SubscribeAre you bored with mere buying? According to a story on yahoo.com (sorry, it’s a video from ABC, so I can’t copy the link–or try this one), we’re becoming a nation of transumers. See “Rise of the Transumer” on their top stories list.
It’s so obvious, and yet it’s bizarre. People have always rented the big things–homes and cars, sometimes even furniture and jewelry. Now, increasingly, people are renting or swapping lifestyle items: handbags, books, clothes, electronics. In a way it makes sense. I’ve looked at www.bagborroworsteal.com to see if I wanted to rent a designer handbag. Why pay $1500 when you can rent a Marc Jacobs original for that weekend wedding or job interview?
“People don’t need to keep the things that they want…and they [don't want] to pay so much for things,” says Eric Ginsberg, a transumer enthusiast from bookswim.com. “There’s a premium to ownership and a lot of people don’t feel that need.”
It’s also a greener way to go, Ginsberg points out. There’s less waste if people are cycling goods through the system. Of course, it presents an economic problem in that there’s less demand (and manufacturing or importing could slow and jobs could suffer). But maybe there’s an alternative economic model in renting/swapping/freecycling. If I’m spending less on books and clothes and bags, maybe I’m spending more of my money on travel, education, my business…..