FAQs

Trust, security and reliability are the main aspects of the fainin-family, that’s why we developed fainin with consideration of all three aspects. 
Here are a few measures we take to ensure the safety of your property: 

1. All users of fainin have unique profiles to present themselves in the Community.
Before you can lend an item, all renters have to verify themselves on the platform.
This includes personal contact data as well as an identity document which clearly identifies the member.As privacy is very important to us, we only save the verification status and the associated data with/at our verification partner SumSub. 

2. In Chats you can talk to other users about products and booking details. Wether before the booking or just to stay in contact afterwards. 
It has never been so easy to arrange delivery terms or get answers on an item. 
The whole communication should occur via this chat to ensure that the booking is covered by the insurance. 

3. All payments from renter to lender have to take place via the platform. 
The payment system of fainin secures that the lenders only receive the rent after the renter confirms they received the item. 
It is important to know that payments outside from the platform are not covered by the insurance. 

4. Renters and lenders can rate each other after the rental is completed. 
Ratings are a part of the public profiles of users and can be viewed by anyone. The fainin-family relies on honest and transparent ratings.
Thus, you help other members, and it strengthens the trust in the platform. 

5. Through the use of fainin you are under our protection and our safety measures. 
Please contact  [email protected] if you notice any suspicious behaviour. 
Together we‘ll make fainins concept the safest of the whole sharing economy!  
Let us create a movement & bring sustainable consumption in the heart of our society – because #TeilenIstDasNeueHaben (Sharing is the new having). 

In case of a problem with a rented offer the integrated insurance of ERGO takes over.
This insurance covers both sides: lender and renter through fully insured rental offers up to €15.000 per transaction.

Some pro-advice: The better your rental offer is described in the title as well as the description, the easier it is to ensure the insurance claim is covered. 

Therefore, your rental offer should include: 
- As much details as possible, e.g. model number, date of purchase and a detailed description of the condition. 
- At least two pictures to determine the exact condition of the item.
- Regular up-dates.

It is important to know that the insurance does not cover normal traces of use. For example: If a bike, that was rented for a month, is being returned with a small new scratch or slightly worn brakes, it counts as normal traces of use.
 
Please note that there are a variety of things we cannot insure, such as:
- Vehicles (e.g. cars, motorcycles, motorised scooters, buses, trucks, transporters, vans etc.)
- Motorised boats - Drones heavier than 5kg - Real estate (e.g. apartments, houses etc.) 
- Drones heavier than 5kg
- Real estate (e.x. apartments, houses etc)

We ‘re already working on expanding the insurance policy which will cover the above-mentioned items. 

YES! Every transaction up to €15.000 is insured in accordance with the general terms of condition, thanks to our insurance partner ERGO. 
This includes all damages that affect the proper functioning of the rented item. 
The important thing here is that the rental occurred via fainin and the damage emerged during the rental period.

Unfortunately, at the moment we can only ensure functional impairments via ERGO – for example with a camera, if the quality of the pictures is impaired. 

  For security reasons, ERGO reserves the right to have damaged rental offers sent in at random sampling. 
If for example, the removable fin of a SUP or the paddle of a SUP is lost, we cannot guarantee 100% that this case will be covered by our insurance partner. 
If the case of lost partial items occurs, renters and lenders can try to activate the respective liability insurance of the person responsible.
Contact us via [email protected] and we‘ll help you with filling out the documents.    

As soon as damage has occurred during the rental on fainin, it can be reported by the renter within 48 hours of the rental. 
Afterwards we sent both transaction partners a form from our insurance partner ERGP asking them to complete it.  

    As a standard case, the lender initiates the insurance process – nevertheless, the renter is obliged to report any damage to the lender immediately. 
In this case we ask for short information being send to [email protected]. 
Within 24 hours, we will send you a form in which the damage, the course of events and the resulting consequences must be summarised. 
ERGO`s damage department will normally reply within 1-2 weeks with further information on the insurance process.   

Yes, we document every insurance case with a standardised insurance form. 
In addition, the rental protocol is sent to ERGO so that their damage department can process each case as quickly as possible. 
It is therefore important to take pictures that are as informative as possible.  

