What's Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption Hardcover – September 14, 2010

Business consultant Botsman and entrepreneur Rogers track the rise of a fascinating new consumer behavior they call "collaborative consumption." Driven by growing dissatisfaction with their role as robotic consumers manipulated by marketing, people are turning more and more to models of consumption that emphasize usefulness over ownership, community over selfishness, and sustainability over novelty. A number of new businesses have emerged to serve this new market, exploiting the ability of the Internet to create networks of shared interests and trust and to simplify the logistics of collective use. Businesses such as bike-sharing service BIXI; toy library BabyPlays; solar power service SolarCity; and the Clothing Exchange, a clothing swap service, help users enjoy products or services without the expense, maintenance hassle, and social isolation of individual ownership. Part cultural critique and part practical guide to the fledgling collaborative consumption market, the book provides a wealth of information for consumers looking to redefine their relationships with both the things they use and the communities they live in.
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“Part cultural critique and part practical guide to the fledgling collaborative consumption market, the book provides a wealth of information for consumers looking to redefine their relationships with both the things they use and the communities they live in.” (—Publishers Weekly)

“Collaborative consumption is an ideal signalling device for an economy based on electronic brands and ever-changing fashions.” (—The Economist)

“This is an inspiring book about innovating entrepreneurs in an economy where people are seeking ways to connect with each other- through business.” (—Delta Sky)

“The latest buzzword and trend is defining how we do business in the new millennium” (—Vogue Australia)

“[T]he authors have laid out the social and economic logic for collaborative consumption with such religious fervour and zeal that one can’t help but become converted to this new world order.” (—Edwards Magazine Bookclub)

“The authors give hundreds of examples of how people are finding new ways to share and exchange value…[T]he book is packed with some pretty interesting statistics…If you’re unaware of what’s happening in the peer-to-peer exchange space, this book will quickly bring you up to speed.” (—Emergent by Design)

“What can the next wave of collaborative marketplaces look like? Botsman and Rogers answer this question in a highly readable and persuasive way. Anyone interested in the business opportunities and social power of collaboration should consider reading this book.” (—Tony Hsieh, author of Delivering Happiness and CEO of Zappos.com, Inc.)

“People are normally trustworthy and generous, and the Internet brings the good out far more than the bad. We’re seeing an explosion of modest businesses where people help each other out via the Net, and What’s Mine is Yours tells you what’s going on, and inspires more of the same.” (—Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist)

“Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers have offered a convincing, charming and in every sense collaborative account of how the new networks that have disrupted our lives are also likely to alter them, and entirely for our good.” (—Adam Gopnik, author of Paris to the Moon and Through the Children's Gate)

“Amidst a thousand tirades against the excesses and waste of consumer society, What’s Mine Is Yours offers us something genuinely new and invigorating: a way out. Anyone interested in the emerging economics and culture of collaboration will want to read this profoundly hopeful book.” (—Steven Johnson, author of The Invention of Air and The Ghost Map)