Never Mind the Bus Pass

Need a car for the weekend? No problem. Rent one. But what if you’d like to try out an iPad for a few days? Or your Rolf  Harris tribute band is short of a didgeridoo for the evening? Or if you’re trying to work out whether your art deco living room really can entertain a gold Laughing Buddha statue?

Not content with persuading us to share our photos, location and innermost thoughts with the world, entrepreneurs are now asking us to post our possessions on the internet and hire them out to neighbours

The sharing economy is already ‘the next big thing’ in the USA and now it’s reached our shores

Digital services such as Spotify and Netfix are teaching us that we don’t need to own physical goods to be fully plugged into the culture. Economists predict that we’ll be more willing to move to a subscription model to access goods and services in 2012 than to own them outright – whether through a car-sharing scheme or a toy rental business

Is sharing Internet hype or really something that could have widespread attractiveness? A recent study shows that over half of the UK would like to find ways of being able to share their time and resources with their local community and that 8 out of 10 people say sharing makes them happy. It seems like a ripe time to encourage the masses to start sharing

The key to the sharing economy is increased public confidence in online networking platforms, such as Twitter, that have enabled peer-to-peer connections between strangers. The result is that the new model is underpinned by a valuable social tool for which most companies would pay dearly: trust.  The principle isn’t new, but the mass adoption of new technology, has created the conditions for it to prosper

The sharing economy works best when online networking leads to a more tangible connection. On Ecomodo, users are encouraged to form ‘lending circles’—groups of members who trust each other to borrow their stuff. These are more often than not confined to a local area.

WhipCar offers a similar peer-to-peer model, but for car owners. Owners rent out their vehicles to friends and neighbours, providing a localised, personalised service for users. “We had someone who used a car for two weeks to do all the co-ordination for his wedding,” says co-founder Vinay Gupta. “When he returned it, the owner gave him a bottle of champagne. You’d never get that at a traditional rental company”

Like eBay, the company uses public feedback to recommend careful drivers and to name and shame where necessary. Although trust is key, it doesn’t hurt to have a back-up plan. Gupta and co-founder Tom Wright worked with Lloyd’s of London for nine months to put together an insurance product that temporarily replaces the existing policy without affecting the owner’s no-claims bonus

Another website, Zilok.com, claims that you can ‘rent anything online from individuals and business’. Renting is both person to person and business to person. Tools, cars and audio equipment are all readily available – but users have posted more unexpected items too. Goods on offer include a Darth Vader costume (£50 a day!), a  ‘happy Buddha’ statue (£10 a day) and a villa on Lake Maggiore for £90 a day

The People Who Share is an ambitious outfit that claim to be both a movement and a socially minded business.  They ‘are dedicated to building a world where people share skills, time, resources, knowledge, responsibility, opportunities, ideas, goods, services and stuff’ and ‘bring together a global community of sharers and make sharing fun and easy’.

The sharing economy is potentially disruptive to established companies, so they’re beginning to take notice.  Eco-taxi firm GoGreenCar is one new convert. Recently it announced a shared service for London commuters. B&Q are launching Streetclub, a website to connect you with neighbours in your community, shortly. Will this help sharing become mainstream? What are the implications for existing collaborative consumption schemes?

NMTBP believes that manufacturers will ultimately have to look again at the way they approach production, which should lead to them building more robust products. Our economy is dependent on selling volume, but sharing may force a rethink. Design will become more critical because as we start to eke out as much usage as possible, durability, longevity and personalisation become a priority over obsolescence

Paying your neighbour a small fee to borrow his iPad, rather than forking out a small fortune only to find you prefer your laptop, has obvious advantages. In the world of collaborative consumption, hiring is the new buying. Just don’t forget to give it back!