Long ago, people would Barter for goods and services. A trade situation of sorts where one person would do something or give something in exchange for something else. In the downturned economy, bartering has made a come back. People need things and without a lot of money, and a lack of credit available. People are realizing that trading is like a new magic resource for getting what they want.
You can barter for just about everything. Some of the best bartering I have experienced is trading babysitting for services or for things like family portraits, birthday cakes and other things that friends have needed. You can swap babysitting duties with a friend (she watches your kids, you want hers) or even take it one step further and tell her you will watch her kids in exchange for her husband helping your husband fix the transmission.
You have to think out of the box when you barter. Everyone wants something, you just need to figure out what you have that others want. Once I agreed to bake birthday cakes for a friends kids parties and she gave me free sitting fees (over $50 value) for my Christmas cards. You just have to take your skills and make them work for you!
Here are some skills that you can barter with:
- Baking or Cooking
- Sewing/Alterations
- Handwriting (write out wedding invites or party invitations if you have amazing handwriting)
- Child Care
- House Cleaning
- Photography
- Website Design
- Invitation Design
- Party Planning
- Flower Arranging
- Organization
- Pet Care
Once you have the skills down, then start talking to friends. Get what you want in trade for your skills and spend little to know money to get the things you want. One thing that I do is ask my friends what they need. This is a great place to start and you can almost always find something to Barter or Trade in these situations.
If you are looking to barter and trade up, then you might want to start on a website like Craig’s List in their barter section. Maybe you have a lovely desk that you don’t want to throw out but your see that someone wants and desk and wants to trade their beach cruiser bike for it. You can trade because you want to have a bike to ride or you can trade because you are trying to get an item that is worth more than what you already have. Don’t want that bike, then look for someone that wants a bike and has something that you do want. You could easily redecorate a whole room in your house using this technique too.
The important thing with bartering is knowing what your goals are and be willing to do a little work. You can also use social media to your advantage by posting for instance on Facebook that you have a great computer desk that is just like new and you want to trade the desk for something else. Maybe give some ideas: “Will trade this great desk for babysitting (once per month for four months) or for designing my new website.” If you get no nibbles, then change your terms.
By Richel, Free Stuff Finder Contributor
