BlogPost #1 - Starting To Barter

We already barter. Whenever we take our turn driving in a car pool, every time we trade in
our car for a new one, every night when we babysit the kids of the woman who sometimes
babysits ours -- even when we give away three railroads to get a monopoly at Boardwalk
and Park Place -- we are bartering. Bartering means having fun at a swap shop, or trading
my Mickey Mantle baseball card for your Reggie Jackson, or sharing our food at a pot-luck
dinner, or letting you use a part of my garden in exchange for some of the vegetables that
you'll grow. Bartering is Jack trading his cow for a handful of beans, and then climbing up
that beanstalk for the adventure of his life. This article can broaden the adventure that you
are already having, and show you a barter way of life. As Adam Smith said, "The propensity
to truck, barter, and exchange is common to all men." And to all women and all children."

Bartering is not a new phenomenon. It began many years ago, BC (Before Cash), when
people traded parrowheads or mastodon meat -- all practical things that have obvious value.
Then someone invented money (which is an abstraction of that value) to make trading
easier. After all, a one-to-one deal is possible only if I have a stone ax that you need, and
you have the maize that I need; if you only have baskets to trade, then the exchange doesn't
work out -- and I go hungry for lack of maize while you get eaten by a bear because you
don't have an ax with which to defend yourself. Money was probably invented by a surviving
relative of someone who had been eaten by a bear. Or, more likely, by a smart prehistoric
businessperson who wanted a better way with which to keep track of trades. Barter was
there in 1492 when Queen Isabella gave Columbus three ships and he gave her information
about America. And it participated in 1626, when Peter Minuet is said to have traded $24
worth of beads, knives, and kettles for Manhattan Island. Later in our history, the pioneers
traded with the Native Americans and with one another -- when community barn-raisings and
work parties were a way of life and business. During the Great Depression, barter was
popular for a while, but it faded as our economy recovered. The most-recent back-to-barter
renaissance started in the severe recession of the early 1980s.

We can all achieve rewards from age-old, good-as-gold bartering. We can:

1. Fulfill our material needs.
2. Gain more control over financial matters.
3. Protect our cash flow.
4. Benefit from previously unused assets.
5. Reduce taxes.
6. Get certain items which we can't buy in stores.
7. Meet people.
8. Share with other people.
9. Avoid chores which we don't like.
10. Get an education in skills, people, and values.
11. Develop a more humanistic and wholistic lifestyle.
12. Prepare for any upcoming depression.
13. Improve community relations.
14. Become less dependent on banks, lenders, credit cards, money, and the unpredictable
economic scene.
15. Achieve the benefits which are described in the business section of this book.

We -- the people -- are the world's most valuable resource. Instead of reaching for our wallet
every time, we might offer a part of ourselves: our skills, our time, our talent, our under-used
possessions. Bartering helps us to utilize more of those resources to meet our needs.
Bartering is a wonderful "self-help program"; the "help" is coming from parts of ourselves
which we have not seen before. When we recognize these assets, we develop ways in
which we can make our life better through barter. And when we start sharing these assets to
get what we want, the pleasant side-effects of bartering might make us realize that while the
best things in life might not be free, sometimes they feel that way.

BlogPost #2 - What Can We Trade?

We all have a rich array of barterables -- goods, skills, and information. This article is going
to give you a long list of barterables. For example:
Our skills might be in masonry, mechanical work, or midwifery.

Our goods can include furniture, food, or farm equipment.

And to trade our knowledge, perhaps we would find students in math instruction, or clients
for our legal advice, or apprentices in carpentry.

We can use these guidelines in finding skills which we can trade.

Be confident and creative. We do have many skills which are useful to other people. The list
in the next chapter shows many common and uncommon abilities which could be worthwhile
to someone else. Even "un-skills" are barterable; there is demand for leaf-rakers,
lawn-cutters, and other odd-jobbers.

