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[Cushie]

http://www.finance-weblog.com/50226711/another_prospercom_experience.php

Guest blogger Troy Bryant has just jumped into the Prosper pool as a lender and relates his early experience below. I'm going to nab him 6 months from now and a year from now and see how he feels then. Should be interesting. If you have a Prosper.com experience to share, please do so in the comment area below. Now here's Troy...

When I came across Prosper last month I had to try it. For those that don't know, it's a person-to-person online lending network. Prosper borrowers seek a cash loan ($25K is the limit one can borrow). They get the cash from Prosper lenders, who bid on lending the borrower money-this bidding process knocks down the rate for the borrowers (better than what they could probably get from a bank or credit card).

I scraped together $200 bucks and started as a Prosper lender (my wife and I just had a baby so I'm sure we'll be Prosper borrowers soon enough). You can lend as little as $50 bucks to a person, so I split the $200 into four different loans. I figured that would be less risky than having money riding on just one loan. For borrowers, that means they'll potentially have hundreds of lenders providing the funds for one large loan. Every loan is a three-year loan, but a borrower can pay it off early.

I divided my $200 into four $50 loans...and then I used Prosper's "Portfolio Plan" to pick loans to automatically bid on. There's four different Portfolio Plans: Conservative, Balanced, Moderate and Aggressive. The difference is that the more aggressive plan gives a higher return to the lender. But on the flip side, the loans are to borrowers that have a worse credit grade (borrowers are rated as an AA-E grade on credit) or a larger debt to income ratio. I stuck with a moderate plan.
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And a note at the end of the blog (Ira, you listening?):  So far so good for Troy. We'll see if it holds up. Again, if you have a longer-term Prosper.com experience, feel free to relate it below.

[ira01]

http://www.finance-weblog.com/50226711/another_prospercom_experience.php

And a note at the end of the blog (Ira, you listening?):  So far so good for Troy. We'll see if it holds up. Again, if you have a longer-term Prosper.com experience, feel free to relate it below.

You rang . . . .? 

[cubbiesnextyr]

One of the comments:

Response from: Not a bitter lender

My experience with Prosper has been pretty good. I am making about 12% so far in my experience with only one default. I have @ 3,000 invested.

But open up the floodgates for nasty comments from others! This blog was just linked on a website that is dedicated to P2P lending. While the intention of the website is to be a open forum for people to discuss the pros and cons of P2P lending, what it has become is a haven of bitter lenders who have made bad decisions investing their money. People went to fast, to soon and were burnt. Caveat Emptor. Prosper bears some responsibility for a few early on errors, but the people on this site act as if they were FORCED to pump thousands of dollars into an unproven platform, and that is simply not true.

Heaven forbid you disagree with these early adopters or they will run your out of Dodge! Disagreement on this forum is frowned upon and while the owner of the site (a sane, rationale person) will not ban you for disagreement, the natives will sure make you feel not welcome -- they love fresh meat too. I have lurked but posted only a few times because of the mod mentality.

So my advice is to invest in P2P lending carefully, read everything you can, do lots of due dilgence (including reading the P2P lending forums) BUT take with a grain of salt what the more bitter lenders who have made foolish decisions say.

I don't think that's a fair assessment of .org.  I doubt the poster will come forward though, since he/she feels we will all gang up if he/she disagrees with our opinions (like we all share the same opinion  ).

[sequaltwo]

One of the comments:

Response from: Not a bitter lender

My experience with Prosper has been pretty good. I am making about 12% so far in my experience with only one default. I have @ 3,000 invested.

But open up the floodgates for nasty comments from others! This blog was just linked on a website that is dedicated to P2P lending. While the intention of the website is to be a open forum for people to discuss the pros and cons of P2P lending, what it has become is a haven of bitter lenders who have made bad decisions investing their money. People went to fast, to soon and were burnt. Caveat Emptor. Prosper bears some responsibility for a few early on errors, but the people on this site act as if they were FORCED to pump thousands of dollars into an unproven platform, and that is simply not true.

Heaven forbid you disagree with these early adopters or they will run your out of Dodge! Disagreement on this forum is frowned upon and while the owner of the site (a sane, rationale person) will not ban you for disagreement, the natives will sure make you feel not welcome -- they love fresh meat too. I have lurked but posted only a few times because of the mod mentality.