Talk about the handover details like place and time comfortably via the chat function with your lender.
At fainin the lender decides if they want to offer delivery.
Until now the delivery process hast to be independently settled by the lender themselves.
You can see at renting offers via inquiry process if the offer is available thorough delivery. 

For the long-term we would like to integrate a delivery system on our platform.
But until then, the lender has to take care of delivery via a shipping  service provider themselves.
You‘ll see if an article is available for delivery after sending your inquiry.
Beside pick up and return time you can choose collection and (if possible) delivery.

Most of the time it takes around three workdays until an article is delivered to your doorstep.
Please note that the delivery time depends on where the article is from and where it needs to be delivered to – this is why we unfortunately can ‘t guarantee a delivery time of three days.
All details for dispatching an article should be agreed upon via fainins chat function. If difficulties should occur with renters or lenders, please contact us directly via: [email protected].

If you haven‘t received your article by the expected delivery date, you can check the delivery status with help of the consignment number.
If there are no other information available, please contact the shipping service provider.
They will then check the status of your delivery themselves communicate the relevant details about the mail item as quickly as possible.  

The renter is able to send an inquiry of extending the rental, therefore the current rental has to be terminated on trust basis.
If the lender accepts the extension, they can terminate the rental and a new one can be launched with an additional booking.

Important is: The lender has the last say regarding a possible rental extension and the payment should be affected immediately after completion of the first rental.
Currently you have to do this via separate booking – that means to let the original booking expire.
(The Advantage: More feedback and twice the amount of trust for future rentals is build).

The renter has to extra book from one final day until the other – it could also be that you have to upload the same article again, but this time with a different price.
We included a `duplicate` feature, so you won‘t have to repeat the whole upload process: 

- Click on the product (Detail View) and then on the three-dot menu on the top right to duplicate
- Customise the name (e.g extension price).
- Customise the summary (e.g not normal price, only for extension of rental) 
- Customise the price (it depends on what you settled on or what you would demand for an extension) 

Afterwards the renter has to inquire about the new article, you accept, therefore payment can be received, and the new rental contract is created.
In the long run, we also want to integrate an extension option of course! 

Extending a booking:
If you want to lend an article for a longer period of time, you can just generate a new booking for the elongated period. 

Shortening a booking:
If you want to finish a booking earlier, you should clarify this with the lender in advance.
As soon as you did that, contact us immediately via [email protected]. 
If you give an early notice, there is a good chance that the lender will waive parts of your booking fee – so that we can initiate a refund. 
Please note that costs for service and insurance can not be refunded.  

Canceling a booking:
The lender as well as the renter are able to cancel a booking.
If one of you decides to pursue a cancelation, you firstly should clarify this with the respective transaction partners and find an agreement.
As soon as you find and agreement, we are able to initiate the cancellation. 
Please note here as well that costs for service and insurance can not be refunded.
Soon we will introduce new features, which will shorten extensions or simplify cancellations of bookings.
 Maybe you ‘re interested to influence fainin with us? Get in touch: [email protected] 

Your item should be returned in the same way you received it.
Currently, we ‘re only offering one option but in the near future, we’ll also integrate the safest dispatch options to expand the range of our
Community throughout whole Germany. 

Option 1: Personal Meeting
The best way to arrange the personal handover of your item is via fainin‘s chat function.
Should you face difficulties with this function and are in need of our support, please contact us via [email protected]. 

Option 2: Dispatch
As soon as we‘ve activated this option, you‘re able to print a return shipping label which you‘ll receive via the fainin app and mail by successful booking.
There are different proceeding methods for the respective service providers.
But with all of them, you stick the label on the packaged item and book a collection date.  

fainin has the goal to supply his members with a variety of equipment.
That ‘s why we ‘re working on constantly enlarging our network and expanding our offers.
Of course, it can happen that we don ‘t have an article you required.
Should this case occur, contact us briefly on which article it is.
We‘ll try to include it in our product range or to find it somewhere outside of fainin.  

If you‘re renting an article for the first time via our platform, you need to verify yourself initially via Sumsub.
For this, you‘ll need your ID or your passport. With this we‘re making sure that you‘re a real person and at the same time protecting our lenders from potential fraud. 

