Recently, there has been a lot of talk about the way our economy is changing. But not in a way only experts could understand, since the focus of the attention were actually our spending habits. You may have noticed a rise of a certain trend – people starting to buy less and rent more. Those who do it are convinced their way is much more efficient, but others aren’t as sure. In what follows we are going to talk about the efficiency of the rental model.
First we are going to take a look at what the old model looked like and then compare it with the new one. The old model was heavily based on ownership. It was a direct result of capitalism and the rise of the consumerist society. We produced a lot of goods and came up with ways to convince people they needed them. As a result, we all wanted to own a house packed with stuff we could use in our everyday lives, as well as occasionally, like in case we wanted to go camping, skiing or scuba diving. Practically the only things we rented were vehicles, accommodation and things we needed for bigger events like weddings.
Nowadays we have a lot more options when it comes to renting. We have Uber, a platform we can use to rent other people’s cars instead of taxis. We have Airbnb, a platform intended for renting other people’s homes instead of rooms in hotels. But we also have Rentuu, a platform that allows us to rent other people’s stuff instead of buying it. As a result, people are getting used to checking if there is anything available for rent before they even start considering purchasing the item in question.
But is this a more efficient model? So far, it seems that it works a lot better than the old one, and for two reasons. Firstly, people are spending less money on things they don’t use that often. Second, they have less stuff and are thus more flexible and relaxed. Also, the market is changing to accommodate for this business model. All in all, it seems only good things have been happening since we started renting more.
