Some info on Peer to Peer renting
Peer-to-peer renting refers to the process of an individual renting an owned good to another individual. It is also referred to as peer rental, or P2P renting. The term is mainly used to describe online enabled rental transactions between individuals.
Individuals have been renting from each other for decades, in particular in the real estate domain. However, with Internet acting as a facilitator, the extent of categories of goods rented between individuals has significantly increased, including household items, computer and electronics, sport and leisure goods, clothing and accessories...
The term Peer-to-peer renting is inspired from the computer networking term Peer-to-peer, which allows cumulative network bandwidth through direct and multiple connectivity between users. With the development of the Internet on one hand and of the Social Networks on the other hand, online tools and services tend to have more and more usability and impact in the actual world. Peer to Peer lending ,Peer to Peer banking and Peer-to-peer renting are three examples of actual transactions between individuals, enabled and empowered by virtual services.
Peer-to-peer renting services and Platforms are usually online marketplaces connecting individuals and enabling rental transactions between them. Peer-to-peer marketplaces are an evolution from the traditional Business to Business marketplaces (also referred as B2B), and Business to Consumer marketplaces (also referred as B2C). These latter B2B or B2C marketplaces have been developed, some remaining operating, since 2000.
Peer-to-peer renting services and Platforms are often referred to as an eBay for rentals, or Craigslist for rentals, as these latter two services are the most famous Consumer to Consumer marketplaces and classifieds platforms.
The fast development of this market is due to a combination of the following trends:
- Networking infrastructure and high-bandwidth penetration reaching a level allowing Social Networks and Consumer to Consumer marketplaces.
- Limited storage space in dense urban environment preventing consumers to keep all the goods they occasionally use.
- Increasing environmental concerns of consumers leading towards limitations of waste of resources and overconsumption.
- Evolution of consuming behaviors from owners to users.
20/01/2010