sharing economy Archives - Page 3 of 3

SideLineSwap sellers are now powered by eRated. What about yours?

Like Brendan at SideLineSwap, thousands of people around the world are turning their passions into pastimes and hobbies into jobs by creating online marketplaces. They’re trading what they’re passionate about. They’re selling the products they know and love.

SideLineSwap saw a need and moved to meet that need with a marketplace geared to its users. For Mums looking to sell their kids’ outgrown hockey pads; to grownup athletes whose time on the gridline has been replaced by four walls and fluorescent lights, SideLineSwap is a marketplace for users to sell, buy and trade sporting goods.

By allowing users to create profiles as athletes and fans, their marketplace takes a big step toward building more than a store, but building a community of people with similar interests. This actually helps to build trust, but just as important, it lets people get to know one another. It’s also a place for users who see themselves as small businesses, like people supplying a particular type of gear. The marketplace’s crisp display and flexible platform allows sellers to do justice to their goods and get the sales they want. It’s a community for Mums and merchants, and merchant Mums.

What has eRated done for SideLineSwap? Like many new marketplaces, SideLineSwap was looking to improve their reputation system by making it more flexible and allow users to add more information about themselves. Our widget added value for them right away, letting their users bring in their social media profiles and existing marketplace histories. Since adopting our widget, SideLineSwap has seen conversion rates go up for existing users by up to 40%. New users without a history in SideLineSwap have been able to import their existing reputation elsewhere and get selling in Brendan’s marketplace faster.

Visit SideLineSwap and make the most out of your gear!

Contact eRated if you would like to see the same results as Brendan for your marketplace at [email protected].

How do we keep users safe? What role should the government play as regulator? Can marketplaces really police themselves?

These were just some of the questions in a free-flowing discussion of the challenges and opportunities facing the sharing economy in the months and years ahead. On 17th October, the UK Department of Business, Innovation and Skills brought together a motley crew of savvy start-up entrepreneurs, passionate activists and keen government staff from a number of departments to talk about one thing: Trust in the sharing economy.

As engaged members of the sharing economy, the British government wanted to know how we envisioned this space in 2025. We dreamed of a perfect world where there were clear laws and regulations from the government; where working systems of redress kicked in when trust breaks down; where the sharing economy is the “new normal”, and where millions of users behaved according to an agreed code of conduct. One cheeky participant asked: Why wait until 2025?

We love lists in the 21st century and, as it turns out, so does the British government. They asked us to list what we thought were the biggest challenges facing the sharing economy. In no particular order, we listed safety, transparency, privacy, verification, insurance and digital inclusion. Can we ever be certain of a person’s identity online? How do we engage pensioners and those from less advantageous economic backgrounds in collaborative consumption? Is it time to rethink consumer rights legislation for the sharing economy?

As a reputation aggregator in the sharing economy, eRated was especially interested in how we can bring together the history and reputation of sharers online to make their lives easier in every marketplace. I was of course delighted to hear one participant ask: Why can’t there be a universal reputation score for every user? Well, that’s what keeps us at eRated up at night!

There was a pretty clear consensus that, for all its risks, collaborative consumers are making the sharing economy a safe place. One insightful comment from a Blablacar staff member noted that drivers are working harder to drive safe in their marketplace because it’s not just the police watching anymore, but thousands of fellow marketplace motorists. Daniel from BIS said his place is never cleaner then when he’s about to AirBnB it! There’s no doubt that intervention from the government can be a positive force, but the people who share are a pretty responsible bunch. We care about our sharing communities.

Turning strangers into friends is something we can all get behind. By strengthening our sharing communities with clearer regulations and codes of conduct, opening new roles for insurance companies, bringing together our various online reputations and protecting our data, we can help make sharing easier, safer and more transparent.

We are delighted to see the sharing economy at the top of the British government’s agenda. This is one sure sign that the sharing economy is far from being a fad and, at least for this small group, is undoubtedly the future.