Barter your primary skill -- the one which we use use at our job. For example, a carpenter
can moonlight with some additional carpentry jobs. However, for a change of pace, we might
prefer to do something entirely different; for example, an electrician who owns a few horses
might enjoy giving some riding lessons on Saturday mornings.
Do you what you like to do. If you are imaginative, we might find a way to barter the activity
which we enjoy the most. For example, if we enjoy being with animals, we can groom dogs
or walk dogs or wash dogs -- or care for other beasts. Do you like to talk? Then offer some
telephone time to a social club (in exchange for your free membership).

Consider your off-beat skills. At one barter club, some people registered themselves in these
unusual categories: teller of tall tales, pool hustler, clown, parrot trainer.
Use the skills which you have developed in your pastimes. For example, a bookworm can
read to a blind person or to someone else who simply values the companionship and
entertainment. If our reading has given us an expertise, maybe we can tutor in the subject
which we have read about.
Even our mere presence is worth something. "Just being there" is worth something if we are
a babysitter, house-sitter, plant-sitter, or pet-sitter. Imagine how much more we are worth
when we are actually doing something.

You can trade many types of goods. If we have lists, we'll be quicker to make a deal. When
people approach us for a trade, we can read a few things from the list -- or we can just give
the list to the people, and then let them compare their "haves" with our "wants" (or vice
versa). Our lists can include these items:

1. Our used items. This category includes books, magazines, furniture, gardening
equipment, etc. People have swapped more glamorous items, too; a trade broker received
an offer of a full-length mink coat and mink stole, both in perfect condition, as a partial
payment on some real estate. (Actually, it's not a new idea for barterers to "think mink"; the
traders of the Hudson Bay fur company used to barter in the 17th century.)

2. Our unwanted items. For example, we can swap away useless gifts (from Christmas and
birthdays).

3. Our outgrown items. We have outgrown some of our clothing. Our children have outgrown
many items -- their clothing, toys, books, furniture, electronics, etc.

4. Our handmade items. We can trade the products of our hobbies: our paintings, beadwork,
jewelry, fly-fishing lures, etc.

5. Our surplus items. We will have more things to trade if we use some strategies. For
instance, we can plant extra vegetables in our garden so that we will have a surplus to
barter. At a store sale or yard sale, we can buy more things than we need if the deal is
attractive and we know that we can trade away those goods.

6. Our "junk." Even an old trashy item might be valuable to a collector who needs that
particular piece to complete a collection.

7. Other people's goods. We can keep an up-to-date list of things that our friends (and other
barter partners) are looking for. With that list, we can set up trades between other people
and get a commission or some other type of "piece of the action." The list will also help us to
set up triangulation deals; for example, George needs a second-hand water pump for his
car; in exchange, he can offer his used power drill. We might meet a woman with a water
pump but no desire for George's drill. But she does want our cabinet -- so in the resulting
triangulation deal, she gives the pump to George, we give the cabinet to her, and he gives
us the drill.
We can make a list of things which we want to get by bartering. We might want clothing,
housing, food, car repairs, entertainment, books, household items, business needs, health
care, babysitting, education, etc. To develop a list of our "wants," we can refer to our various
records, e.g., our checkbook, monthly bills, budget, shopping list, Christmas list, "wish list,"
New Year's resolutions, etc.

This list might give us more ideas for goods and services to trade.

Accounting, acrobatics, activity consultation, adoption consultation, advertising, afghans,

agriculture advice, air conditioning repair, airplane rides, alterations, alternative building
techniques, alternative energy sources, animal care and sitting, animals (rabbits, worms,
cats, cattle, greyhound, etc.), animation, appliances, appliance repair, art work, astrology,
auto body work, auto design, auto painting, auto parts, auto repair.

