Collaborative Consumption and Swap.com

In class we watched another TED Talk called The Case for Collaborative Consumption in which the speaker Rachel Botsman spoke on the topic of collaborative consumption and how we can evolve into a better society based on sharing. In the 20th century everyone needed ownership and self possession was a big deal, however in the 21st century Botsman's goal is to move us towards collaborative consumption in which we can eliminate pollution and unwanted byproducts of the things we want. For example if I have a bicycle that I never use, I could lend it out to people for profit. That would not only saves the recipient money(cheaper than buying a bicycle, helmet, pump etc.), but I would gain profit and eliminate the waste that two bikes not used often would create. The steel or plastic used to make and package the bike could be preserved or it could be used to make something more people would use more frequently. "Usage trumps possessions, access is better than ownership."

After we watched the TED talk we picked different organizations that support Botsman's position on collaborative consumption. I got swap.com, which is almost like Ebay except its a trade. For example if I own a Biology book, instead of burning it i could trade it with someone who needs a biology book in exchange for something actually useful to me, like a CD from my favorite band. The founders of the organization including Jeff Bennett and some of his colleagues "saw profit in Mom's continuous lunch-dates-turned-book-swaps-turned-book-clubs. If that network of friends knows 10 other networks, that know 10 other networks. Every one person knows someone else with something to swap. We added video games to the mix when one of our founders watched his nephew pay $55 for a new game that was tossed to the side after one week. When the cousin came home from college complaining about the price of text books, we added those, too." Swap.com works very easily all you have to do is list the books, CDs, movies, and video games that you are willing to trade on swap.com, and also list the things you would like to receive in exchange.Then in order to make sure that the trade is fair  Swap.com will show you all of the items that you CAN receive for your items. (Information about the item is included on the site so you know what you’re getting and also information about the person you are trading with is displayed. Both traders must agree that the trade is fair and then you are provided the shipping address where you need to ship your item. 

Statistics about Swap.com

Member swaps: 1.9 million 

› Member savings: $12.0 million 

› Reduced carbon footprint: 10.9 million lbs.