anyone try the prosper thing?

[CRXican]

in for this if they aren't getting shut down

 

[StageLeft]

Just read about prosper again on wikipedia. I first heard of it last year and was very concerned about some stories people had about lack of access to their money. Plus with it being so free wheeling, if I put in some substantial funds I am simply not confident that the company wouldn't do something stupid like run off with them. They are not insured or associated with a known company like, say, my brokerage account is.

In any case, after reading about them on wikipedia I'm glad I never went in. Tons of legal problems recently.

 

[TallBill]

I'm definitely not at 40% Anyways, I don't even bother to check it. Every month I log in and transfer money out.

 

[Hacp]

Originally posted by: TallBill
I'm definitely not at 40% Anyways, I don't even bother to check it. Every month I log in and transfer money out.

Are you up or down?

 

[HardcoreRobot]

glad i held off. i think its a great idea though, and definitely would have participated if i felt more confident in it.

 

[Regs]

I registered as Tony Soprano.

 

[ultimatebob]

I'm amazed that they're finally allowed to lend money again, and that people are still stupid enough to bid on these loans.

If they bothered to do any research, they would have find out that 35% of the loans made on that site are delinquent after two years... who in their right mind would take that kind of risk knowing that info?

As of right now, my personal track record out of 9 loans I made is:

2 paid off early
4 Current
2 that are over two months late, and
1 that was charged off

So... basically, 1/3rd of my loans are going bad, which is about the average for Prosper. I only went for C credit grade borrowers or higher, too... I wasn't being greedy and going for 30% interest rates or anything.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
I'm amazed that they're finally allowed to lend money again, and that people are still stupid enough to bid on these loans.

If they bothered to do any research, they would have find out that 35% of the loans made on that site are delinquent after two years... who in their right mind would take that kind of risk knowing that info?

As of right now, my personal track record out of 9 loans I made is:

2 paid off early
4 Current
2 that are over two months late, and
1 that was charged off

So... basically, 1/3rd of my loans are going bad, which is about the average for Prosper. I only went for C credit grade borrowers or higher, too... I wasn't being greedy and going for 30% interest rates or anything.

People bid on the silliest sh*t. There is a guy there who wants $8k right now for "cash flows" and at a high interest rate but claims that he makes $8200/month. His description is a mess but people are still bidding.

 

[imported_Lothar]

Originally posted by: TallBill
I'm definitely not at 40% Anyways, I don't even bother to check it. Every month I log in and transfer money out.

That's what I've been doing as well.
Eventhough I still have a clear streak record(no lates or defaults yet *knock on wood*), I've seen the stats and they look grim.
I tried as much as possible to not bid on stupid loans by implementing my own strict lending standards, but I might end up suffering the same fate as the majority of other Prosper Lenders.
I too reached the same conclusion Ultimatebob did. One would have to be a moron to invest in something that has a 40% chance default rate after 2 years. Not worth the time and effort.

I looked into Loanio and it's even worse than Prosper. The low interest rate on their loans are absurd and doesn't adequately compensate lenders for their risk.
Looks like P2P lending is dead for now.

 

[imported_Lothar]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
People bid on the silliest sh*t. There is a guy there who wants $8k right now for "cash flows" and at a high interest rate but claims that he makes $8200/month. His description is a mess but people are still bidding.

What you witnessed were mostly portfolio plans in action.

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: Lothar

Originally posted by: TallBill
I'm definitely not at 40% Anyways, I don't even bother to check it. Every month I log in and transfer money out.

That's what I've been doing as well.
Eventhough I still have a clear streak record(no lates or defaults yet *knock on wood*), I've seen the stats and they look grim.
I tried as much as possible to not bid on stupid loans by implementing my own strict lending standards, but I might end up suffering the same fate as the majority of other Prosper Lenders.
I too reached the same conclusion Ultimatebob did. One would have to be a moron to invest in something that has a 40% chance default rate after 2 years. Not worth the time and effort.

I looked into Loanio and it's even worse than Prosper. The low interest rate on their loans are absurd and doesn't adequately compensate lenders for their risk.
Looks like P2P lending is dead for now.

is there a good online-based micro financing option?

I was considering Prosper a few years ago but I'm now thinking it's a good thing that I stayed away; but I'm quite intrigued by the overall success of micro finance.

 

[imported_Lothar]

Originally posted by: zinfamous

Originally posted by: Lothar

Originally posted by: TallBill
I'm definitely not at 40% Anyways, I don't even bother to check it. Every month I log in and transfer money out.

