What's Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption

What's Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption

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4.01 of 5 stars 4.01  ·  rating details  ·  381 ratings  ·  75 reviews
WHAT'S MINE IS YOURS is about Collaborative Consumption, a new, emerging economy made possible by online social networks and fueled by increasing cost consciousness and environmental necessity. Collaborative Consumption occurs when people participate in organized sharing, bartering, trading, renting, swapping, and collectives to get the same pleasures of ownership with red...more
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published September 14th 2010 by HarperBusiness
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Mark
Nicely done. Botsman outlines the surge of businesses using sharing as a viable business model: Zipcar, Airbnb, Swaptree, Thredup, Toy Swap, etc., etc., etc. Being in the line of work that I'm in, sharing comes pretty easily to me but it's thrilling to see the library lending model being adopted in the for-profit arena.

If you want the 16 minute video version of the book, here is Rachel's TED presentation from last year: http://www.ted.com/talks/rachel_botsm...
Kate
When I was only a few pages into this book, I was pretty sure it was going to be another example of Millenials patting themselves on the back for being so great at whatever they do. But it's not. Or maybe it is. Or maybe Millenials actually DO have a lot of things to pat themselves on the back for when it comes to using technology creatively to make the world a better place. I have never seen the rise of (mostly) Internet-fueled collaboration documented and analyzed as well as it is in this book...more
Steve Brady
This book is painful. I am sorry, but for a book that has so much promise I was left both angry and disappointed.

Let's be fair: I am a believer in collaboration, and a supporter of collaborative consumption. The practical applications that led to the writing of this book are admirable, and worthy of support and discussion.

That said, this book couldn't seem to be past the idealizing of Generation Y, and the liberal agenda. Honestly, that was a turn-off for me, almost to the point that I couldn't...more
Mario Polytaridis
We are consuming the planet into a garbage heap. This should be pretty clear to any human with an IQ. However, what is effectively presented in this book is how quickly we are 'consuming' the planet. Just to give one tidbit from the book, since 1980, we've consumed 1/3 of the planet's natural resources. It's funny to have read this book during the holiday season when humanity as a collective rushes out and buys more stuff that they will throw away.

While the book has a very upbeat and optimistic...more
James
This book changed my life, in the sense that it told me about current collaborative projects that I didn't know about but am now participating in. For that reason, I liked the book, but there were a couple of reasons I didn't, so I only gave it three stars.

1: The authors constantly claimed that collaborative consumption was "in your self-interest" and was a movement that offered great new ways to make stacks of money out of other people. As someone who is a bit more idealistic about people than...more
The Young Urban Unprofessional
If Malcolm Gladwell wrote a book on the Sharing Economy it would read and feel a lot like "What's Mine is Yours". The book is very easy to read, it is written at a fairly high level, and it is filled with useful anecdotes from both businesses and individuals who are taking part in the global rise of collaborative consumption.

As a car-less yuppie who lives in downtown Boston I thought I was a Sharing Economy power user of sorts because I was using RelayRides and I eat from my CSA (farm share). A...more
Hector Ibarraran
The ideas in this book are very inspiring, and important. I actually have decided to make some changes in my life as a result of reading it. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the future, and in the world, since you can apply what you learn here to pretty much everything. There are also many great online resources available. That said, there were a few times I had to shake my head and roll my eyes at some of the authors' examples. They seemed to be out of context for a bo...more
Devlin
Although sociology generally doesn't interest me, I found "What's Mine Is Yours" to be enthralling! This book introduces and explains the interesting concept of collaborative consumption - basically, sharing products/services. As Botsman mentioned, those involved in movements that make a profound difference in society generally don't realize it until all is said and done. Collaborative consumption may very well be one of these movements. The introduction of sites such as craigslist, eBay, swapst...more
Susan Wilcox
This is a fabulous look at 21st century, grown-up sharing. In the spirit of collaboration, I checked it out from the library-- It has a long wait list at my local library AND the college library, so obviously it hits a niche that people have been looking for! I really enjoying reading the motivation behind many services like Airbnb and Zipcar, and I'm inspired enough to clear out everything that I'm not using from my house and find someone who needs it. I also appreciate the collaborative bookpl...more
Mariana Morais
Achei um livro interessante e que me revelou dados animadores sobre possíveis mudanças de comportamento na sociedade de consumo atual, bem como projetos de sucesso que já trabalham dentro dessa lógica, dentre eles Etsy, Ebay, Zipcar e Craiglist.

