As a car owner in South Africa, you’re sitting on a potential income stream worth thousands of rands every month.
Until now, there hasn’t been a clear way to calculate that potential. Most car owners had no way of knowing whether carsharing would actually be worth their time.
Even hosts who already listed one or more cars on Tarlen were often operating blindly.
They had no data showing how their listings were performing, what was working, or what they could improve.
Thanks to the hosts that reached out to let us know, we heard your feedback clearly.
So this summer, we launched two new tools to support every Tarlen host as they start and grow their carsharing business:
- Tarlen Earning Calculator
- Host Weekly Reports
Together, these tools help you move from guessing to planning. From hoping to knowing.
They’re designed to give you clear, honest answers about your carsharing numbers, so you can make better decisions with confidence.
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Tarlen Earning Calculator: Set your daily price and see your long-term earning potential
Tarlen’s Earning Calculator was built to help you calculate your potential earnings in a realistic way, based on your own circumstances.
It’s for you, whether you’re a new or existing host who wants to understand the financial side of carsharing before making decisions.
To use the calculator, you start by entering details about your car and the financing information.
Next, you set your monthly running costs. This includes expenses like insurance, cleaning, and maintenance. These are costs many hosts forget to factor in when they first start.
Once everything is entered, the calculator crunches the numbers for you. It shows you a daily price that helps you move toward positive cash flow and a healthy return on investment (ROI).
You can also adjust how often you plan to share your car each month. As you do, you’ll see how that affects your monthly and yearly earnings.
This makes it easier to plan using realistic assumptions, instead of optimistic guesses.
The goal of the Earning Calculator isn’t to promise a fixed income. It’s to give you a clear financial framework to work with.
You’ll be able to see how changes in pricing, availability, and operating costs affect your carsharing business, and plan accordingly.
Hosting weekly reports: Insights into your listing performance
While the Earning Calculator helps you plan ahead, Host Weekly Reports show you what’s actually happening and where you can improve.
One of the hardest parts of running a carsharing business is knowing whether you’re making progress, especially in the early days.
A week might go by without a booking, and it can feel like nothing is happening. But behind the scenes, there’s often more activity than you realise.
Potential renters may have viewed your listing while searching for a car. Some may have added it to their favourites and are planning to book later.
Host Weekly Reports were introduced to remove that uncertainty and give you clarity.
Every weekend, you receive a progress email showing how your listings performed over the past week. This includes:
- How many people viewed your car listing
- How many favourites your listing received
- Whether any bookings were made
Along with these stats, we also share practical insights on how to improve each metric. This includes tips on getting more views, favourites, and bookings.
Each weekly email also includes a secure, personalised link to your performance dashboard.
The dashboard expands on the email by showing a full summary of the previous week’s activity.
You can view performance across all your listings if you have more than one, and see which listings are active or inactive.
It’ll also show you where your views are coming from, whether renters found your car through the mobile app or the website.
If you’re just starting out, the dashboard might feel like a lot at first. That’s okay.
Your weekly email is the simplified version, highlighting the most important activity and small improvements you can focus on as you grow as a host.
Hosting insights that can help you win more booking this summer
As we gather more data on what drives bookings and growth, clear patterns are starting to emerge.
Some listings consistently perform better than others. Not because of tricks or shortcuts, but because of small actions and habits that hosts apply over time.
Here are a few insights that can help improve your hosting performance this summer.
Listing presentation
One of the biggest drivers of bookings is how your listing looks and feels to a guest.
Clear photos, accurate descriptions, and complete details build trust.
Guests want to know exactly what they’re booking, and listings that answer questions upfront tend to convert better.
During summer, when guests are comparing many options quickly, strong listings stand out even more.
Responsiveness
Responsiveness plays a major role in hosting success.
Hosts who reply quickly to enquiries and booking requests are more likely to secure trips and receive positive reviews.
Over time, this creates a virtuous cycle. Better reviews improve your listing’s visibility, which leads to more bookings and higher earning potential.
Availability
When renters search for cars, they usually start with travel dates.
If your vehicle is available for those dates, it appears in search results. If it’s not available, it won’t be shown at all.
Even if your car would have been a perfect match, it can’t be booked if it doesn’t show up. This often leads to missed booking opportunities without you even realising it.
So pay attention to your calendar and make sure you have made your vehicle available for at least the next 3 months.
Pricing
Pricing is another area where insights matter.
Successful hosts review their pricing regularly instead of setting it once and forgetting about it.
They pay attention to seasonal demand, local events, and similar vehicles in their area.
Summer often allows for slightly higher daily rates, but only if the price still makes sense relative to demand and value.
Offer delivery
Guests value convenience.
Many prefer having their vehicle delivered to them, whether that’s at the airport or their hotel.
Offering delivery increases the chances of your car being chosen over others that don’t offer this option.
Over the past six months, more than 80% of guests who booked on Tarlen requested vehicle delivery.
You can also charge a delivery fee and set a maximum delivery distance. You keep 100% of your delivery fee.
This is one of the easiest ways to make your listing more attractive to renters.
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