Baby clothes, babysitting, baking, banking and loan-application assistance, barbecue

equipment, batiking, beading, bees, bicycle repair, bicycles, biodynamic farming, birth
control consultation, birthing coaching, blacksmithing, block laying, blueprints, boat engines,
boat trips, body and fender work, body-brace making, bonsai culture, bookkeeping, books,
bread baking, breeding, building demolition, building design, building maintenance, building
materials, burglar alarm systems, business consultation, butane tanks, butchering.

Cabinetry, cake decorating, calculators, calligraphy, camera repair, camper shells, camping
gear, cane weaving, canning, caretaking, carpentry, carpet cleaning, carpet laying, carpets,
cartoons, catering, CBs, CB repair, ceramic tiles, ceramic work, chainsaws, chainsaw
sculpture, child care, chimney sweeping, choreography, circus performing, cleaning, clerical
skills, clock repair and making, clothing, clowning, collective bargaining, commercial art,
community organizing, companionship, computer programming, computers, concrete work,
consultations, consumer protection, convalescent care, cooking, costume design,
counseling, counters, crafts, crocheting.

Dance instruction, darkroom instruction, day care, delivery, dentistry, diet consultations,
dining room help, directing (music and theatre), dishwashing, dishwashing machines, dog
care, dog grooming, dog-obedience training, dogs, domestic work, doll clothes, doll repair,
domes, drapes (hemming and installing), driers, driving, drug counseling, drumming, ducks,
dump trucks, dyeing.

Editing, elderly care, electrical work, electronics, embroidery, enameling, engines, engine
rebuilding, entertainment, errands, escorting, exercise instruction.

Fabric, family-finance consultations, farming guidance, farm work, fashion design, fencing,
fence installation and repair, fertilizer, fiberglass repair, fill dirt, film-making, firewood, fish,
fish farming, fishing poles, fixtures, flower arrangements, flowers, flying lessons, fly tying,
food, food preservation (canning, drying, freezing), food processors, foraging, foreign
language instruction, forges, framing, freezers, fruit tree advice, fund raising, furniture,
furniture making and restoring, furniture moving, furs.
Game tables, garden space, garden work, glass, glass cutting, goats' milk, gourmet cooking,
grant writing, graphic art, greenhouse management, guns, gunsmithing, gun stocks.

Haircuts, hairdressing, ham radio services, handwriting analysis, handyman work, hat
trimming and making, hats, hauling, hay baling, health counseling, hearing aids and repairs,
herbs, horse care, horses, horse training, hot water systems, house cleaning, household
items, housekeeping, house-plant consultations, house-sitting.

Ice cream makers, instrument repair, interior decorating, investment advice, ironing.
Jamming, jams and jellies, janitorial work, jewelry repair, juggling, jugs.

Kittens, knitting.

Labor, land clearing, landscaping, lapidary work, laundry, lawn maintenance, leather work,
legal consultations, library work, literature, locksmithing, lumber.

Machine work, macrame, magic, management, manure, manuscript critiques, marital

counseling, marketing, martial arts (kung fu, judo, etc.), masonry, massages, mattresses,
meat, meat cutting, mechanical drawing, mediation (tenant-landlord), medical skills,
meditation instruction, mending, midwife services, milking of cows, money-management
counseling, mortuary work, motorcycles, motorcycle repair, motors, moving, mowing,
musical instruments, music lessons, music performances.

Nature walks, needle work, notary services, nutritional counseling.

Odd jobs, office help, office space, oil burners, oil changes, oil painting, optometry, orchard
consultations, organic gardening, ornaments, outdoor games, oxygen tanks.
Painting (auto), painting (house), parenting education, party help, peacocks, pet care,
photography, physical therapy, piano moving, piano sharing, piano tuning, pigs, piloting,
plant care, plant identification, plants, plumbing, plumbing materials, plums, plywood, poetry,
ponies, pool tables, popcorn poppers, portraits, post-hole digging, pottery, printing, private
detective services, produce managing, projectors, proofreading, psychologist services,
puppet shows.