Além disso, ao contrário do que eu acreditava inicialmente, percebi que 'consumo colaborativo' não depende exclusivamente de ações voluntárias e sem fins lucrativos, mas de noções de preço justo que atendam as dois lados da equação: quem procura e quem o...more
Aleksandar Totic
I hate owning most stuff. Buying is easy, maintenance is hard. I'd rather share, and was looking forward to learning more about the ways to do it. I did not find any new ways in this book. It surveyed many companies taking a crack at it: cars, power tools, toys, land... But, there was nothing in my hood I could join and start using right away.

The book is heavy on describing what is out there, and light on insights. It could have been 1/2 the length.

The field is still young, I do not think anyone...more
Khalil James
this book by botsman and rogers is easily summarized by rachel botsman's TED talk entitled Colaborative Consumption. The book organizes everything nicely into three parts that allows the reader to understand the progression of collaborative consumption in a kind of past-present-future format. The authors provide a great argument and present it in a reader friendly way. they also appear to be brand evangelists themselves, so much so that I immediatley checked out and signed up for a few of the we...more
Daisy Luo
UPDATE: the recent issue of economist march 09-15th 2013 has a special extensive coverage to the "sharing economy" with a mention of Botsman and her book ( published back in 2010). The article does update the reader on the continuing momentum and mainstream interest in collaborative consumption. However the economist also manages to dispel some of the initial idealism towards the "sharing economy" by highlighting the illusion of democracy in this model. Big companies are creating sharing models...more
Anne
I found this very readable and inspiring. It did ratchet up my sense of environmental guilt -- but that was coming from me, and not the book.

Liked the “Barter, swap or pass on this book” ‘library sign-out’ card inside the front cover.

“We wrote this book because we believe we are in an optimistic and momentous time of change around our consumer system. We hope this period will be regarded as the transition away from consumption for consumption’s sake, and away from the fear of what will happen...more
Elizabeth
The idea of Collaborative Consumption is an interesting one as outlined in What's Mine is Yours. It explores the many ways that people have used the power of the internet to build communities that can share space, products and time to the mutual benefit of all.

While I enjoyed the conversational tone, the jumping back and forth between examples may be a bit scattered for some readers. It is interesting to see this topic which is essentially a living, breathing experiment in online communities tac...more
Joe
Change is in the air. It doesn’t matter if you’re watching the world from a live feed of Al Jazeera or a seat on the sidewalk in your ‘hood; technological innovations of the last 20 years, now widespread, are rapidly redefining what it means to be a citizen, consumer and neighbor. From crowd-sourced volunteers translating “Speech2Tweet” calls made by protesters in Egypt, to the spread of car-sharing services like Zipcar and eRideshare, to the dueling Super Bowl commercials of collective couponin...more
Mark
What’s Yours Is Mine is about new businesses built around the idea of sharing– things, space, time, work -- that are redefining consumers attitudes about owning things, bringing people out of their isolated lives, and also providing environmental benefits in the process. Younger people like me and my Goodreads friends can identify with the feeling that the authors describe about buying things these days: we want the music but don’t really need to own the physical CD. We want to be able to experi...more
Scott
It's an interesting and hopeful book, but there's a long way to go before there is a meaningful, fundamental shift towards sustainability in the way businesses design, produce and sell and consumers buy, use and share goods/services. In the meantime, some of the book's idealism feels like the product of people used to living on the coasts, in a bubble, thinking that every new Web 2.0 idea and company is going to change the world. Perhaps I'm just a late adopter or don't have much stuff to begin...more
Nat Cott
Totally fascinating and absorbing read. I enjoyed that fact that the book isn't merely a harbinger of doom but offers collaborative consumerism as a way forward, an end to our throw-away culture that might just save the planet. In the months I after I read it, I made some small changes in terms of consumption and have stuck to them. I think this is the kind of book that could really help with the massive cultural shift needed to save the planet... (fingers crossed).
Tamara
Really, I just read the index, then looked up websites I was interested in. I should really do more bartering. It would save me a lot of money.

