Last night the team headed up to San Francisco’s Hub in SOMA for a talk and panel discussion featuring Rachel Botsman (@rachelbotsman), one of the authors of “What’s Mine Is Yours: The Rise Of Collaborative Consumption”.  The basic idea is that there’s a new movement towards sharing, reusing, trading and renting instead of simply consuming.  The panel consisted of companies like Airbnb (rent out your room), Lending Club (lend money to other people and get higher returns) and Zimride (have an empty seat in your car?  carpool) who are all in favor of this movement.

Before arriving I didn’t really know what to expect from the planned 2 hour discussion, but the main idea was quickly demonstrated as I passed my wedding ring to the person on my right so she could hold onto it for the duration of the talk.  Rachel spoke about the different avenues within collaborative consumption and the one that hit home for us is swapping.  Listia is a great solution for people to get rid of stuff to someone who wants it and get something in return.  If you think about all the stuff you have in your home you’ll probably realize you don’t need a vast majority of the things you own.  Try it … go to a room in your house, do a full circle and count everything you haven’t touched in the last 3 months … you’ll be surprised.

10 years ago what would you do with all that stuff?  You might try to find a friend that needs it, give it to Goodwill, leave it on the curb with a sign that says “for free” or in the worst and probably most common case you end up throwing all that stuff away.  At Listia we’re trying to solve all of this by connecting you with someone that wants your stuff and at the same time giving you something in return.  Most importantly it helps people find a home for the stuff that would have ended up in the trash and in our landfills.  With that said I would like to personally thank our users for being a great part of this movement even if you don’t even realize it.  Consume less, share more.  Listia is really looking forward to see where this new movement is headed and we’re happy to be able to provide the service that we do for our users.

If this subject matter interests you feel free to check out collaborativeconsumption.com for more info.

Listia wants to make it easier and more rewarding to clean out your closets!  For a limited time, you’ll receive bonus credits when you list clothing, shoes or accessories to give away.  Those credits will definitely come in handy as the holidays approach, and you can even use them to bid on that cool jacket or handbag you always wanted.  Head on over to the listing page to get started!  (ends Oct. 22)

In other news, we also have a cool Halloween promotion going on right now.  If you are looking for a costume, check out the huge selection from our featured store here… you’ll receive 300 bonus credits just for completing any purchase over $10!  We also have a 10% coupon code and a free shipping deal to help you save even more.  All the details are here.  

photo via: rubbermaid

DVDs are great for trading on Listia… they can be watched over and over again, and nobody really cares if they are used! 

For a limited time, list some DVD movies or tv shows you no longer watch, and you’ll get a bunch of bonus credits.  Just be sure to add at least one photo and offer free shipping.  Most DVDs ship very cheaply via USPS media mail, so thats probably your best option. 

Can’t wait to see what movies everyone has!

photo via: andresrueda