Comments on: Anyone Have Any Good Prosper.com Lender Stories?

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:04:59 +0000

I’ve put in 12.5k and currently worth 12.8k after 3 months earning 21.45% with 0 late payments and 0 defaults… it’s still very early in the game but I have 221 loans out and even if I have defaults this early in the game I will still be even so I’m not too worried… I think people realize now that if you default even through prosper it’s going to hurt your credit really bad and good luck getting a nother loan ever again…

By: coolcreditor

coolcreditor — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 03:19:36 +0000

I only loan to AA or A.
I don’t loan to people claiming debt consolidation as the need for the loan.
If the write up is weak, I don’t loan.
If you have bad grammar or spelling, I don’t do the loan.
If you claim ridiculously low expenses (like 50 for monthly food budget) I don’t do the loan

I invest $100-$200 a month. This is a ‘hedge’ for me as it doesn’t track the stock market or commodity markets.

So far all current.

Risk and Reward. I go less risky, but I’m content with my reward.

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 20:08:34 +0000

I lent money to a number of different people as an experiment to see what the results would be. Obviously, I didn’t want to spend a lot of money, but I wanted to get some statistics. I just let it sit here for 2 years. After two years, I can report that I could have done far better anywhere else.

I lent money to people with AA, A, B, C, and D credit ratings. The percentage of defaults are broken down as follows:

AA – 0% defaulted
A – 43% defaulted
B – 20% defaulted
C – 44% defaulted
D – 0% defaulted

(Note: I lent money to only two people in class “D”, which is fewer than what I lent to other classes. Nonetheless, it’s very interesting to see that they were more responsible than the “A” class.)

Overall, 31% of loans were in default after two years. Bad economy? Possibly, but I do not think so. The unemployment rate didn’t go to 31%. I get the impression that there is a higher percentage of people who go to Prosper thinking that defaulting on a loan is not a big deal and/or for other reasons are not able to get a loan from a traditional lender.

Bottom line is that I do not think it is very safe to use Prosper.

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:17:39 +0000

loan amt $5000 100 loans $50 each about 1yr + 10 months ago.
so far
Principal charge-offs:-$1,029.43
Payments in excess of principal: $549.51
Gain/loss to date: -$479.92

still hv 1yr + 2 months to go to get some of the money back. The bad things about it is that you can not write your loss off because they are in Charge-off-In collections status.

My recommendation, stay away, keep your money in the mattress is safer.

By: Denna

Denna — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:36:45 +0000

Laura,

Have you heard anything. Please post something and let me know. Thank you,

Denna

By: Denna

Denna — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:33:33 +0000

Hello,

I would like to know some information about Shannon Douglass Loan Organzation. Where I will get a loan from her or not. If anybody can give me a referance on her company I would appreciate it. Thank you

By: Laura

Laura — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 03:04:08 +0000

Has anyone entered into a loan agreement with a people to people lender without going through prosper? I contacted an individual that had a post advertising lending on aother website. This individual contacted me back with the details. I am just not sure how to check the individual out (Shannon Douglass Loan Organization). If anyone knows anything about this organization or another reputable lender, please post.

By: Rob Lowe

Rob Lowe — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 04:53:07 +0000

I invested close to 12k in prosper… I have had quite a few defaults but most were because I made loans before I truly understood all the tools available to me. I was loaning based on emotional response to the descriptions and loan requests.

I now have the program set up to reinvest all payments received via the auto bid function… all my loans are 75 dollars, considering that right now my interst payments earn 4.26 a day, I could have one default a month and still make some money. It is has been just over a year since I started and the account is now worth 13.2 K. So I would say that is a success story. I no longer make as many of the bad investments and expect this year to be much better once all my potential defaults drop off…. -rob

By: Shaun

Shaun — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 02:03:35 +0000

Tim – Yes, the losses are tax deductible. When a loan defaults, you can claim it as a bad loan on your tax return and write off the amount of the loss. I did this last year. As always, consult your financial adviser for your specific situation…

By: Lazy Man and Money

Lazy Man and Money — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 07:16:23 +0000

I think I’m doing better now that I’ve stopped my lending to credit grade E borrowers. I’ve raised my standards for D grades as well. In credit grades AA-B, I have one late loan out of 39.

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 01:17:25 +0000

I also only put $200 in, and I think it boils down to letting the percentages work in your favor by diversifying. If you have a lot of capital in the program, you should lend it to many people instead of lending a big amount to each person because you like his reason for borrowing.

By: John Wilks

John Wilks — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 16:19:19 +0000

I have 31 loans with around $2,500 invested. Go through my blog history for all the exact details.

I have had a few people a few days late, but nothing major. I lend to AA – D and recently decided to drop D. I’m making a ROI of over 20%. I was ranked 18th on Eric’s credit community, now I’m 25th.

Over all, I love Prosper, but I do see how 3 year loans can be annoying. I try to see them as 3 year CDs.

-wilks

By: D

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:54:39 +0000

Prosper – only seems to get worse too.

Thank goodness, I only put in $200.

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 04:38:54 +0000

i’m still wary of lending through prosper. anyone know if the losses are tax deductible?

By: mapgirl

mapgirl — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 02:38:37 +0000

I have two $50 loans and I’m making about 13+%. I forget exactly. It’s not a lot and that’s fine with me. I was going to add more money to it, but I don’t like the idea of tying up funds for 3 years when there’s other stuff I’d rather do (like pay down credit card debt first.)

I think I might throw in another $200 here and there, but it’s really just for fun rather than serious investing. You should ask DINKS about it. James and Miel sank a lot into it, IIRC.