That's what I've been doing as well.
Eventhough I still have a clear streak record(no lates or defaults yet *knock on wood*), I've seen the stats and they look grim.
I tried as much as possible to not bid on stupid loans by implementing my own strict lending standards, but I might end up suffering the same fate as the majority of other Prosper Lenders.
I too reached the same conclusion Ultimatebob did. One would have to be a moron to invest in something that has a 40% chance default rate after 2 years. Not worth the time and effort.

I looked into Loanio and it's even worse than Prosper. The low interest rate on their loans are absurd and doesn't adequately compensate lenders for their risk.
Looks like P2P lending is dead for now.

is there a good online-based micro financing option?

I was considering Prosper a few years ago but I'm now thinking it's a good thing that I stayed away; but I'm quite intrigued by the overall success of micro finance.

If there is one, I haven't seen it yet.
Prosper is the best I've seen so far, but that's like comparing dog shit to dried elephant dung.
Loanio and Lending Club are still worse than prosper on a risk adjusted basis IMO.

*EDIT*
In my quoted post above, I said Loanio rather than Lending Club. Lending Club was what I meant to say.

 

[StageLeft]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosper_Marketplace#Loan_performance

As of January 24 2010, Prosper reported that 22.45% of all money lent since inception had been charged off and an additional 2.51% was delinquent but not yet charged off.

Wow, that is awful haha, I cannot imagine actually giving my money to this site now. I do like the idea but only if it's regulated and there is some assurance that funds are, for example, not going to be taken by the CEO and carted off to cayman.

Cannot tell date on this but seems recently. Inside has a link to all the chargeoff rates, too. Wow, prosper is awful. http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/BetterBanking/lending-to-a-neighbor-good-luck.aspx

 

[lothar]

Amazing how just one default can bring my ROI from 14.61% crashing down all the way to 6.79%
If anyone else defaults, I predict my investment will break the buck.

Prosper CEO(Chris Larsen) seems to be doing just fine.
http://www.ericscc.com/lenders/anton

 

[highland145]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosper_Marketplace#Loan_performance



Wow, that is awful haha, I cannot imagine actually giving my money to this site now. I do like the idea but only if it's regulated and there is some assurance that funds are, for example, not going to be taken by the CEO and carted off to cayman.

Cannot tell date on this but seems recently. Inside has a link to all the chargeoff rates, too. Wow, prosper is awful. http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/BetterBanking/lending-to-a-neighbor-good-luck.aspx

HAHAHAHAHAHA. Welcome to the consumer finance business. People should put their $$ into what they know.

Good call Skoorb.

 

[highland145]

Amazing how just one default can bring my ROI from 14.61% crashing down all the way to 6.79%
If anyone else defaults, I predict my investment will break the buck.

Prosper CEO(Chris Larsen) seems to be doing just fine.
http://www.ericscc.com/lenders/anton

Bank?

 

[Gibson486]

$50 loan?

Did they burn family so bad that they were not willing to lend $50?

 

[highland145]

$50 loan?

Did they burn family so bad that they were not willing to lend $50?

I do make a $100 loan. To answer your Q, yes.

 

[lothar]

Bank?

Buck.

 

[ultimatebob]

Update for me... Out of my 9 loans, four of them are charged off now. Four of them are fully paid, and one of them is still current.

They also have a post on their website saying how their default percentages are MUCH lower since they relaunched the site. Well, duh... most of the loans that I had didn't go into default until 6 to 12 months after they originated.

 

[ultimatebob]

Time for a necro post update. I just cashed a check for $4.03 from Prosper as part of a class action lawsuit that I was in over the misstatement of the creditworthiness of the people we lended money.

The law firm who filed the lawsuit probably got millions. I got four bucks.

 

[lxskllr]

So whatcha gonna get with your new found riches? A McDonalds value meal is out of reach, but I think you're in Happy Meal range, and I sense you could use some happiness.

 

[highland145]

Time for a necro post update. I just cashed a check for $4.03 from Prosper as part of a class action lawsuit that I was in over the misstatement of the creditworthiness of the people we lended money.

The law firm who filed the lawsuit probably got millions. I got four bucks.

Should have been a lawyer, Bob.

Thanks for the PM's a while back.

Sorry for your losses but maybe you could explain that lending $$ isn't free income, unless you're backed by the govt., to a couple around here.

 

[ultimatebob]

Should have been a lawyer, Bob.

Thanks for the PM's a while back.

Sorry for your losses but maybe you could explain that lending $$ isn't free income, unless you're backed by the govt., to a couple around here.

No, I knew there was a risk of loan defaults when I gave them out. I should have only had one or two defaults out of 9 loans, though... not 4.

Much like the mortgage meltdown of 2007-2008, the bank greatly underestimated the riskiness of the debt I was buying. That's why they had the lawsuit, with it's "generous" $4 payout