Comments on: Prosper.com - Applying For A Loan

By: DocProsper

DocProsper — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 15:51:10 +0000

Greets Liz,

If you looking for a group I’d love to have you in mine, for several reasons.

By: Rich

Rich — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 18:12:59 +0000

I became a lender on Prosper soon after I read the NY Times article on the service. I am not sure the service will take off, but it has the potential of an eBay to really transform a market. I only invested a little, really on a lark. You can place a “standing order” to bid for you in small increments ($50 minimum) to spread risk among many borrowers. My strategy is to lend only to high-risk borrowers (credit grades C and worse). The high risks comes with the potential for high reward — right now my loans are at an average rate of 13% — try getting that at your local bank.

Liz the interest rate you asked for is too low for a borrower of your credit grade.

By: Wilson

Wilson — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 19:51:18 +0000

Hey Liz, good post. It’s nice seeing one person’s first-hand experience of the service. Although there have been alot of blogs about Prosper, few people have ventured forth to try the service. I’d agree with RS ^^ on the fact that since the loans are unsecured, it can be a bit scary, especially from a lender’s side, and the fact that they won’t disclose a borrower’s information to their lender makes it even more risky for a lender. But then again, I suppose eBay and PayPal were scary concepts when they first came out. I think Prosper could fill a much needed niche as the ‘net-savvy’ group moves toward social and peer networking and viral marketing, preferring to deal with other people than big corporations. Could you do a follow-up post if you succeed in the loan? I’m sure many people are in a similar situation but have not taken the first step in trying out this service due to the ‘newness’ of Prosper.

Furthermore, has anyone here had any experience as a Lender on Prosper? I’d like to hear more about the site coming from the other side of the coin as well.

By: jim

jim — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 05:39:26 +0000

Good luck to you Liz, I’m with RS, I’d be wary of lending to a stranger esp. with the lack of protections in place on Prosper’s end.

By: RS

RS — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 03:58:11 +0000

This service would make me a little nervous being on either side of it. Loaning money to strangers is pretty scary. I am interested to see if it will take off here.

By: mapgirl

mapgirl — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 16:03:33 +0000

Savvy Saver started a group too.

By: lizriz

lizriz — Sat, 18 Feb 2006 19:28:09 +0000

Thanks everyone for the comments. I agree that the picture and the blog link are likely good to post with a listing.

I love that mapgirl thought it was a stock photo - I think that makes my friend’s cat a model!

By: pfadvice

pfadvice — Sat, 18 Feb 2006 06:00:34 +0000

You might want to join the Personal Finance Bloggers group since you are affiliated with Jeffreyâ€™s blog. He has a lot of dedicated readers, and on that association alone, Iâ€™m sure there are folks that would bid on you.

I just want to make it perfectly clear that although I am a personal finance blogger, I have no association with the group, am not a member of the group or involved in its creation in any way - I don’t even know who runs it.

By: mapgirl

mapgirl — Sat, 18 Feb 2006 03:56:42 +0000

I was really intrigued by your personal story so I went a looked. You might want to join the Personal Finance Bloggers group since you are affiliated with Jeffrey’s blog. He has a lot of dedicated readers, and on that association alone, I’m sure there are folks that would bid on you.

I don’t know if I’d put a picture any different from the one already on your blog, though I have to admit when I saw the photo here at first, I thought it was a stock photo until I saw it on your personal blog.

Good luck though! It sounds like a really interesting concept and I’d like to see this work. I could see myself as a lender or borrower.

By: lpkitten

lpkitten — Sat, 18 Feb 2006 02:47:07 +0000

great post - i have been surfing around prosper and find it to be very intriguing. one way you might get more bids is by joining a group. being part of a group will increase your credibility and make your loan more desirable to lenders (so they say).

also, if you feel comfortable, i agree you should probably post your picture, mostly because people feel more connected with a face than with an icon. you can also add a link to your blog. the more personally connected they feel to you, the more likely they will be to give you a loan.

good luck!