This always seems like a no-brainer tip to me, but people seem to be reluctant to do it – until they try it!
I have bartered babysitting services for dishes – and even a car for a winter’s worth of firewood! Bartering is a great way to solve cash flow issues and get involved in your community. I often barter time teaching things for free for free use of a space to hold my writing workshops in – and you could just as easily barter services like making up posters or other ad responsibilities for space at a local flea market or what have you…
There are many web sites now dedicated to bartering – particularly for businesses. I’m not certain which ones are good or not, so I will not endorse any of them here – but if you have had a good experience with one, please don’t hesitate to let me know what they are (if it’s a blatant ad for the site, though, I will delete the comment).
I am more in favor of putting a flier or two around your town and offering your trade, or perhaps starting a community bulletin board where such swaps can be made. We are also starting a “swap it” section on both our website and in our print newsletter – so if you have something you’d like to swap for – like seeds, baby stuff, whatever…email us and we’ll post your offer.
Jake says:
There’s always Freecycle, too.
25th September 2007 at 4:29 pm
Thomas says:
Supporting bartering is one of the many reasons we must completely abolish the income tax. We can do it.
25th September 2007 at 8:25 am