There's a lot of bickering going on about which Internet transaction model best serves the rental industry - request for quotations (RFQ), auctions, exchanges or catalogs. But the debate may not matter as much by next year, according to a study by Forrester Research, which found that three-fourths of business-to-business exchanges plan to offer additional transaction models by 2001.

"Most sites will need to do auctions, exchanges and catalog aggregator models," says Melissa Shore, B2B analyst for Jupiter Communications.

Most sites will need to find new revenue models as well, according to Forbes ASAP. Currently, most e-rental sites plan to make money by charging a transaction fee per equipment purchase or rental. Down the road, however, expect to see e-rental sites make more of their money by providing other services such as logistics, fulfillment and proprietary market data about renting patterns.