So my advice is to invest in P2P lending carefully, read everything you can, do lots of due dilgence (including reading the P2P lending forums) BUT take with a grain of salt what the more bitter lenders who have made foolish decisions say.

I don't think that's a fair assessment of .org.  I doubt the poster will come forward though, since he/she feels we will all gang up if he/she disagrees with our opinions (like we all share the same opinion  ).

Who's that guy that wanted his own group, no flaming, etc. etc. Shawn somebody? 

[Mtnchick]

I don't think that's a fair assessment of .org.  I doubt the poster will come forward though, since he/she feels we will all gang up if he/she disagrees with our opinions (like we all share the same opinion  ).

Whomever it was needs to hone up on their grammar.

[Nora_Lenderbee]

I don't think that's a fair assessment of .org.  I doubt the poster will come forward though, since he/she feels we will all gang up if he/she disagrees with our opinions (like we all share the same opinion  ).

Whomever it was needs to hone up on their grammar.

 

[Nora_Lenderbee]

I scraped together $200 bucks and started as a Prosper lender (my wife and I just had a baby so I'm sure we'll be Prosper borrowers soon enough).

Am I just extra crabby this morning, or is this guy a moron? I hope his Prosper handle is recognizable so i can avoid his listing.

[ira01]

I scraped together $200 bucks and started as a Prosper lender (my wife and I just had a baby so I'm sure we'll be Prosper borrowers soon enough).

Am I just extra crabby this morning, or is this guy a moron? I hope his Prosper handle is recognizable so i can avoid his listing.

But he split his investment accross four loans -- what could possibly go wrong? 

[Mtnchick]

I scraped together $200 bucks and started as a Prosper lender (my wife and I just had a baby so I'm sure we'll be Prosper borrowers soon enough).

Am I just extra crabby this morning, or is this guy a moron? I hope his Prosper handle is recognizable so i can avoid his listing.

He's obviously a pro now - leave him alone.

[Heavens2Murgetroid]

I don't think that's a fair assessment of .org.  I doubt the poster will come forward though, since he/she feels we will all gang up if he/she disagrees with our opinions (like we all share the same opinion  ).

On this string alone there have been comments on the commenter's grammar (by the way there is not usually a way to edit posts on a blog), a crabby lender, a slam on the blog writer for attempting to diversify, and another slam as him trying to paint himself as being an "pro".   I realize you are all having fun at his expense, but then you wonder why people lurk as guests or view this place as a clique.

[pioneer11]

I don't think that's a fair assessment of .org.  I doubt the poster will come forward though, since he/she feels we will all gang up if he/she disagrees with our opinions (like we all share the same opinion  ).

On this string alone there have been comments on the commenter's grammar (by the way there is not usually a way to edit posts on a blog), a crabby lender, a slam on the blog writer for attempting to diversify, and another slam as him trying to paint himself as being an "pro".   I realize you are all having fun at his expense, but then you wonder why people lurk as guests or view this place as a clique.

Welcome back Mr. Bamalucky

[Caladia]

I don't think that's a fair assessment of .org.  I doubt the poster will come forward though, since he/she feels we will all gang up if he/she disagrees with our opinions (like we all share the same opinion  ).

On this string alone there have been comments on the commenter's grammar (by the way there is not usually a way to edit posts on a blog), a crabby lender, a slam on the blog writer for attempting to diversify, and another slam as him trying to paint himself as being an "pro".   I realize you are all having fun at his expense, but then you wonder why people lurk as guests or view this place as a clique.

Welcome back Mr. Bamalucky

Bamalucky doesn't write like that.  If anything, Bama would be applauding any crabby comments. 

[Mtnchick]

Wow, either they aren't showing for me or they removed about 3 responses, including Ira's.

[Heavens2Murgetroid]

Wow, either they aren't showing for me or they removed about 3 responses, including Ira's.

No string is complete without the required conspiracy theory!   I see all of the posts just fine including Ira's.  I feel compelled to comment at the irony of disagreeing with the commenter that disagreement is encouraged here.

[Mtnchick]

Wow, either they aren't showing for me or they removed about 3 responses, including Ira's.

No string is complete without the required conspiracy theory!   I see all of the posts just fine including Ira's.  I feel compelled to comment at the irony of disagreeing with the commenter that disagreement is encouraged here.

Odd, only the one from "Slug" is still showing for me.