At this point, most people know there’s an app for pretty much every kind of service there is. You can whistle up a ride, a pizza, or a custom made song in just a few minutes, and it (almost) magically appears. But did you know that in addition to services, you can also check out stuff the same way?
That’s right, the sharing economy is here in the form of rentals everywhere you look! Are you ready for it?
Here are Five Fast Facts on the rental economy:
- 👪 Everyone’s Doing It - A recent survey showed that 94% of Americans have used sharing services somehow. Good thing there isn’t a sharing service to jump off a bridge!
- 🤔 Why They’re Doing It - Millennials in particular are often pegged as overly emotional and maybe a bit fickle, but this survey showed a lot of practicality. Well over half (57%) said they rented to try things out before buying, 55% said they only needed a temporary solution, and 52% said they only needed the thing for a short time. Maybe common sense is becoming more common after all!
- 📈 Why It’s Growing - One of the biggest tent poles of the rental economy is housing. For people who entered adulthood after the early 2000s, skyrocketing student loan debt, some tough job markets, and market conditions like inflation have made mortgages super painful and often out of reach. And if you’re willing to rent on your single biggest financial investment, well, you’re probably more likely to rent on everything else, too.
- 💰 It’s Our Old Friend… - …inflation. Just kidding, it’s not our friend at all! But it is a big cause of so many things being so expensive that a lot of folks have to rent rather than buy. In short, renting or sharing a lot of goods and services is more cost effective than an outright purchase.
- 🧧 The Model - Remember when those red Netflix envelopes were in almost every mailbox every week? It’s a great example of the subscription model which is so popular today. It’s great for businesses because they get monthly revenue, and it’s great for consumers because they get exactly what they want in the right amounts (and for the right prices) and in a timely manner. As long as companies keep giving consumers what they want, subscriptions are a win-win!
🔥Bottom line: The sharing economy is here to stay, and it’s only going to get bigger. This seems like it should be good for your Paychecks, too, as you can get only what you need, in the amounts you need it, helping you avoid overpaying for excess that you don’t want. Of course, not everything is better to rent than to own, but at least for the small day-to-day stuff, it seems like a great way to go.
What’s been your experience with the sharing economy?
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