare was cheaper and had a better selection so I did book through RVShare. If I would have found a better deal on Outdoors I would not have hesitated to book.
I would not hesitate to list an RV or rent an RV from either service. As far as listing why not do both. It’s free to do so. You just have to make sure that you don’t double book. Or why not do both and see which one you like better and get the most action from.
I have rented from RVShare a couple times and had no problem at all. I am not guaranteeing that your experience will be perfect but I am 2 for 2 so far. You just have to make sure you read through everything thoroughly and make sure you don’t book at the last minute because you are dealing with owners on the other end and not some employee who sits by his computer and phone all day. Sometimes when you message people they will not get back to you. That’s why I recommend not booking at the last minute and really walk through things with the owner before you rent.
Outdoorsy has an A+ rating with an average of 85 customer reviews
RVShare has a B- rating with an average of 474 customer reviews and 75 complaints filed.
Most of the complaints are about them not responding to e-mails. I have heard that they are getting a lot better at it and when I emailed them a few months ago I do get a timely response. It was not immediate but it was timely
When looking at those ratings a couple things to keep in mind is that RVShare has been around longer which means they were around before Outdoorsy and they had to figure some things out the hard way which usually means you will get negative reviews. Outdoorsy had the ability to learn from their mistakes before making them themselves. But I have to admit that the A+ rating is really impressive and something to be admired.
Both companies are great and when choosing between the two just make sure you are choosing the one that makes you feel the most comfortable or if you are anything like me then the one that is a better deal.