I am a sellsumer!
I am a sellsumer!
I have been de-cluttering and raising cash by selling unwanted and broken jewellery and refurbishing and selling old household items (an antique brass fender). According to Springwise this makes me a trend-setting "sellsumer".Springwise identifies sellsumers as ordinary consumers making money instead of just spending it. It says that whether it’s selling their insights to corporations, hawking their creative output to fellow consumers, or renting out unused assets, consumers are increasingly becoming sellsumers. This is made easier by the online revolution’s great democratisation of demand and supply, and further fuelled by a global recession that leaves consumers strapped for cash. "The sellsumers phenomenon is yet another manifestation of the mega-trend that is 'consumer participation'". There are now plenty of ways people can make money on things they already possess, from unused parking spaces to excess energy.
Some of Springwise's examples:
Parking - Parkingspots in the US and Canada connects those who have parking spots to rent out with those who need them on a monthly basis. In the UK, Ireland, Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand and The Netherlands, ParkAtMyHouse offers a similar service
Storage - Los Angeles-based Homstie offers listings for excess storage space, collecting fees for featured listings and for providing custom lease agreements. Also check out Store at My House.
Camping - Swedish Single Spot Camping offers a person-to-person camping solution by connecting anyone who owns a suitably sized piece of land with anyone looking for a place to pitch their tent
B&B - Air BnB is an online marketplace that allows locals to earn money by renting out their extra space as alternative lodging for hotel-weary travelers. Also see Roomorama
Space - Combining all of the above, US-based Spareground is a marketplace for just about any kind of unused space. Consumers with space to share simply create a listing with its description, location and price. Those seeking space search by category or keyword and then contact the owner directly to arrange the terms.
Power - there are schemes around the world that pays consumers for excess electricity that they generate, e.g. from solar power . In the UK, Ecotricity pays customers who want to sell back to the grid 12 pence per kWh, while Green Energy offers a Home Green Generator plan for those producing less than 6 kWh.
Gift cards - GiftCardRescue is a service that allows users to exchange their unwanted gift cards. Consumers create an account and provide details of the card they have and GiftCardRescue will indicate the redemption value it's willing to pay
Hiring - New Zealand-based Hire Things offers an online marketplace for 'micro-hire-businesses.' Think everything from tableware to boats.
Advertising - French 'carvertiser' Liberty Drive offers a programme that rewards Smart car owners in France and Switzerland for participating in carvertising campaigns, paying them up to EUR 100 per month if they turn their cars into driving billboards
Jewellery - Red Swan offers money in exchange for unwanted jewellery. For similar concepts, check out Ex-Boyfriend Jewelry and My Gold Party
Produce - based around the concept of cooperative gardening, Veggie Trader is an online marketplace offering the opportunity to buy, sell or trade homegrown produce.
Delivery - French site Colis-Voiturage aims to bring together those with a package to send and drivers who are already planning a trip to a similar destination. Also check out German Raumobil
Arts and crafts - Etsy, "your place to buy and sell all things handmade", now boasts 200,000 users and over 3 million products. In 2008, the value of products sold was US$ 87.5 million, and the first two months of 2009 have already produced sales of USD 20.2 million. North Carolina-based Spoonflower lets users design and print their own fabrics for US$18 per yard with no minimum order. It also plans to allow fabric designers to sell their fabrics on the site
Blogging - in Sweden, free newspaper giant Metro hosts Metrobloggen, a get-paid-per-view blogging service. Anyone can set up a blog at Metrobloggen and as soon as an individual blog achieves 5,000 page views per month, Metro sends the author a MasterCard that's credited with 150 Swedish kronor (US$20)
Thursday, 02 April 2009 15:48