Save Money By Bartering
As we've noted, the tough economic times are forcing many people to look for creative ways to save money. The Wall Street Journal reports on one age-old method that's gaining popularity:
Cash-strapped consumers and businesses are coming up with creative ways to fight higher costs. One practice gaining popularity: the ancient custom of bartering.
That's right, before there was money, there was bartering. And it's back, baby.
The rise of bartering for goods and services means consumers are now trading for such things as wedding services, tombstones, breast augmentation and Botox treatments. The cash-free transactions are often facilitated through the Internet and barter exchanges, which are third-party record keepers that coordinate trades between business owners.
In the past two years, membership in trade-exchange businesses has climbed 10% to 15% annually compared with 5% to 8% annual growth prior to that, says Mr. McDowell. He estimates his members do $3.8 billion to $4.3 billion in trades a year.
Obviously there are potential pitfalls to the process, but you are generally giving up something that costs you very little, such as expertise, for something that would cost a great deal more if you were to buy it outright. So with prudence, this seems like a good and viable option for saving money.
But how widespread and practical is it really? Has anyone reading this used bartering to save money and/or afford something they might not be able to purchase?
Web Barterers' Tricks of the Trade [Wall Street Journal]
— FREE MONEY FINANCE
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Comments:
I used to work for the IRS -- they look at bartering, too.
I have some magic beans to trade for?
this is amazing... if anyone can provide statistics as to how wide spread it is then id be more than willing and more apt to barter
How does one barter for a breast augmentation? (Wait, don't answer that.) I'm not sure that I want to go to a plastic surgeon who would barter for medical services.
I am having a lot of success with the Wimpy method. I'll tell them I'll gladly pay them Tuesday for whatever they have today, and then make sure I'm in the next town when Tuesday rolls around.
My dad was a printer and he would do business cards for a lady and she would cut his hair. It cost hime some paper, a little time and some ink he had left over form other jobs and it only cost her time.
@MissPeacock: When people get a new car, house, iphone or other new items people always ask if they can see it. After a breast augmentation is it alright to ask to see the new toys? If you are not going to show anyone then why get them in the first place.
Just don't try batering for sex. Turns out that's illegal.
@superlayne: I'd really like to be able to barter my hair services for other services, but I work 40+ hours in strange shifts already and my boss isn't the most understanding about things of value that don't come in dollar form, even if I'm bartering my half of the service. (I work commission at 50%)
@sir_pantsalot: Having watched a few MTV specials, I can speak as an expert on the subject. Yes, they show everyone.
But ladies, please do not augment your breasts. Please, please, please.
Dyslexia: Spending the 60 seconds reading 'bartering' as 'bartending'.
Let me tell you this article didnt make much sense for a minute there.
@sir_pantsalot: You're hanging in the wrong circles. Every woman I know who's gotten implants is VERY proud to show em off.
If you dare not notice or comment, the newly augemented will often specifically solicit your opinion.
Also, generally being a gay male will entitle one to a "Don't they feel real" request to check out the newly purchased bazooms.
It doesn't hurt to haggle a price at a retailer either on large ticket items.
It used to be common place for folks to do this, but somehow people either lost the skill or some savvy retailers managed to convince people that the price tag is the lowest price available.
On a more personal level, almost anyone with a marketable skill has probably bartered for something in their life. I've done it many times for lawn services, rental time in a Cessna, etc. Being handy fixing computers has its perks!
As a part-time photographer, I've been doing bartering for about four years. Especially family portraits are in high demand for barter, as families usually don't want to spend money for a professional to come over, and family portraiture is not something as unique as wedding photography, where people tend to pay through their noses, assuming that the more they pay the better the pictures will turn out to be.
Usually, I'm bartering for other services. A typical deal is something like one session of family portraits (between 5 and 8 rolls of film) for 3-4 massages. I did this with my massage therapist, and it had two advantages. First, it was indeed cheaper for both of us. Second, as no money changed hands, to taxable income was created, so we both saved an additional 30+% in marginal tax rate payments.
I need to work on my reading comprehension: when I first saw the headline, I thought it said bartending, not bartering. Jeez, I know where my mind is today.
Oh, and on topic...I've done computer work on the side for a used car dealership in trade for part of a payment. Probably not exactly bartering because it has a definite cash equivalent, but it was a service for (part of) a product.
@MissPeacock: You wouldn't go to a plastic surgeon who accepts barter? That's pretty ignorant. If you have something the plastic surgeon needs or expects to be able to trade for something else, you may certainly barter it. In my case, I could use my secretarial skills (in both medical and insurance settings) or my graphic artist skills (for marketing purposes). Or who knows, my sewing skills to make him slipcovers for his living room furniture, curtains, or a handmade quilt or two. Or I could offer a few lockout job coupons to him to use or trade to other people for other things (since I have basic locksmith skills, ethically acquired through a locksmith study course). Your dullness amazes me, frankly.
There's an organization in New Orleans called [www.crescentcitytrade.com] It's a barter club, where businesses trade goods and services. Great organization with some great members.
@speedwell: Don't you be calling Miss Peacock dull!
I wouldn't go to a Doctor who accept barter either. And exactly what recourse would you have for a botched or negligent surgery? Repo his slipcovers? Intentionally not proofread a memo?
You don't buy the cheapest parachute and I think there are somethings where quality needs to trump the best obtainable deal.
