eBay launches microlending website

[tuvor]

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Online auction giant eBay has launched a microlending website that lets people invest in entrepreneurs in poor communities around the world and get a return on their money.

Unlike micro-finance organizations that make interest-free loans to people in developing countries, Microplace.com offers investors profits for funding folks trying to build better lives, said founder Tracey Turner.

"You are actually investing in the world's working poor," Turner told AFP. "And for the first time you get a return on investment. You can take the profit and invest in more people in a virtuous cycle."

Turner's vision of MicroPlace began taking shape in 2005, after she lived for a time with a Kenyan family comprised of a single mother caring for three children.

The Kenyan woman bought a sewing machine with 100 dollars she borrowed and started an in-home business making school uniforms for local children.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071226/lf_afp/lifestyleinternetfinancepovertycompanyebay_071226145939

[Booster]

1. Thanks for posting this story. I donated already to another

website, but will definitely keep my eye on this one as well. Turner seems like a genuine good person, but I'm just not so sure about eBay.

[tuvor]

2. Please post the name of the site you donated to.

I might like to know about them, too.

[durrrty libby]

3. I love this one

www.kiva.org is very good. President Clinton has mentioned it several times

and also his site www.mycommitment.org is amazing

[tuvor]

4. Thank you, durrrty libby

Looks like I should bookmark this page!

[durrrty libby]

6. I've given to the Kiva project. It is life changing for people

Even a small amount is greatly appreciated and I got my money back and reinvested

[wicket]

5. Thanks for the links!

:thumbsup:

[Booster]

10. It was Kiva also.

[Hoof Hearted]

7. I don't really want to make money off the poor.

I do support the idea of investing in the poor, but I guess I have a different notion of what comprises an investment.

[Hippo_Tron]

8. I wonder what the interest rate on the ebay site is

I'd be comfortable taking interest on such an investment if the interest rate is no higher than the rate of inflation so that basically I get the original value of my money back. Of course I'm not that stingy either and I'd have no problem taking that small loss since whoever I'm investing in could probably use that money a lot more than I could.

I agree that I'd prefer not to be profiting off of something like this. The idea that it's as helpful as giving to a charity but you get your money back should seem appealing enough. But if the interest rates are very low and more people are motivated to give if they can profit, then I don't have a problem with it.

My only hesitation is that I've heard that some people in these developing countries have suffered some coercive practices to get them to repay the loans when they cannot. I mean if I loan out $100 through micro-credit and the person I loan it to doesn't end up having a successful business for whatever reason, I'd much rather not get my $100 back than have some loan shark threatening the guy I loaned the money to.

[Hoof Hearted]

9. As a former eBay power seller I can promise you they will make more money than you or the poor.

They are in it for themselves.

[wicket]

11. This needs a

:kick:

[RedCappedBandit]

12. I'd recommend www.kiva.org instead..

Was posted up thread, but :shrug: figured i'd post anyway..