Would you pay money to put on my underwear?

Would you let a stranger wear your underwear?
It seems ridiculous, but when you think about it… maybe not so crazy…

Twenty years ago. mothers around the world were advising us to not get into cars with strangers, not to stay over at the house of people we do not know well, and almost certainly don’t eat the food you find left on the table next to you at a restaurant…

Nowadays, the “sharing economy” has grown exponentially. AirBnb (Stayz, FlipKey etc) turns every spare bedroom (or sometimes a couch) into a shared hotel.

Rideshare apps like Uber, Didi, Ola, Lyft, Shebah, SnagRide (for city to city road trips) and so on, can turn anyone’s car into a taxi.

Spacer means you can rent out few square metres of your attic or garage to someone who needs storage space.

Car Next Door means you can rent out someone else’s car and drive yourself anywhere you like, without the hassle of owning a car, renting from a hire company or paying for a driver.

Camplify is like AirBnB, but for caravans, campers and RV’s. Because sometimes you only want to use one, and not own one.

FoodByUs is different from restaurant delivery apps like UberEats and DeliveRoo, in that the food is “homemade”. Yes, you cook in your kitchen, someone else eats your meal in their house. (Perhaps FBU is a good idea to keep your mother-in-law busy after all her kids have moved out, and she still likes to cook for the hordes?)

KinderShare is a sharing platform for childrens’ items such as prams, bassinets, cots, strollers etc, because kids usually grow out of them before they wear them out.

ToolMates allows you to rent a hammer or more complext tools and machinery from peers as you need it, eliminating the cost of buying something which you may only use a few times.

Sprout is a platform similar to coworking hubs, where restaurant kitchens can rent out a few metres of idle space to other food prep professionals who need an area to prepare food.

RubberDesk is much like many coworking spaces, except you can rent out a single desk on an ad hoc basis.

The Volte allows you to rent someone else’s clothing for a gala night out (yes, and someone else can rent your shoes, pants or jackets for mowing their lawn if they wish).

And if that last one doesn’t gross you out, then let’s take a look at SwimPly, where complete strangers can come around and swim in your pool… for a price.

Theoretically, you don’t really need to own anything anymore, because there is always someone who will “share” (rent) it to you.

I cannot wait for the first person to pay me $5 to wear my bathing trunks and swim (pee) in my pool… except I am a germaphobe, so it’s probably never going to happen :)

What’s the most amazing thing you have seen in the sharing economy?