9 ways to save and benefit from the sharing economy

A growing number of adult consumers are swapping cars, bedrooms, clothing, desk space and even groceries—with strangers.

It's all part of the so-called sharing economy, an Internet-based model of collaborative consumption, in which unused goods and on-demand services are sold or rented to those willing to pay for them.

According to a May 2014 Nielsen study, 68 percent of online consumers surveyed worldwide said they were willing to share or rent their personal items. That adds up to revenue that is expected to exceed $3.5 billion this year, a 25 percent increase from a year ago.

But before you put a bid on someone's denim jacket, duplex apartment or dog-sitting services—or offer up your own—proceed with caution. Some industries and services work better than others for peer-to-peer commerce. Read on for ways to save and what you need to know.

—By Lucy Maher, special to CNBC.com
Posted 9 Nov. 2014

If you need intermittent access to a car and don't want to pay the typical ownership costs ($9,122 a year, according to auto club AAA), log on to any of a number of peer-to-peer car sharing sites, including Relay Rides and GetAround. You can rent a nearby set of wheels not in use. In Chicago, you'd pay as little as $54 a day for a 2013 Toyota Prius or as much as $120 a day for a 2013 Audi A5. If you have a car and little patience for locating a parking spot, check out Just Park and access a host of spots listed by owners not using them.

"What you tend to find is people enter the sharing economy through the door that has value and meaning to them," says Rachel Botsman, author and founder of the Collaborative Lab.

"For example, if owning a car, or two, does not make sense, then car sharing is a good option," she says. "Or perhaps people want to take a road trip ... but don't want to drive, so they try BlaBlacar. And once they start to trust and 'get' one idea, they start looking for other similar ideas in different areas of their lives."

Not willing to drop $600 on a hotel room for your cousin's June wedding? You don't have to. Simply scan Airbnb for rooms in nearby private homes and pay a fraction (depending on the time of year you could be looking at spending as little as $100) for your nightly stay. Airbnb also lists longer term rentals, as do more niche sites like VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner), which offers everything from in-city condos and luxury villas to ski chalets. A handful of sites like Love My Home Swap act as a global property exchange club, with members avoiding trading money should they choose.

But make sure you know what you are getting into.

"Consumers should pay very close attention to the different signals of trustworthiness that the marketplace provides," said Arun Sundararajan, professor at the NYU Stern School of Business. Look for online feedback and review systems, provider links to social media profiles (which increase the odds that this is a real person) and platform-vetting of providers.

When Friday rolls around and you find yourself staring into an empty fridge, Instacart might be worth a look. Its app allows you to order your groceries then summon a third-party "personal shopper" to pick them up and drop them off for a $15 to $30 charge.

If that's too hefty a fee, a CSA (or Community Supported Agriculture) share might make more sense. For a set fee you get a box of local, in-season produce and fruit set aside for pickup (some CSAs will even deliver to your door)—often for less than you would pay at the grocer, depending on household size. (You'll pay $995 for 22 weeks of organic fruits and vegetables from Restoration Farm in Old Bethpage, N.Y., for example.) Others also distribute eggs, meat and dairy. Local Harvest lists CSAs countrywide.

Fashionistas looking to avoid cookie-cutter outfits from the likes of Zara, JCrew or Club Monaco might head to Poshmark, which allows users to sell new and used items from their closets. The transaction is facilitated by Poshmark and payment is held for three days after the order is delivered then released to the seller with no refunds available. For sales below $15, a $2.95 commission is charged; sales above $15 are garnished 20 percent.

Looking to clear out the clutter in your closet? Threadflip acts as an online thrift store, taking your clothing, photographing and listing it for a 40 percent fee.

Last month, the average rent for office space in Manhattan was $56.70 per square foot. But thanks to co-working spaces, entrepreneurs and freelancers no longer need to shell out thousands of dollars a month to set up shop.

WeWork's 30 locations (including New York City, Austin, San Francisco, Seattle and Amsterdam) provide members (or "creators") desk space, lounge area, conference room credits, coffee, high-speed Internet and a network of independent contractors. Fee: $250 a month per person. PivotDesk works much like Airbnb, connecting tenants who have leases and unused space with potential monthly sublessees.

You're called away on last-minute business, which means Fido needs a sitter. Do you head to the kennel or call your next-door neighbor? Neither. Today, savvy pet owners are logging on to sites like Rover and DogVacay, which provide a network of sitters offering in-home care or overnight boarding. Pet owners search for sitters near them, set up a meeting if they choose, then pay a nightly fee (often around $50) through the site. Pet insurance and text and photo updates are included. Rover also provides vet access.

Need a drill sergeant to get you to work out, but reluctant to commit to a package of $100-an-hour personal training sessions? Then lace up your sneakers and log on to Wello ,which connects you with instructors offering $29 a la carte yoga, Pilates, strength and circuit training, stretching and TRX sessions (or monthly memberships should you choose) conducted through video chat.

What about a last-minute house cleaner? Homejoy pre-screens its fleet of $20-an-hour cleaners and matches clients and cleaners based on location and task. TaskRabbit is perhaps the Jack of All Trades on-demand app, allowing users to bid on and book nearby helping hands for anything from waiting in line to assembling a dresser.

You may have been told not to borrow from a friend. But what about a stranger?

That's the thinking behind the Peer-to-Peer loan site Lending Club. Its premise: Investors provide micro-loans (the average is about $14,000) with a historical return of 5 percent to 8.67 percent, and borrowers make monthly payments with an interest rate that is, on average, 29 percent less than what bank loans offer.

No hotspot nearby? No problem. Fon steps in with a $59 router then splits your Wi-Fi in two—one private stream for you and another for other members to access when you are away. Need to access the network? Hit up any of thousands of Fon hotspots worldwide.