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May 30, 2006

Buddy, Can You Spare a Grand?

Here's an interesting site - Prosper.com:

Prosper, America's first people-to-people lending marketplace, was created to make consumer lending more financially and socially rewarding for everyone.

The way Prosper works is intuitive to people who have used eBay. Instead of listing and bidding on items, people list and bid on loans using Prosper's online auction platform.

People who want to lend set the minimum interest rate they are willing to earn and bid in increments of $50 to $25,000 on loan listings they select. People who lend can easily diversify using "standing orders", which automatically make many small loans to different borrowers.

Essentially, you become your own lending company, with all the attendant risks and rewards.

Might have to look into it, although in today's world of identity theft and declining morals (what with all the homosexuals and pornographers and puppy-eating evildoers*), it sounds a bit too risky.

* Curse them!