The collaborative economy — whether it’s here to stay or not — is slowly but surely becoming an important part of our modern life.

The magic of the collaborative economy is that it’s completely owned by you. Products and services you’re sharing, co-creating and paying for are no longer owned by one individual. Startups such as Airbnb, Zipcar and TaskRabbit focus on underutilisation and are mostly built around the idea of shared space, property, products or time. Others — like ShareYourMeal and Neighborgoods are pushing the idea of sharing actual products or experiences to the extreme.

In a nutshell, under the umbrella of the ‘collaborative economy’ name, you can find multiple sharing marketplaces, a budding gift economy and a growing consumerappetite for experiences instead of ownership… as well plenty of benefits, some of which we’ve summed up for you below:

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1. MINIMUM POSSIBLE PRICE FOR GREAT VALUE

A collaborative economy will often involve trading, consumption or co-creation of goods and services at lower rates, an incentive that doesn’t necessarily change people’s perception of their intrinsic quality. In fact, existing sharing or collaborative markets are so relevant to customers that competitive prices wouldn’t really influence the buyer’s decision!

The sharing economy works on the premise that anything that’s owned can be shared, leased or rented. The collaborative economy focuses on creating value by connecting resources, people and ideas from everywhere in the world. Therefore, the prices of experiences and sharing goods tend to gravitate towards the most affordable end.

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2. LOW BARRIER TO ENTRY

It won’t be too long before most of your friends will have tried at least one startup in the the multi-faceted collaborative economy. Perhaps they already booked an Uber car or started working from Huckletree? If you ask, you may be surprised.

However, the most surprising part is finding the reason why your friends have chosen to take part in the collaborative economy. At a basic level, the collaborative economy thrives because people trust each other. It’s not the price — it’s trust that makes it easy for consumers to introduce a bit of sharing into their lives.

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3. SELF-MANAGED

The magic starts to happen when the collaborative marketplace becomes versatile and large enough for consumers to be able to take a break from the stress of having to purchase new things for contextual, temporary needs. If you feel like learning to play the saxophone, how about you rent one for the month? If you definitely want to rock the night wearing that designer dress, you might as well rent it for a day instead of breaking the bank on Bond Street.

Collaborative marketplaces are filled with unique, affordable products and experiences provided by consumers for consumers.

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4. EXPERIENCE FOCUSED

The sharing economy has an endearing component of interconnectedness to it. The sharing economy, as Service Space puts it — forces you to flex your empathy muscle and add a personal spin to each transaction. No longer are we just buying stuff, we’re collecting hand-picked experiences and rethinking the way we look at transactions from a financial perspective.

The questions is no longer — “Do I want to have this?” but more like “Do I want to enjoy something like this now?”

This post was published on www.huckletree.com . Feel free to check this inspiring coworking hub in London!