I love the idea of toy libraries and tool libraries as well. Oooh, and wouldn't a puzzle library be awesome? Hmmm....one of these days...

Some interesting online initiatives include:
http://ourgoods.org/
http://www.thredup.com/
http://bci.bartercard.com/?page=trans...
http://ifwerantheworld.com/
http://www.swap.com/
Shuva
I've been wondering if there's been a book like this out there for some time. This is a great book about reusing and recycling and sharing. It has great examples about what different people are doing to share our resources. The writers are from the UK, and a lot of their examples they talk about are in the UK. But I really hope that people get more from of this book, and U.S. residents are inspired to do more than what they are currently doing to share and reuse.
Valerie Sims
Collaborative consumption is one concept helps me to think a sustainable future is a reasonable possibility. Although I was frustrated that some of the websites that were promoted with detailed enthusiasm were in Gamma form (I think I made that up; their scope was so narrow that they were not even Beta yet), I intend to follow the trends outlined in the book and to instigate some collaborative usage myself.
AdultNonFiction Teton County Library
What's Mine Is Yours
by Rachel Botsman

Teton County Library Call No:339.47 Botsman
Suzanne's Rating: 5 Stars

What an exciting view into the next wave of collaborative consumption ideas. Some of these ideas have been recycled and upgraded from an era not privy to electronic methods for implementing innovations. The authors have done a stellar job of outlining some the existing systems and challenging all of us to think differently about the things in our lives. This book was stimulating, optimistic...more
Amblingbooks.com
A groundbreaking, original book that explores the rise of 'Collaborative Consumption'--a cultural and economic force that is transforming business, consumerism, and the way we live.

Listen to What's Mine Is Yours on your smartphone, notebook or desktop computer.
Thijs
Een interessant boek met een reusachtig aantal voorbeeldjes van consudelen. Start daarom bij het lezen zeker je webbrowser voor je de eerste pagina's open slaat. Je ontdekt nieuwe schatten, waarvan er helaas ook al een aantal weer verdwenen zijn.

Een aanrader die inspireert en je doet nadenken over je eigen consumptiepatroon.
Celeste
Loved this. If you want to understand how to put together a bike station rental business like Paris's VELIB, this book is for you. If you are curious how to elevate consumerist philosophy into collaborative consumer consumption with a shift to service-based orientation (versus product-based manufacturing), read this.
Derek Neighbors
This book started out like it was all going to be about America spending too much. Im interested in that, but was expecting more from this book. Then they segued nicely into how this overconsumption and subsequent burn out is leading towards collaborative consumption. It then gives example after example of collaborative consumption businesses and theory. It has lots of data and statistics on this and so I really enjoyed it. Definitely worth reading if you care about economics, collaboration or h...more
Juho Makkonen
A book that brilliantly describes the new culture of sharing that is shaping up and its implications to business, consumerism and pretty much everything. The shift from hyperconsumption to collaborative consumption is one of the most important phenomenon of our time. Highly recommended for everyone.
Molly
This is one of the most satisfying and hopeful books I have read in some time. This book pushes for collaboration as a way to stave off using up every single resource we have left. The examples they use show how we're already moving in the right direction. Nice, hopeful work.
Murray Gunn
I've long thought that society could benefit from an economic model based around Open Source ideologies. Recently, I've been fascinated by the rising culture of minimalism and sharing. This book brings it all together and promises a future where we collaborate to share resources and skills for our own benefit and along the way, we help the environment.
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What's Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption (Audio CD)
What's Mine Is Yours Intl: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption (Paperback)
What's Mine Is Yours: The Rise Of Collaborative Consumption. Rachel Botsman, Roo Rogers (Paperback)
What's Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption (MP3 Book)
What's Mine Is Yours (Kindle Edition)

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Rachel is the co-author of the upcoming book What’s Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption (Harper Business, October 2010). She consults, writes, and speaks on the power of collaboration and sharing through current and emerging technologies, and on how it will transform business, consumerism, and the way we live.

Rachel has lived and worked in the United Kingdom, United States, and A...more
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“The system of consumerism may seem like an immovable fact of modern life. But it is not. That the system was manufactured suggests that we can reshape those forces to create healthier, more sustainable system with a more fulfilling goal than 'more stuff” 2 people liked it
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