- As soon as you find the suitable equipment for you, you can check the availability.
After that you suggest a time-lapse for collection and return. 
- Now you have to wait for the lender to accept your enquiry… 
- As soon as your enquiry is accepted, we ‘ll send you a message… 
- And as soon as you transferred the money, both sides agreed to the renting and you can now discuss the exact handover via chat.  

Of course!
The rental agreement only becomes valid once payment has been made. Don‘t forget to cancel your open or expired enquiries.  

After you agreed on a handover location or dispatch via chat with your lender, the item will be handed over as agreed.
At the handover you have to upload at least one picture of the item in the app to document the condition of the item.  

Bring the complete item with you to the agreed time and place.
You documented the condition of the item at the handover.
Now it’s the lenders turn. Is the item damaged, the lender initiates a damage claim and is therefore supported by us.  

Yes, but only if the renter has authorised the collector in writing and the lender has been informed of the name of the collector beforehand in writing as well. The collector has to bring their ID to the handover, the ID has to be checked and photographed on both sides. 

Should you damage the equipment or item, immediately take a picture of the damages and send it to us with a detailed description.
Inform the lender during the return of the course of the damage and show them exactly what damages occurred.
Upon return, note again what damage has occurred and record this with pictures in the app.  

As soon as the lender confirms the return of the item, you are able to download an invoice for the respective transactions.
To do this, go to a complete rental and click on „show invoice“ below the rental price overview at the end of the log.  

The word fainin originates from the english adjective “to fain“ which means as much as “gladly“– like the people on our platform gladly share items! 
In addition, “fainin“ stands for a shortened form of “Find Anything In Your Neighbourhood“. 
Because we want to establish a joint intake with fainin‘s Community and make sharing with strangers as safe and comfortable as with friends. 

Our thesis is: “If we share with each other, we need less overall “.  
This is how we want to promote sustainable consumption and give every member the possibility to make the world a little bit better! 

To pursue our vision of a joint sharing Community, we want to create trust on fainin‘s platform. 
Every member should put trust in themselves to do something good but also put their trust in other members, their intentions and especially our platform. 
To establish a save marketplace as well as a trustworthy environment, we use innovative technology and offer with a unique Design-For-Trust the first truly secure sharing Community.

Therefore we ‘re offering you the possibility to share your possessions, to experience new things, build relationships and support sustainable resource intake.  

There are a few easy ways to earn a gift card for participating in the fainin Community. 
Here are three options for you to earn a €10 gift card: 

1. You ‘ll find fainin memes in this folder. 
You can share one of the memes and thereby link @fainin_sharing & post the direct link to www.fainin.com. 
As result you ‘re helping us to draw the attention of more and m ore people to our Community. 

2. When you offer an item on fainin, you can take a screenshot and post it in your story or your status.
This helps with drawing people's attention to our Community as well. 

3. You can also write a short clarification of fainin and post it on Jodel or Reddit. 
Free storytelling is permitted here. 

If you carried out one of these activities, you should send a screenshot wthin  24 hours to [email protected].
This way we can unlock gift cards for you and you can earn your next rent :)

Congratulations, your rent on fainin starts directly with a gift card!! 
To activate the gift card follow these 3 steps: 

1. First, you have to send a request to rent an item on fainin 
2. Afterwards you have to wait until the request has been accepted 
3. Now you can activate your gift card by entering the voucher code in the “Order-Detail-View “(Bestell-Detail-Anischt) 

Attention! 
If you‘re renting an item for the first time, you have to verify yourself after step two with your ID!

All fainin-family members pay nothing at first – we only earn money when you earn money as well or pay:

Private individuals pay as renters 15% surcharge and receive through successful renting 15% less.
 Which means if a renter lends a Switch for €10, they pay a surcharge of €1,50.The lender receives €8,50. after the rental. 

All costs of insurance, verification, automatic contract creation as well as costs of servers and customer support are included in the service fee. 

Pro Advice: 
A lot of lenders map their dispatch via fainin and those profit from contactless ID verification. Of course, we do not charge a commission with this shipping fee.  

