Post by High Priestess on Sept 28, 2015 1:15:51 GMT
Kevin shared:
AT LAST POSITIVE ARTICLE ABOUT SHARING ECONOMY AND AIRBNB
When The Sharing Economy Brings Unexpected Experiences
Thanks to the fast-growing sharing economy, anyone can make money renting out their home or car — or becoming a personal chef.Just ask Time magazine columnist Joel Stein. He decided to give the sharing economy a try, then wrote about his experience, The explosion of new social apps and services powering this new consumer landscape gave him the opportunity to run a few of his own DIY businesses. He rented out his Mini Cooper, drove people around in it a-la-Lyft and cooked for strangers.'Sharing' As A MisnomerA recent survey from PricewaterhouseCoopers shows the sharing economy is growing faster than ever, led by Airbnb and Uber. And those participating feel it's more personal and convenient.Of the 44 percent of U.S. adults who are familiar with the sharing economy, 86 percent say it makes life more affordable, 83 percent say it makes life more convenient and efficient and 78 percent say it builds a stronger community.A lot of companies prefer the term, "on demand" economy, Stein tells NPR's Robert Siegel. What's really happening, Stein says, is "people wanting things as soon as they can get them by pressing a button on their phone."Part of what's transforming our consumption habits is that we have a different relationship to property because "things" are more accessible and less valuable, Stein says. So we're spending more money on experiences. According to the PricewaterhouseCoopers report, 43 percent of consumers say that "owning today feels like a burden."Stein lost money when it came to running his own restaurant, but was profitable driving others and charging $35 a day to rent out his car.The Human ElementStein used RelayRides — an Avis or Hertz of car-sharing — to rent out his Mini Cooper. He found that rentees picked up his car from his house and often went the extra step to fill up the gas tank.Still, there are downsides of becoming your own small business. One Sicilian customer asked what the R, D and N meant on his stick shift — a clue that he would later get a call from her telling him she'd had an accident. But RelayRides's insurance handled it "amazingly," Stein says, and covered the damage.A large part of what makes this collaborative consumption work is getting strangers to trust strangers. Sites like eBay were testing grounds when it came to building a level of trust in online peer-to-peer transactions. Several people who used to work for eBay now work in the sharing economy, Stein says, which adopted the model of getting the user and the provider to rate each other. It reduces the number of bad actors and promotes trust amongst strangers, otherwise built by the reputation of a brand name of a big business."If you want a more personal experience, or in most cases, a cheaper experience, you take a little more risk with an Airbnb, but you get a less generic experience than you do at a big name hotel," Stein says.And these companies are on the market value scale of large corporations, like Delta Airlines and Hilton Worldwide. PricewaterhouseCoopers projects that by 2025, global revenues from sharing economy companies will soar to an estimated $335 billion, from about $15 billion today.A Sharing Economy Horror StoryIt may be a more personal experience, but it's still a business transaction. So, what happens when something goes wrong in the peer-to-peer setting? In a darker story of Airbnb experiences, the host passed away while the guest was staying in her apartment.Jordan Ruttenberg, a student at Wesleyan University, relocated to Brooklyn for a summer job with his friend Connor. They booked a place through Airbnb. His host, who they met once via Skype, was in California at the time. Mid-stay, Connor noticed messages on their host's Facebook wall in the tone of: "You have to pull out of this" or "We need you."After reaching out to a friend of the host, he learned she had overdosed and been pulled off life support. His arrangement turned eerie, as he continued to stay in this woman's apartment, with all her personal belongings and photographs.Ultimately, the host's brother contacted Ruttenberg, asking when his checkout date was, assuming the procedural manner of a business arrangement."I recognize the tragedy in it," Ruttenberg says, "but our relationship with her was a logistical one. And so, her death for us was largely of a logistical nature."Ruttenberg says he would still use Airbnb for short-term stays. Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit www.npr.org/.
Keith:
I prefer "on demand" economy too. "sharing economy" never made sense to me. I'm not sharing anything.. I'm "sharing" my home, but I wouldn't do it for free. my car is on getaround.. I wouldn't "share" it for free. it's a new way to survive and (in the case of my car) have a nicer thing than I could afford on my own. Enterprise rents cars, they dont 'share' them. marriott rents hotel rooms, they dont 'share' them. the fact that uber/getaround/airbnb/etc have facilitated micro-transactions and consumer-to-consumer business models doesn't change the exchange, it just makes smaller things accessible (one hour of a car or one bedroom in a house instead of a hotel room or a daily rent a car).
maybe that's the term I prefer. C-to-C. That's the definition that makes most sense to me.
G:
Except with something like Short-term renting where the host is available, that host is "sharing" their experience and knowledge with strangers. I don't just rent a room in my home. I take guests to Museums for free using my membership and make them juice every morning that I don't charge them and have cookies around for snacks and might even invite them to join me for a meal.
Keith:
This isng true. If you post a listing for a long term tenant even in your own home I'm almost certain you cannot discriminate. Its illegal to post preferences in rental listings.. Why should the term of the stay change that.
