Thursday, January 1, 2009

Barter And Swap

The economy is continuing to contract and will do so for the foreseeable future. Many of us have accumulated things that we no longer use, or have need for. So, why not exchange them for things we do need?

Some of us are underemployed or even unemployed, yet we have valuable skills. Just because some company won't pay you, doesn't mean that those skills don't have value.

Enter the world of Barter. I like barter because those grubby little hands of the money changers, politicians, and tax collectors are left E-M-P-T-Y instead of mine.

I used to live in a tiny town of about 1300 people. The general store had a bulletin board outside that had postings on it. People who needed things done. People willing to do certain things. People who had X and wanted to trade for Y. I need a ride here, if you're going that way, I'll pay for the gas kind of notices.

Talk to your church leaders, and maybe the local grocer and see if they would allow you to put up such a bulletin board. Promise to be responsible for it, and post whatever rules you want those posting to follow.

Here are some online barter sites:

For Women: Give And Take Network

Tradeaway

Barter It Online

People Trading Services

U-Exchange

Trash Bank

Swap Tree

Swap A DVD

Craigslist On Craigslist, once you have navigated to your location, go to the "For Sale" catagory, and select "barter". Remember, even though you may have selected the city nearest you, there may be other nearby locations that are accessible. Don't forget to check there. Items are not always cross-posted. If you're going to post your items and services, don't forget to cross-post in neighboring areas.

If you know of any other online, or even local barter sites, drop me a note and I'll add them!

6 comments:

HermitJim said...

Hey, these are some very informative links. Thanks for sharing...

Catman said...

Hey Jim, updating my music too while your here. My pleasure, hoping to find more useful stuff to share in the coming months! Thanks!

Ken said...

...good links...always interesting...BTW,kinda freaky about my last post at my blog,yer comment about my grammer was TERRIFIC...i would have never caught it,as i dont proofread much/or use spellcheck...i kinda like it as it 'flows'...plus i tend to use 'slang'...write it as it sounds kinda thing...lol
...Later...

Anonymous said...

I've lived and worked all my life in small country towns, we still today have those notice boards, in Coles, Woolworths, the local library and in the newspaper shop,they are an infinite source of resources within ones community.

Cygnus MacLlyr said...

Thanks for the useful links, Catman. Always been a fan of the barter system m'self. While the current tool of barter, green paper, remains useful in any event for bear-in-the-woods activity, barter-worthy skills will remain just that...

Catman said...

Thanks, Cygnus!