One Captain per neighborhood

Your neighborhood needs a Captain.

Captains claim their neighborhood on StuffBuff, get their neighbors lending, and earn a share of the platform fee on every rental their recruits make. You're the one who gets your street sharing.

Free to join. You'll need a verified address in the neighborhood you claim.

Is your neighborhood still open?

Enter your address to see if anyone has claimed it yet.

U.S. addresses only. We look up your Census block group and don't store your address.
How it works

Three steps from "nobody's on it yet" to a neighborhood that shares.

01

Claim your neighborhood

Verify your address in the app and claim your neighborhood, which is based on its Census block group (usually a few hundred homes). Once it's yours, nobody else can claim it.

02

Seed it with your stuff

List ten things from your garage, basement, or closet. When a neighbor opens the app and finds something they need, they stay.

03

Invite your neighbors

Share your invite link or QR code in group chats, on door hangers, or at the block party. You earn a fee share on rentals by the neighbors who join with your code.

Why be a Captain

You get the status right away and the earnings as your neighborhood grows.

Day one

Your neighborhood, your name on it

You're the one Captain for your neighborhood, with a dashboard that tracks its growth and a personal invite code and QR flyer to hand out.

Every rental

50% of the platform fee in year one

You get half of StuffBuff's fee on every rental by neighbors you recruit, then 25% in year two and 10% after that, paid out through Stripe.

At Bronze

Lend fee-free for good

Reach your first milestone and StuffBuff stops charging its app fee on your own lending, permanently.

Silver & Gold

Lower fees for your neighbors

At higher tiers your recruits pay a lower platform fee, which makes your neighborhood the cheapest place to rent. Your fee share also stops declining after year two.

The Captain ladder

Copper to Gold. Each tier unlocks more.

To move up, your neighborhood needs to hit all three numbers: neighbors you've recruited, items they've listed, and rentals they've completed.

Copper

  • You've claimed your neighborhood
Captain dashboard, invite code, printable flyers, and a 50% fee share from day one.

Bronze

  • 20 neighbors
  • 10 listings
  • 10 rentals
Goal: within 90 days
0% app fee on all your own lending, forever.

Silver

  • 50 neighbors
  • 30 listings
  • 30 rentals
Goal: within 180 days
Your recruits pay a 12% platform fee. Your fee share never drops below 15%.

Gold

  • 100 neighbors
  • 75 listings
  • 75 rentals
Your recruits pay a 10% platform fee. Your fee share never drops below 20%.
Earnings calculator

What a busy neighborhood could pay you.

Earnings start small and grow as more neighbors lend. Move the sliders to try your own numbers.

A drill, a tent, and a projector together might go out about once a month.
Your estimated monthly fee share, year one
$15
10 rentals a month in your neighborhood
Year 1 total (50%)$180
Year 2 total (25%)$90
Year 3+ per year (10%)$36
An estimate, not a promise. It assumes StuffBuff's standard 15% platform fee ($1 minimum) and a steady rental volume. Fee share counts only rentals by neighbors who joined with your invite code, and pays out in months when your neighborhood completes at least 5 rentals. Silver and Gold floors aren't included.
Who makes a great Captain

If you already know your neighbors, you're most of the way there.

Buy Nothing group admins HOA & building board members PTA organizers The neighbor with the fully stocked garage Campers, climbers & skiers Block party hosts Tool library volunteers Apartment community managers
Questions

Captain FAQ

What counts as "my neighborhood"?

Neighborhoods follow U.S. Census block group boundaries, which usually cover a few hundred to a couple thousand homes. You can claim the neighborhood your verified address is in. The app shows the boundary on a map before you confirm.

Does it cost anything?

No. Becoming a Captain is free. You need a StuffBuff account with a verified address, and a payout account set up in the app to receive your fee share.

How does the fee share work?

StuffBuff charges a platform fee on each rental. When a neighbor who joined with your invite code rents out an item, you get a share of that fee: 50% in your first 12 months as Captain, 25% in months 13–24, and 10% after that. Silver and Gold Captains keep a floor of 15% and 20%. Payouts go through Stripe to the payout account you connect in the app.

What do I actually have to do?

Get the ball rolling. List a few of your own items, invite neighbors with your link or QR code, and help newcomers make their first rental. The Captain dashboard tracks your progress toward each tier.

Can I lose my neighborhood?

Captaincies are for active Captains. If a neighborhood shows no activity for an extended period, or a Captain's Trust Score falls too low, the role can be reassigned to another active neighbor.

Can two people captain the same neighborhood?

No. Each neighborhood has one Captain, and it's first come, first served. If yours is already taken, join with that Captain's invite code and start lending.

Somebody's going to be the Captain of your street.

It might as well be the person who already knows everyone. Claim your neighborhood before someone else does.

Claim your neighborhood

iPhone and Android apps are coming soon. For now, claim your neighborhood on the web.