The lenders are almost all from Germany. 
Even though we want to expand throughout the DACH-Region and afterwards the entire EU, we‘re currently concentrating on the biggest metropolitan areas in Germany. 

You can offer private handover as well as delivery. 
If you want to offer delivery you can enter the shipment price of the product in a default field via setting or editing the product.
The sum won‘t be commissioned by us and when the renter selects this option, the shipping address will be automatically transmitted to you. 

We don’t set limits on size and weight of the items. That means that even a well drill is very welcomed on our platform. 
Rental people and companies are, of course, able to offer optional “shipment “, which is delivered by themselves with a van or similar vehicle and have this delivery paid for a flat rate at their own discretion. 

In order to depict different shipping fees, the current product has to be duplicated (click on the three-dot-menu in the product few and duplicate). 
Now you can edit the duplicated product: 
In this example adding a different shipping fee and customising the name: 

1. „ Well drill including shipping <20km “for e.g €50 shipping fee 
2. „ Well drill including shipping <50km “for e.g €100 shipping fee 

Currently we‘re using the exactly the same trick to bypass the automated scaling. 
With the linked chart you can calculate the price for long-term rentals using the current scale. 

The usual rental time is one day. 
We had a function called „hourly rental “where you ‘re able to enter a separate price to shorten the rental period. 
But for most items it wouldn’t ‘t make much sense and I would recommend to always rent for the whole day. If you want to use the hourly rental again, please contact us via [email protected] and we ‘ll take care of it as soon as possible. 

The lender determines the selectable handover possibilities in his advertisement. 
The renter can choose if they want to pick up the article in person or if they want it to be delivered to them. 
In some cases, a lender is open to a change in the delivery method set for their article.  
So, if you want to choose an alternative method, please discuss this with the lender directly via chat before they confirm your rental.  

At fainin you can lend and rent almost anything! 
We ‘re always working on expanding our offer. 
The most requests have been for these items: 
- Movie and photography accessory 
- Drones 
- Audio visual accessory 
- Projectors and Screens - Dj equipment, electronic - Clothes, Baby- and children accessories 
- Sports equipment, bicycles
 - Boats & SUPs 

Here is a short list of things which you can ‘t or are not allowed to rent or are not covered by our insurance:
 - Guns
- Firearms or weapons of any kind
- Drugs or chemicals of any kind
- Real estate
- Cars and motorcycles
- Humans, animals and plants

The „Esclusive-Community-Feature“ is developed for Universities, Institutions & Companies to initiate a cluster-like expansion. 
As students we know just how many things we bought just for our studies – and afterwards we never really use them again:

In Max‘s case it was the economic books and his camera. Johann bought himself an IPad, Apple Pen included & Kevin uses his soldering iron as good as not at all. 
But we three also really don‘t want to sell this stuff – after all it‘s sentimental stuff. 

If you‘d also like to start or join an exclusive Community, let us know via this form and we‘ll get back to you to make a plan. 

  If you‘d also like to start or join an exclusive Community, let us know via this form  and we‘ll get back to you to make a plan. 
People who want to tell us their opinion can either directly contact us via [email protected] or provide their input via this form.   

No!
We offer the exclusive Communities for Universities completely free of charge. 
In the long run, we reserve the right to charge a small, fixed amount per month for premium functions. 

We call our Communities „exclusive Communities“, but they basically work similarly like Facebook groups. 
Our favourites are fainin-family-members, who also say Communities instead of Groups.  

If a renter has a special wish or if you‘d like to offer a variety of prices and conditions for different packages or versions of one product, we recommend uploading an advertisement for each version –in short-term.

You can duplicate your offers and provide a variety of dispatch options with different pricing.
This also applies if a renter has already inquired a product, and you agreed on a different price via chat. In this case, just duplicate the article, customise it and let the new article be inquired again.  

Via fainins website, click on the three-point menu at the top right corner, select your product via „Produkt-Detail-View“ and click on duplicate. Afterwards, customize the new article e.g a new dispatch option or a new price via the rental offer and save.

