Commercial stunts not part of sharing economy

THE BOOMING SHARING ECONOMY has extended to liquefied natural gas tanks, which can be "shared" by residents in Hefei, East China's Anhui province, by scanning the quick response code on the tank. The tanks are delivered by appointment online. China Youth Daily commented on Wednesday:

The struggle of most "sharing" business operators to make profits does not seem to bother some people, as capital has been pouring into not just the transportation sector but also many unorthodox businesses, from umbrella and basketball to gas tanks. In Beijing, even "shared" folding stools have been offered to people for free and without registering or paying any deposit, a promotional stunt to lure people to subscribe to the WeChat accounts of certain companies.

Bizarre innovations like these are blurring the boundaries between genuine sharing economy and copycat businesses, which are a lot like short-term hire-on-demand services that are basically about lending idle items or services to those in need in exchange for financial gains, of course, through a third-party platform, be it a company or government organization. But the exchange of shared goods should be confined to those that do not come with extra costs, for example, a temporarily vacant room.