How The Sharing Economy Benefits You and Everyone

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The sharing economy or collaborative economy connects you the consumer with other individuals who can offer a product or service.

In short, you are supporting and buying from small businesses.

It is powered by the internet and new technology that allow buyers and sellers or lenders and borrowers to digitally connect with one another.

When you think of shared economy you think of Uber and Airbnb to name a few.

Sharing businesses can be classified in two ways. 

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The first is that a business owns good or provides services to customers on a short-term rental basis.

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The second is when a business creates peer-to-peer lending platforms connecting people for the purpose of exchanging or renting goods or services.

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The idea of the sharing economy came from the notion that there are resources in our economy that are not being used. People slowly realized that we can make money from this slack.

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Sharing resources is ethically and environmentally more responsible in the 21st century. It’s also sometimes called collaborative consumption.

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So without inventing an app or becoming an Uber driver, can you make money and benefit from the sharing economy? The answer is yes! If you’re after extra cash, there are plenty of resources or services you might not have realized you have.

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You can also benefit from the sharing economy because renting goods or services is usually much cheaper than going through mainstream platforms. For example you can usually find a more affordable AirBnB than a hotel room.

Some great money making ideas around participating with this shared economy

Rent Out Your Wardrobe Or Hire A Designer Outfit

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One way to make some extra cash from the sharing economy, without leaving the comfort of your own home, is to hire out the clothes you don’t wear anymore.

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Have you ever bought a beautiful designer dress that’s now stuffed in the back of your wardrobe, never to be worn again? Now is the dress’ chance to shine.

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Clothes-sharing websites such as The Volte focus on the peer-to-peer lending of designer outfits. If you have high-end clothes that you don’t need right now, you can upload them to the site and rent them out to people all over the nation.

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If you have a special event coming up and nothing to wear, this is an affordable way to find an incredible outfit without breaking the bank.

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Rather than investing in a statement piece that you might not wear until your next special occasion, you can hire something amazing for the night or weekend and return it once your done.

Look After Someone’s Pet

Everyone loves cuddles with a furry friend but thanks to the sharing economy, you could be getting paid to look after someone’s cute dog or cat.

This is sure to bring you happiness while still providing a service to someone else.

If you don’t have many weekend plans or you just want a bit of extra company, you can use platforms like MadPaws to apply to become a pet sitter.

You pick the pets you want to look after and the only criteria you need to apply is a love of animals (and who doesn’t have that?)

This is also a great option if you’re going on holiday and need your pets looked after without having to pay exorbitant kennel fees.

This way, you dog or cat gets to hang out with someone who’s going to pay them the attention they need!

Do Odd Jobs Or Get Them Done

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If you can put together an IKEA bookshelf, paint a fence, write someone’s resume or mend a flat tire, then you can benefit from the sharing economy.

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Peer-to-peer platforms like Airtasker in Australia and TaskRabbit in the US connect people who need odd jobs done with those who can do them.

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While some tasks are menial and dull, some of the top earners who use sites like these can make up to $5000 a month.

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If you have certain jobs you need doing, but you don’t want to spend the money on builders or labour professionals, then using a platform such as these is a budget-friendly way of getting the task done.

 

Hire Out Your Car Space Or Rent A Space

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If you live in a city where it’s ridiculously expensive or ridiculously hard to find a park then you be making some big bucks off of your car space.

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You can list your parking space online and then others can use it. Whether it’s an undercover garage, a car port or an indoor lot, any space is acceptable.

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Similarly, if you’re constantly wasting money paying to park in overpriced car parks or parking in metered spots, then using the sharing economy to find a more permanent car space will have its financial benefits for you too.

Be a Sharing Economy ‘Looker

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This is one of things you can do in the sharing economy that requires the minimum effort. Being a ‘looker’ involves simply going to look at something a third-party is buying but that they are unable to inspect or check themselves.

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Usually this is someone who is buying something online from the other side of the country and wants to be sure of its quality.

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One benefit of these platforms is that a lot of them have developed due to technological advances which means most of the organizational and financial tasks are done digitally.

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This means you can source and find jobs easily and you don’t have to worry about the physical exchange of cash.

Freelance Search Engines

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There are many ways you can make the most of the sharing economy and benefit financially, it’s just a matter of tapping the earning potential of the skills and resources you already have.

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There are of course other industry providers you can look at when thinking of making some extra money or hiring for jobs.

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If you are writer, designer or digital marketing expert with good work ethics, there’s platforms like Fiverr and Upwork.

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The safe thing about these places is that your orders are secured with the site until it is delivered on time. You in return can help by writing reviews and ratings which gives them credibility.

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It gives you the buyer and the seller a long term relationship in terms of rehiring an existing connection. In some cases if you have a dispute, the organization is usually very helpful in mediating and refunding unsatisfied customers

Share It You Legend