  Of course! There are a lot of advantages for rental companies.
Eery booking is covered by fainin‘s insurance – with ERGO we have an insurance partner that insures every transaction up to €15,000 in accordance with the general terms and conditions (AGB).
With a strong Community we also bring an additional customer group, so that you can present your business to a new group of customers.
We are currently developing business accounts that will include additional management features to help you manage your bookings.
If you need further information, please contact us via [email protected].   

The renter is able to request an extension.
Therefore, the current rental has to be terminated on trustworthy conditions.
If the lender accepts the expansion request, they‘re able to terminate the rental and a new one can be launched with an additional booking.

 Important: The lender has the last word regarding possible extensions and payment should be made immediately after the termination of the first rental.

Indeed!
We‘re happy you‘re joining our Community! We have special business accounts with practical administrative functions.
They will help you to navigate the rental and selling of your products. Contact us and we‘ll take care of you and your business! 

We‘re reachable at all times via our mail [email protected] or Social Media – you‘lL find all of our platforms via Linktree.

Extending a booking: 
If you‘d like to rent an article longer, you can just make a new booking for the extended period.

Shortening a booking: 
If you‘d like to end a booking early, you should check this with the renter beforehand.
As soon as you and the renter clarified everything, please contact us via [email protected].
Please note that costs for service and insurance can not be refunded.

Canceling a booking: 
The lender as well as the renter are able to cancel a booking.
If one of you should decide to pursue a cancellation, contact the respective transaction partners and find an agreement.
As soon as that‘s settled, we‘re able to initiate a cancellation. Please note here as well that the costs for service and insurance can not be refunded.

Shortly we‘ll be introducing new features, which will simplify the extension, shortening or cancellation of a booking.
Maybe you‘re interested in influencing fainin with us?
Take a look at the survey in our link tree.

Your itemi should be returned in the same way you received it.
Currently, we ‘re only offering one option but in the near future, we’ll also integrate the safest dispatch options to expand the range of our Community throughout whole Germany. 

Option 1: Personal Meeting 
The best way to arrange the personal handover of your item is via fainin‘s chat function.
Should you face difficulties with this function and are in need of our support, please contact us via [email protected]. 

Option 2: Dispatch 
Currently you have to take care of dispatch processing yourself.
If you want to dispatch an article you can enter a shipping option with a flat rate price in the last step of the upload. 

Usually, the earning from the rental of movable items is tax-free for private individuals up to €256 per year.
This contrasts with rental earning from a business. This has to be fully taxed. The prices, which are listed in the respective invoices, are hereby gross prices. The sales tax merely refers to the service fee.
Your rental earning must be taxed separately! 

Read about this in our FAQ How are the invoices for lenders at fainin structured? via Payment and Invoice.  

The lending of movable items is firstly seen as a private practice and therefore not immediately commercial.
Some characteristics that differentiate private and commercial lending:

- if the rental is used to cover the cost of living
- operating an own office or employment of staff for lending 
- if the lending is accompanied by additional services for the renter. Care, maintenance and servicing are not affected by this (Examples of additional services: Assembly/dismantling, handling of machines, other services) 
- Commerciality is also, if items are offered that are only purchased for rentals purposes 

Each lender must determine for themselves whether they have already crossed into commercial activity.
This FAQ only serves as a first point of contact for information.
We always recommend proper advice from qualified tax advisors.  

You can specify different rental prices for different rental term when uploading items. These include daily price, weekend price, weekly price and monthly price.
A fair price is automatically calculated for requests for 2 or 4 days, for example, depending on your other price details.  

You are able to sell an item second-hand via fainin, if you‘d like to.
We haven‘t integrated a classic function for this case yet, but we plan to.
So, if you want to sell an item for a certain price, you could just add this little information to your item description.
Of course, you have to choose for yourself at what price you‘d like to sell the item.
Measure it by how high the value of the item is and with which price you and the buyer would be content with. 

Currently you have to this via separate booking. 
That means letting the original booking expire (The Advantage: More feedback and twice the amount of trust for future rentals is build)

- The renter has to book the article again until the new end day
- You have to upload the article with a different price again, if necessary. 
We included a  “duplicate“ feature, so you won‘t have to repeat the whole upload process: 
- Click on the product (Detail View) and then on the three-dot menu on the top right to duplicate
- Customise the name (e.g extension price)
- Customise the summary (e.g not normal price, only for extension of rental) 
-  Customise the price (it depends on what you settled on or what you would demand for an extension) 

Afterwards the renter has to inquire about the new item, you accept and therefore payment can be received, and the new rental contract is created. In the long run, we also want to integrate an extension option of course! 

