Lending Club: First Impressions Part II

I haven't made my first loan on Lending Club, but it seems I'm set up and ready to go as soon as the loan is funded. One very distinctly different thing about Lending Club versus Prosper is the lack of "person." That is, on Prosper you get photos of smiling people (often with cute little kids) to tug at your heart strings and make you want to "invest" in them, even when you shouldn't.

On one hand, I like that because it makes me feel ok about defaulting every once in a while... I feel like I've helped someone out, even if I lost my money. At Lending Club, I'll probably be a lot more upset if someone defaults... because there it really sets you up to be a bank, not a charity. Which is fine, it's how P2P lending should be, I'm just not used to it being that way.

So I've picked my "notes" -- which seem to be set at $25 each (I don't understand how to put more money into a note yet, or if I need to buy multiple notes at $25) and now I guess I just have to wait for them to be funded for the loan to begin.

Since I'm using "free" money I went for a little more risky loans... a C1 rating and a F3 or something... the rates average to 15% or thereabout. I'll give these loans a little while before deciding if I want to put any of my tax refund into P2P. I know P2P is going to be big in 2009 and surely Lending Club will profit from it... I'm just not so sure I feel comfortable with the risk, especially as everyone seems to be losing their jobs, houses, and ability to pay off debt.