October 31, 2012

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Peer-to-peer (P2P) business models continue to gain traction in today’s growing social economy. Sharing is in fact caring and profitable in many cases. “Americans with heaps of stuff, skills and time are connecting online with tech-savvy and early adopters eager to share and rent homes, cars, tools and services in exchange for deep savings,” according to USA Today.

“Dubbed ‘collaborative consumption’ — or ‘the sharing economy’ — this movement represents the newly cemented intersection of online social networking, mobile technology, the minimalist movement and heightened penny-pinching brought on by lingering economic uncertainties.”

As the success of peer-to-peer businesses, such as Airbnb to TaskRabbit, continue to raise awareness and support for the shareonomics business model, here are six more disruptive peer-to-peer startups on the rise.

1. Getaround

Getaround.com aims to solve the nation’s current transportation system woes – car overpopulation. Getaround has coined their services as the ultimate car sharing community, where people can share cars with others nearby boasting easy rentals, owner control and thier $1M primary insurance policy backed by Berkshire Hathaway.

2. YourMechanic 

YourMechanic.com’s peer-to-peer car repair marketplace aims to help users hire mechanics to fix their cars at their home or office and lower costs by 30-50% in comparison to shops and dealers. According to reports, “the service’s independent, insured mechanics are able to handle about 80% of car issues without having to lean on the expensive amenities found in shops.”

3. Buyosphere

Buyosphere.com aims to become the go-to Q&A platform for shoppers, “a Quora for shopping.” Users can browse the fashion advice community for style guides and ask for advice on where to find products. Their goal is to focus on user curation to create an unrivaled online shopping experience.

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