You can specify a shipping option for your items. The renter will pay the amount you enter for delivery.Inform yourself on the website of a shipping service provider of your choice about the respective prices.
We recommend to always choose an insured provider.
Damages can occur during transportation which can not be covered by our own insurance. 

In the long run, we‘d like to integrate a dispatch option on our platform and the shipping label will be provided after selecting the required details in the app.
An approximate deliver time will be added by the respective service provider. 
A lot of lenders already do their mail-over business via fainin.
The dispatch confirmation appears in the booking, as soon as the lender sends it.
 Most of the time it takes around three workdays until an article is delivered to your doorstep.

Please note that the delivery time depends on where the article is from and where it needs to be delivered to – this is why we unfortunately can ‘t guarantee a delivery time of three days.  
It you haven‘t received your item by the expected delivery date, you can check the delivery status with help of the consignment number.
If there are no other information available, please contact the dispatch service provider.
They will then check the status of your delivery themselves communicate the relevant details about the mail item as quickly as possible.  
If more problems should occur, please contact us via [email protected]. 

Search Requests are a simple way to express your interest in renting a specific product that is not yet available on fainin.
This lets other users or providers know that you would like to rent this product.
You can create a Search Request directly on the platform, specifying exactly what you are looking for.
Providers can then see your request and respond if they own or can source the product you need.
Upload a Search Request now....

If you, as a provider, see a Search Request that matches something you can offer, you can contact the user directly through the chat to discuss details like rental period, price, or handover.
If everything fits, you can upload the requested product to fainin.
The user can then officially request and book the product, ensuring that all the fainin benefits like insurance and payment processing apply to your rental.
Can you handle a current Search Request?

After booking, the renter completes a one-time verification and can then pay for the booking. The amount is transferred directly to the lender’s Stripe Connect account.

Once the renter confirms receipt of the rental item, the payout is automatically initiated to the bank account linked in Stripe. If no confirmation is provided, our system automatically triggers the payout three days after the rental start date.

Regardless, it can take up to seven days after receipt of payment for the funds to become available for payout on Stripe. If the funds are not yet available in the situations mentioned, the payout will occur on the first available day.

Lenders can manually initiate payouts for already paid bookings at any time from their profile. Please note: If a payout is initiated early/manually, there is no technical way to cancel it.

Should a problem occur, please contact us directly via [email protected]. 

Once the lender has confirmed the booking request, the renter is prompted to complete a one-time verification. After the verification is complete, the rental payment can be made. The amounts are charged immediately at the time of payment and transferred to the lender’s Stripe Connect account.

The earnings that show on our invoices for lenders are in principle to be understood gross.
Every lender is therefore responsible to pay the taxes/tax rates from this earning applicable to him or her.

You‘ll find more information on taxes in our FAQs for lenders.  

The structure of invoices for lenders at fainin is always as followed:

1. Earnings: The earning is your rental price times the number of days the item is rented, minus possible discounts for longer rentals based on the price scale.
2. Service fee: These fees are there to cover the costs for verifications, insurance, software and customer support. Service fee is usually 15% (including sales tax).
3. Gross amount: These are your earnings minus the service fee without sales tax. 
4. Sales tax: Sales tax refers to the above-mentioned service fee of fainin.  
5. Earnings: The earning is your rental price times the number of days the item is rented, minus possible discounts for longer rentals based on the price scale. 
6. Sales volume: Gross amount minus sales tax.
This is also the amount we will pay out to your account. As a businessperson this must be taxed!

Each invoice from us includes your billing address.
Should the address be incorrect or recently changed, you can easily customise them.

First click on the „User“-icon at the top of the screen which navigates you to your profile.
There you‘ll find a button at the top right corner to edit your profile. Customise your billing address here and confirm the change via the „save“ button.

Now your new billing address appears on invoices for all future rentals.