Rabbit cages, rabbits, radio repair, radios, ranch work, real estate, records management,
recreation partners (offering our companionship in backpacking, badminton, bicycling,
bird-watching, boating, card games, dancing, fishing, frisbees, horseback riding, ice skating,
rafting, rock-hounding, running,

Scuba diving, skiing, sky diving, softball, surfing, swimming, tennis, and other activities),
recreational therapy, recycling, reloading equipment, remodeling, renovation, research,
riding instruction, river raft trips, road building, roofing, roofing materials, room and board,
rotary mowing, rug making, rug shampooing.

Saddle repair, sailing, sandblasting, sanding, saunas, saws, sawdust, scrap metal,
screening, sculpture, secretarial services, selling, sewing, sharecropping, sharpening (saws
and mowers), sheep, sheep shearing, shelving, shoe repair, shoes, shopping, shorthand,
sign language, sign painting, silk screening, small engine repair, social work, soil analysis,
solar-energy consultations, solar power, speech therapy, spinning, sports equipment,
stained glass, steam cleaning, stone work, stoves, stove cleaning, surveying, swimming-pool
use.

Tables, tai chi instruction, tape recorders, tax consultations, taxidermy, telephone work,
television sets, tennis lessons, tents, tools, toys, tree pruning, tree removal, trees, trucks,
truck driving, tutoring, typing.

Undertaker services, upholstery.

Vacuuming, vegetables, vents, veterinarian services, vineyard work, vinyl repair, vitamins,
vocational counseling.

Waitressing, wallets, wardrobe consultations, washing machines, waterbeds, water power

consultations, weaving, wedding-reception planning, weddings, welding, wilderness-survival
instruction, windmills, window cleaning, windows, wood, wood finishing, wood stoves, wool,
writing.

Yard work.

BlogPost #3 - How To Meet Other Traders

You have many opportunities for bartering. You can look for opportunities wherever you go,
and you can ask, "Are you willing to trade?" whenever the question seems appropriate.
Some people will gladly accept your offer. After you have explored the possibility, you might
still have to reach for your wallet or debit card, but at least you have given it a chance.

There are many ways by which you can find people who want to barter.

1. Your family. It's natural for us to set up these trades: "I'll do your chores if you'll do a favor
for me" or "I'll wash the dishes tonight if you'll clear the table for me." Many of these trades
are spontaneous: "Thanks for the massage. Would you like one?"
2. Friends. Pass the word, and ask them to pass it along to their friends. If your friends have
interests which are similar to yours, you might get good results.

3. Barter Exchanges.

4. People with whom you have bartered previously. Ask for a repeat of a prior deal: "If you
think that I cleaned your house well, do you want me to come back next week and do it
again?"

5. People with whom you already do business. You can ask our butcher, baker, candlestick
maker, etc.

6. People with whom you want to do business. When you barter, you aren't spending your
limited cash resources, so you can afford more goods and services. Now you can use your
imagination and desires to consider the other things which you want.

7. Your current clients or customers. Your records might have information regarding the
people's occupation. For example, perhaps one person works for an ad agency which could
create an advertisement for our business. (Of course, if you convert too many of your
cash-paying customers to barter-paying customers, we will decrease our cash flow.)

8. Ads in newspapers or magazines. In local and national publications, you can find ads in
which the merchants say that they are willing to barter. If the merchants are asking for cash,
you can offer a barter deal instead.

9. Your own ads in newspapers and magazines. Instead of simply offering to barter, you
might offer a choice: "For sale or trade"; you will get more responses, and then you can ask
the people: "Have you considered trading?" In some cases, we can barter for the ads
themselves; for example, the editor of the Southern Oregon Weekly Review used to trade
away some advertising space to a janitor and a window-washer. Businesses swap millions of
dollars worth of ads every year.