@B: I never understood why you can't trade sex for items or money, but you're allowed to give it away for free.
I have always been willing to trade for computer consulting services. Quite frequently, when doing upgrades, I will trade the upgraded-out components for a discount (up to 100%) on the service (provided the parts aren't too old) because I can turn around and sell them to another customer.
@A.W.E.S.O.M.-O:
Okay, so you can't trade it for money or goods, but can you trade it for services?
I always use Wampum at Best Buy. Make an offer on a TV, and when they turn to go get a manager, you wampum on the head and take the TV.
@Wormfather is Wormfather: Hah. This means we're not true boozehounds, as we're not mistakenly thinking about drinking alone.
And I think we deserve a beer for that.
Until he retired this year, my father bartered services with a local chiropractor. My father provided the chiropractor's family with free dental work (provided they were responsible with their teeth. If one of the kids moved away for 3 years and didn't have any cleanings and didn't clean their teeth, no coverage), and in return, the chiropractor provided us with free adjustments. Sounds rather unbalanced, but we made enough use of the chiropractic work to balance out.
Now that my dad has retired, my wife is thinking about bartering massage therapy for the chiropractor and his wife for adjustments for the two of us.
I just traded my graphic design skills to get a tree cut down. It only cost me a little time and some cheap business card printing.
Re: Has anyone reading this used bartering to save money and/or afford something they might not be able to purchase?
Not me, but apparently you can get a house...
@Jonukas: I had workmen remodeling a home. I bartered two window air conditioners for two days work.
Years back in the renting days, I barted half a month's rent for furniture I was willing to leave behind, so the landlord had a 'model' apartment to show.
And I will often negotiate reduced prices when shopping. Especially clothes, electronics, furniture, art, auto repairs, you name it!
My dad has been bartering for eons, and I picked up on it too. I just fixed a car in exchange for a massive website. I used to barter IT work for Dental work, right now I barter for CPA services.
Coming from a town of 3,500, bartering was pretty common. Landscaping work for plumbing, electrical work for pet services... and so on. Guess it came with being able to know the people in your community.
Try that in an urban area and you're pretty much stuck with who you think you can trust on Craigslist or the skills of the two to three people you know in your apartment building.
@Wormfather is Wormfather
@robocop_is_bleeding
I'm so glad I'm not the only one with dyslexia this morning. In my mind, I'm going, "Sure! Bartending is a GREAT way to make money!"
The use of currency is the ultimate form of bartering.
@Jonukas: That idea was cool, but once the story hit the media, I think people started trading big things just to be a part of it. Like, in the last three trades he went from a KISS snow globe to a movie role to the house. A snow globe to a house in three trades! Good luck to anyone who tries that today.
DID YOU KNOW:
Bartered goods and services are considered revenue!! All income from bartering is taxable, and therefore must be reported to the Internal Revenue Service in the tax year the goods or services were received.
Instead of going to Geek Squad or something similar, a friend of mine deals with any computing problems by posting an ad offering beer and pizza to anybody who can fix her machine. (She is tech-savvy enough to be able to sort good candidates from bad.) There's always a 20-something guy who decides he might as well get a free meal for some machine repair.
I bet mine's weirder than anyone else's: I (a chemistry grad student) swapped chemistry lessons for judo lessons. The chemistry lessons were for my martial arts instructor's high school age daughter.
It was a really good deal, actually. For things like instruction in a specialized skill - where there's a lot of expertise involved that was hard/expensive to acquire, but there's a low cost of actually offering the lessons - swapping even is an amazing bargain for both parties.
Does Craigslist have a skill-swap portion? If not, it should.
@zentex If you're really bartering for CPA services and that CPA is not considering the bartering revenue for both of you, I'd get a new CPA. A CPA who doesn't consider barters revenue is either an unethical CPA or a CPA who doesn't know what they are doing.
I fix peoples' computers and give them links to my Amazon Wishlist. 9 times out of 10, I find a box of books on my doorstep a few days later. :-)
@A.W.E.S.O.M.-O: You can trade sex for items or money, as long as it on film, apparantly. Not sure exactly how being paid for sex in a pornographic film is any different from being paid for sex otherwise.
This nation has some really odd ideas.
my friends and i always had this joke about going into one of the expensive clothing stores in my town, dressed like someone from the dark ages with a horse on a rope leash...and attempt to trade the horse for a pair of $500 jeans.
i'm about 70% sure it won't work.
I own a professional tutoring center and I have one parent who couldn't pay but was a farmer. Now I get either a side of beef or a whole butchered pig every 6 months! I usually give most of it away to shelters or family now but our freezer is well stocked!
My midwife has traded her midwifery skills in exchange for tattoos. That's pretty cool.
Does nobody else live in a city where there's a bartering network? It's a system where you trade work for "barter bucks" (or whatever they call them) and you can then use them at other participating businesses. It seems like a good idea but I think I'd still rather earn real money. Remember the episode of the Simpsons with the Itchy & Scratchy Dollars? ;)
I know this site is dedicated to helping the consumer, but things like bartering and haggling are really hard to deal with from the bottom-of-the-totem-poll retail end. People are constantly asking for discounts and now I hope people don't start trying to barter with me. I think these articles should be qualified with something like "Try using these techniques with small or local business." Although that should go without saying, it's amazing how many people will try to bargain with a large corporate entity.
My mom cuts a lady's hair who cleans house for us. So, yea.