How borrowing works on BoRo
You find something near you, meet the person who owns it, and hand it back when you are done. This is every step of that, what your card is doing at each one, and what happens when something goes wrong.
Find it. Book it. Enjoy it. Return it.
Five steps, start to finish, and what your card is doing at each one.
- 1
Verify once
Browsing takes a name and an email. Before you book, you verify: a government photo ID, a live selfie matched against it, and a card on file. A US passport or a permanent resident card works, so you do not need a driver licence. Everyone you meet on BoRo passed the same check.
- 2
Find it near you
A listing shows the daily price, the rules the lender set, the dates the item is free, and the lender's completion rate, which is how often that person follows through on bookings they accepted. If someone sits at 60 percent, you see it before you book.
- 3
Book the dates
You agree dates and a meeting spot with the lender and they accept. About a day before, you both tap to confirm, and that places the Commitment Hold. The window to confirm closes 24 hours before the meetup. If either of you never taps, the booking cancels and nobody is charged.
- 4
Meet and scan
The moment both phones are inside the 100-foot meeting zone, both Commitment Holds release automatically. The lender photographs the item and those photos land on your screen. You authorize payment, so the rental fee and the Shield are held on your card, and nothing is charged yet. Then you scan the code and your 45 minutes starts.
- 5
Use it, then hand it back
You meet again at the end, the lender scans your return code, you photograph the item, and the lender has 45 minutes to check it. When the return settles clean, the Shield hold disappears and you have paid the rental and nothing else.
Your 45 minutes at pickup
The clock starts at the scan and never pauses. While it runs, you have three ways out.
Look at the item first. Compare it to the lender's photos and the listing: scratches, dents, missing parts. If it is not what was described, reject it right there at the meeting point and you pay nothing.
Then test that it works. If it does not, report it inside your 45 minutes. The transaction freezes and the lender has two hours to come and collect it. If they do not come, BoRo collects it and you are released.
Some lenders allow off-site testing, because a leaf blower cannot be tested in a parking lot. Read that setting carefully. The moment you leave the meeting point with the item you can no longer reject it, your only options become accepting it or reporting that it does not work, and your 45 minutes keep running while you are gone. Driving time counts. If the clock hits zero while you are away, the rental is accepted.
What it costs, and what is only held
Two of these are charges and two are holds. A hold is money set aside on your card that nobody has taken.
- Platform fee7%
- Added on top of the rental. Lenders have 3% taken out of theirs, so BoRo earns 10% across the transaction.
- Card processingAt cost
- Stripe charges 2.9% plus $0.30 and that is exactly what you pay. BoRo adds nothing to it.
- Commitment Hold20%, minimum $10
- Of your total, plus card processing. Held when you confirm attendance, released when both phones reach the meeting point. It has to be a card, a Wallet balance cannot cover it.
- BoRo ShieldFull declared value
- Held on items declared over $100, for the whole time the item is out. At $100 or less no hold is placed and your saved card is verified instead.
If you are late bringing it back
You get a free nine-hour window to sort it out with the lender in chat, and most late returns end there. The lender cannot skip that window.
After it, BoRo Recovery can collect the item. That costs $25 flat plus $0.75 per mile counted one way, plus the card cost, and you see the total before you confirm it. It is not refundable once a driver is moving. If it drags on, the item can be declared a total loss and the full Shield taken.
Cancelling, and what it costs
Cancel 24 hours or more before the meetup and nothing is captured. Cancel between 12 and 24 hours before and half your Commitment Hold is taken. Under 12 hours, or a no-show, all of it.
That money goes to the other person's Wallet in full. BoRo keeps none of it.
What stands behind the item
On items declared over $100, the borrower's card is held for the full declared value the whole time the item is out. Nothing is charged. If the item comes back fine the hold disappears, and if it does not, that hold is what makes the lender whole. At $100 or less no hold is placed and the saved card is verified instead, which the Terms call materially lesser protection.
BoRo Shield is not insurance. It is a contractual, deposit-based protection built into the platform, and it does not replace your own property or liability insurance.
See how BoRo Shield worksQuestions people ask
- Is the Shield hold a charge?
- No. It is a hold on your card. On a clean return it is never touched.
- How long can I keep something?
- Up to 30 days. Items at $100 or less run straight through. Items over $100 run in six-day blocks, so you tap once every sixth day to place a fresh Shield. Miss the tap and the Shield lapses, and you then have 24 hours to return the item.
- What if my phone dies at the meetup?
- If it dies before you arrive, the exchange cannot happen and it counts as a no-show for whoever's phone failed. If it dies after you have both arrived, your holds already released and nothing is charged to anyone.
- Can I raise a scratch after I get home?
- No. Anything about how the item looks has to be raised at the meeting point while you are both there. Whether it works can be reported from anywhere inside your 45 minutes.
Ready when we open
BoRo launches in the greater Charlotte area. Join the waitlist and we will tell you the day your ZIP opens.