Swimply: The app that lets you rent a swimming pool by the hour
With many people staying close to home due to the pandemic, sales of swimming pools have surged and many pool companies are now taking orders for 2022.
But what if you could use someone's pool on a hot summer day for a few hours, and pay them a rental fee?
Enter Swimply: The app that allows homeowners to list and rent out their pool for an hourly fee.
Launched in the U.S. and Canada three years ago, the platform is only now seeing massive growth north of the border since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
The idea is that if you have a swimming pool to maintain, but don’t use that often, why not rent it out as a way to earn extra income and let others enjoy your pool?
Elizabeth Luca of Etobicoke has a large in-ground pool, but she doesn’t swim. She wanted it for her grandchildren who now don’t use it very often.
“The pool still needs maintenance. I have to add chemicals every week and maintain things and it was very costly," said Luca.
When Luca found out about the website Swimply she thought it was a great idea.
Luca said so far her guests have mostly been families with children who have been respectful and polite.
“They were terribly, terribly appreciative that I was allowing them to come and use the pool," said Luca.
Sonny Mayugba, VP of growth with Swimply, said during the pandemic there was a huge amount of interest in renting a pool.
“The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) said that chlorine pools were a safe place to gather, within your household of course, so Swimply had incredible growth in 2020,” said Mayugba.
Homeowners with pools can set their own hourly rate and Swimply charges a 15 per cent commission.
Swimply says many pool owners are able to make thousands of dollars renting out their pools and a top earner made $87,000 in about 10 months.
“All of our growth in Toronto has been organic and we've been getting quite a few bookings. It's pretty exiting," said Mayugba.
Luca said she has already made more than enough to pay for her annual pool maintenance costs and she's enjoyed seeing her pool get used.
“It’s really heart warming when kids come because when they see the pool there is so much excitement and joy and it makes me feel good," said Luca.
There is another website called Joyspace that hasn't launched yet. But soon it will allow people to rent tennis and basketball courts, docked boats and hot tubs. They will also be offered by owners to be rented by the hour.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
For the first time in report's history, Canada's air quality worse than U.S.
Air quality in Canada is now worse than in the U.S., according to the 6th Annual World Air Quality Report. Of the 15 most polluted cities in the two countries, 14 were in Canada.
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
WATCH LIVE As former prime minister Mulroney lies in state, public tributes in Ottawa begin
Members of the public who wish to pay tribute to Brian Mulroney can visit his casket in Ottawa starting this afternoon.
BREAKING Roy McMurtry, former Ontario attorney general, dies at 91
CTV News has confirmed that former Ontario attorney general Roy McMurtry has died.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
DEVELOPING Canada's annual inflation rate ticked down to 2.8 per cent in February, defying expectations
Statistics Canada says the annual inflation rate edged down to 2.8 per cent in February.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.