As a European, it amazed me when I moved to the US over a decade ago that hardly anybody bartered. Now I own and operate a number of Merchants Barter locations around the US. I was surprised that you didn’t have http://www.merchantsbarter.com as a reference site for your business readers – they are still the only national barter company that does trading on a 100% barter basis at the same cash price (basically it’s just like having a barter bank account.) and there are literally thousands of members all over the US.

Anyhoo… just wanted to throw in my sixpence and say thanks!

Thanks

These times call for barter and trade!

For those of you wondering how to set up your own barter club, there is some software I’ve helped to build over at curomuto.com barter exchange software. It’s built to handle direct barter and community currencies, and is priced to be affordable for average joes. We’ve also got a great resource section on our site for anyone interested in finding some of the most useful sites for learning about barter and community currencies.

THANKS for http://www.CraftyTrade.com (Kris) & http://www.commuto.com (Danny).
I love audiobooks and saw one called http://www.swapaudiobooks.com. I’ll check it out.
If anyone has one to recommend please do.

FREECYCLE: It’s all in the moderators. Our in Western Mass (Springfield area) are great. If you forget to put what city or region in the OFFER line they reject your post. No sob stories and they limit the number of WANTEDs.

LOCAL CURRENCIES: Yep. Ultimately what we all need are local currencies. They have tons of them over in Europe especially Germany. Basically they make trade so much easier. Neat looking magazine (Mark).

You didn’t include one resource that many of our friends enjoy: http://www.timebanks.org/

Time banks are community based groups that hold events, meetings and have a board, and members can make exchanges for various services. We have yet to make it to a meeting, since we usually find just what we need through Craig’s List, and Freecycle. I think it may come in handy when we have more time to give, as it is we barely have enough time to keep up with our own stuff!

It depends heavily on the moderators, if the moderators are not doing a good job or doing what they are supposed to be doing it will become a craigslist free for all.

The site is nicely organized into 4 different category searches for the specified type of interactions each user is seeking. You can decide to just learn or just teach. You can find those who would like to exchange lessons with what you are savvy/knowledgable in with something that you aren’t yet they otherwise are. You can link up with service professionals (like electricians, carpenters, etc.) and assist them for the day / project and in return get priceless exposure & training for your DIY projects at home (they benefit from the free help). Finally, there is a section called “SOCIALS” where you can find others in your area who have shared interests and would like to link up with others to ‘do’ what it is they mutually enjoy (i.e. hiking, knitting, playing poker, etc.). And actually, there’s a bartering section within this category for a number of things.

Again, it’s a new site, but I think once people like us take a look at it and get some postings on there, it could really take off and be a huge asset to us all who love to learn new things and engage in many different activities without the silly cost of paying to do so! I mean for goodness sakes, we all know something!

Hope to find others with the same interests as me! :)

Oh and Freecycle is not a bartering group, no trading is allowed.

One man’s trash, is another man’s treasure.

Mark
editor@ccmag.net