The rise of the collaborative consumption economy

Welcome to what’s called “collaborative consumption,” a phenomenon forged by Internet companies like Airbnb, RelayRides, Liquid Space and TaskRabbit.

They’re providing access to things you want without the burden of ownership — cars, houses, tools, garage space — even leftover food. 

They’re building a marketplace that’s already worth $26 billion, while reducing waste and throwing a scare into business based on consumption.

But as is typical for successful tech ventures, some people remain skeptical of their longevity — and their benefit to the economy.

Take Airbnb, an online service that lets people put their homes or apartments up for other users to rent on a night-by-night basis. Some see the company as a direct competitor to the hotel and travel business, but others say Airbnb operates in an unclaimed space within the market.

The travel industry itself is deceptively large. The tourism industry is estimated to generate between $2 trillion and $6 trillion which makes Airbnb, a $2.5 billion company, a small slice of the pie, according to Derek Thompson, senior editor at The Atlantic.

“Making more efficient use of resources and using technology to do so has been the heart of capitalism for centuries and that’s exactly, I think, what the sharing economy allows us to do,” Thompson said.

For those not in strong financial positions, these services can help them compete in a still-struggling economy. The ability for someone who cannot afford a new car to still be able to drive one when needed can help break down barriers keeping people in poverty.

“Does it make sense for someone struggling with a mortgage and with health insurance, do they have to buy a car? Or should we allow them to use a company like Zipcar or another car sharing company that allows them to access the beautiful faculty of driving along the roads to get somewhere,” Thompson asked.

For others, delaying big purchases like cars and homes undermines and important structure of society. 

“Property rights are pretty much the basis of our society,” said Milo Yiannopoulous, founder of The Kernel, a technology, media and politics magazine based in the U.K. “The things you own do say a lot about you and to me it’s a quite important part of the cognitive process coming into learning who you are, the sorts of objects and things you choose to surround yourself with.”

Others consider collaborative consumption companies to be the marriage of modern technology and a long tradition of sharing between humans.

“What we’re doing today is not necessarily that new,” said April Rinne, Chief Strategy Officer at the Collaborative Lab. “Going back to even caveman time or village time, the village was the original sharing platform.”