10. Yellow Pages. If you can still find a Yellow Pages look for the businesses which have
whatever you want. And look for barter exchanges under headings such as "Barter
Services," "Social Service Organizations," "Trade Clearing Exchanges," or "Barter and Trade
Organizations."

11. Ads on radio or television. In Grants Pass, Oregon, a barter-club director used to put
notices onto local radio programs (the "Bargain Roundup" and the "Trading Post" ), which
broadcast free private advertisements. In your town, there might be similar programs.

12. Swap shops. These are stores that specialize in bartering; customers offer their own
goods (plus a small percentage of the retail price, in cash), in exchange for the store's
goods. Variations include:
Stores which specialize in particular types of products. For example, John Ludewig operated
a "wedding-gift exchange."
 ● Stores which have been created by barter clubs. At these stores, people can sell
their items in exchange for the club's trade dollars.

● Pawn shops. The manager is probably an active trader.

● Rural stores. At an old-fashioned general store, the manager might be willing to

barter.

● Other stores. Some stores have departments which permit swapping. For example,
some kids' clothing stores will allow you to trade your kids' too-small clothes in
exchange for new or used apparel. The stores offer these deals to bring you into the
shop (where you will probably also buy some new clothing), and they can re-sell your
clothing -- to their own customers, or to a secondhand shop.

13. Places where second-hand goods are distributed. These places include flea markets,
second-hand stores, and yard sales (i.e., garage sales). The people might want to barter,
because their goods are "used" and so are yours. Some flea markets have special sections
where all of the items are available by bartering.

14. Swap meets and festivals. Whether the events are sponsored by a barter club or another
organization, the people exhibit their goods and services. The fairs are advertised
occasionally in newspapers, local magazines, and barter-club newsletters; they are held at a
drive-in theater, or a rented hall, or another site such as a YMCA. You might find a music
teacher who is offering gift certificates for lessons, a printer selling greeting cards, a
craftsperson marketing jewelry, a retailer getting rid of some close-out items, and a doctor
selling the birdhouses which were created in a spare-time hobby. The visitors might carry
their own merchandise in a bag or box, or they might just be handy with a description. They
walk from booth to booth, looking for a seller who wanted their goods in a direct exchange
for whatever they had. At other fairs, the dealers swap their items for barter-club trade
dollars, instead of relying on one-to-one swaps.

A few interesting examples of swap fairs:

Some events emphasize one type of commodity. At the Britt Musical Instrument Faire in
Jacksonville, Oregon, people were encouraged to swap or sell instruments and then donate
a 20% of the price to the Festival Association.

In Morton, Mississippi, the Chamber of Commerce has previously sponsored "Barter Day" --
an annual outdoor show which in the past has attracted about 10,000 people to see the arts
and crafts.

At a high-stakes swap meet in Reno in 1982, a $5,000 admission fee was paid by 75 people
who wanted to trade apartment buildings, hotels, subdivisions, and property such as a
420-acre, $2.9 million Caribbean island. Another person had "$10 million worth of property in
his briefcase." Someone else brought an offer to sell his manufacturing company and an
airplane-repair service. Brian Lovig, who set up this billion-dollar flea market ("Sales and
Trade Purchase International") at the MGM Grand Hotel, traded his Lear jet for some real
estate.

15. Bulletin boards. Bulletin boards are in community halls, grocery stores, libraries,
government agencies, churches, laundromats, schools, organizations (such as an Elks hall),
college dormitories and buildings, workplaces, and other sites. In some stores, you can put
an ad on a door or window to tell people about your deals. In the ad, be specific: "I want to
trade my 1972 Chevy Malibu for a good, newer motorcycle." Or "I'll swap my carpentry skills
for a cord of firewood." Give your phone number or address or post-office-box number. With
an address, people will just drop by. With a phone number, we will have more privacy to
"screen" the callers. A post-office box gives you a better opportunity to sort out the possible
trades, but it is less convenient than a phone call; therefore, you won't get as many
responses.