AT LAST POSITIVE ARTICLE ABOUT SHARING ECONOMY AND AIRBNB
When The Sharing Economy Brings Unexpected Experiences
Thanks to the fast-growing sharing economy, anyone can make money renting out their home or car — or becoming a personal chef.Just ask Time magazine columnist Joel Stein. He decided to give the sharing economy a try, then wrote about his experience, The explosion of new social apps and services powering this new consumer landscape gave him the opportunity to run a few of his own DIY businesses. He rented out his Mini Cooper, drove people around in it a-la-Lyft and cooked for strangers.'Sharing' As A MisnomerA recent survey from PricewaterhouseCoopers shows the sharing economy is growing faster than ever, led by Airbnb and Uber. And those participating feel it's more personal and convenient.Of the 44 percent of U.S. adults who are familiar with the sharing economy, 86 percent say it makes life more affordable, 83 percent say it makes life more convenient and efficient and 78 percent say it builds a stronger community.A lot of companies prefer the term, "on demand" economy, Stein tells NPR's Robert Siegel. What's really happening, Stein says, is "people wanting things as soon as they can get them by pressing a button on their phone."Part of what's transforming our consumption habits is that we have a different relationship to property because "things" are more accessible and less valuable, Stein says. So we're spending more money on experiences. According to the PricewaterhouseCoopers report, 43 percent of consumers say that "owning today feels like a burden."Stein lost money when it came to running his own restaurant, but was profitable driving others and charging $35 a day to rent out his car.The Human ElementStein used RelayRides — an Avis or Hertz of car-sharing — to rent out his Mini Cooper. He found that rentees picked up his car from his house and often went the extra step to fill up the gas tank.Still, there are downsides of becoming your own small business. One Sicilian customer asked what the R, D and N meant on his stick shift — a clue that he would later get a call from her telling him she'd had an accident. But RelayRides's insurance handled it "amazingly," Stein says, and covered the damage.A large part of what makes this collaborative consumption work is getting strangers to trust strangers. Sites like eBay were testing grounds when it came to building a level of trust in online peer-to-peer transactions. Several people who used to work for eBay now work in the sharing economy, Stein says, which adopted the model of getting the user and the provider to rate each other. It reduces the number of bad actors and promotes trust amongst strangers, otherwise built by the reputation of a brand name of a big business."If you want a more personal experience, or in most cases, a cheaper experience, you take a little more risk with an Airbnb, but you get a less generic experience than you do at a big name hotel," Stein says.And these companies are on the market value scale of large corporations, like Delta Airlines and Hilton Worldwide. PricewaterhouseCoopers projects that by 2025, global revenues from sharing economy companies will soar to an estimated $335 billion, from about $15 billion today.A Sharing Economy Horror StoryIt may be a more personal experience, but it's still a business transaction. So, what happens when something goes wrong in the peer-to-peer setting? In a darker story of Airbnb experiences, the host passed away while the guest was staying in her apartment.Jordan Ruttenberg, a student at Wesleyan University, relocated to Brooklyn for a summer job with his friend Connor. They booked a place through Airbnb. His host, who they met once via Skype, was in California at the time. Mid-stay, Connor noticed messages on their host's Facebook wall in the tone of: "You have to pull out of this" or "We need you."After reaching out to a friend of the host, he learned she had overdosed and been pulled off life support. His arrangement turned eerie, as he continued to stay in this woman's apartment, with all her personal belongings and photographs.Ultimately, the host's brother contacted Ruttenberg, asking when his checkout date was, assuming the procedural manner of a business arrangement."I recognize the tragedy in it," Ruttenberg says, "but our relationship with her was a logistical one. And so, her death for us was largely of a logistical nature."Ruttenberg says he would still use Airbnb for short-term stays. Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit www.npr.org/.
Keith:
I prefer "on demand" economy too. "sharing economy" never made sense to me. I'm not sharing anything.. I'm "sharing" my home, but I wouldn't do it for free. my car is on getaround.. I wouldn't "share" it for free. it's a new way to survive and (in the case of my car) have a nicer thing than I could afford on my own. Enterprise rents cars, they dont 'share' them. marriott rents hotel rooms, they dont 'share' them. the fact that uber/getaround/airbnb/etc have facilitated micro-transactions and consumer-to-consumer business models doesn't change the exchange, it just makes smaller things accessible (one hour of a car or one bedroom in a house instead of a hotel room or a daily rent a car).
maybe that's the term I prefer. C-to-C. That's the definition that makes most sense to me.
G:
Except with something like Short-term renting where the host is available, that host is "sharing" their experience and knowledge with strangers. I don't just rent a room in my home. I take guests to Museums for free using my membership and make them juice every morning that I don't charge them and have cookies around for snacks and might even invite them to join me for a meal.
Keith:
This isng true. If you post a listing for a long term tenant even in your own home I'm almost certain you cannot discriminate. Its illegal to post preferences in rental listings.. Why should the term of the stay change that.