CHAPTER 3

TRADING LIKE A PRO

Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities—always see them, for they’re always there.

—Dr. Norman Vincent Peale

Now that we’ve whetted your appetite for barter, you’re probably raring to go. First, a quick definition: Barter is the exchange of goods or services without cash. (Yes, it’s true that sometimes cash becomes part of the transaction, but we’ll get into that later on.) Barter is not haggling, although some people think it’s the same thing. Haggling is negotiating the price of a good or service. So while haggling can be part of barter, they are not one and the same. And whether haggling is involved or not, barter at its roots is simple, which is part of its wonderful appeal.

Another couple of definitions that are helpful to know are direct barter and exchange-based or commercial barter. Direct barter is trade between two people or organizations without a broker or middleman involved. Exchange-based or commercial barter is barter between two people or organizations with a company or broker who facilitates the deal.

To get started, you’ll need to take that assessment of what you’ve got to offer from chapter 2 and take a look at what you can do (singing, marketing, repair), what you have (goods), and what you know (teaching Spanish, lecturing about gardening). What you do, have, and know are the basis of what you will be able to offer in trade.

Once you’ve compiled a list of items, knowledge, or labor that you can offer, give some thought to how much those goods or services are worth. Assign a cash value to it; even if it’s an object that seems nearly worn-out, it probably has some cash value to someone. If you’re an excellent carpenter, the value of an hour of your carpentry skills will be what is generally paid on the free market in your area for your skill level. If you’re more of a shade-tree carpenter, you should value your skills at less than the prevailing union rates. When you assign a value to something, you must take into consideration its condition; what the fair market value is; what people have been paying for similar items in stores, on the Internet, and at eBay; and how much demand there is for it. Those factors will affect the ultimate value you place on a good or service.

Although we’ve asked you to assign a dollar value to what you do, know, and have, take a moment to consider that your earning potential isn’t tied to your paycheck (assuming you’re getting one right now). It’s tied to what you can generate in all forms—including what you can barter. How wonderful to realize that your worth is not that net earnings figure on your pay stub. You have immensely more earning potential than you realize, and that understanding becomes much clearer when you begin bartering. In a small way, barter can help elevate your self-worth a bit.

Now it’s time to hunt for trading partners. It’s best to approach barter as a flow of opportunities rather than a pure shopping trip. This is less like going to the shopping mall and more like popping open your friend’s closet to see if she’s got anything she wants to swap. Barter is all about establishing and building relationships, even those you’ll form with strangers, and keeping them content as you barter, perhaps again and again with the same individual.

Barter opportunities are most readily available through Internet sites, but you aren’t limited to the Web. The good news is that the world is wonderfully broader than it used to be, and barter goes faster than when Karen owned her own barter exchange in the 1980s and 1990s. Back then, the Internet wasn’t a factor like it is today. An individual had a much more difficult time finding trading partners, and barter was a much slower process. Traders had to rely on bulletin boards, newspaper ads, chance encounters, barter clubs, and direct offers to swap. Those are all still viable options in the Internet age, but now there are many excellent trading partners who are far easier to connect with on Web sites such as CraigsList.org, BarterQuest.com, and U-Exchange.com. Check out these sites, along with local bulletin boards (real or virtual), newspapers, your e-mail list, Meetup.com, church groups, social clubs, or anywhere else you find people. Be bold. Put your offer out there.

A WEB OF BARTER

For Internet trading, your first area of concern is the headline or title you give your listing. Be specific about what you’re offering, and maybe add a descriptive word or two to boost interest. An example would be “never-worn wedding gown” or “Tiffany-style lamp, NWT” (new with tags). Add the location of the good or service, unless it’s a service that is readily available to clients nationwide, such as graphic design. Location is critical for items that can’t be shipped or are too expensive to move by postal mail or UPS. It’s also important for services that are area specific or limited, such as babysitting, lawn care, or vacation home rental.

When using barter Web sites, you should be specific and descriptive about what you’re offering to trade. Instead of listing a “2005 Ford Focus,” try “2005 Ford Focus in Mint Condition, Low Miles, Bose Stereo, New Tires.” Which car listing are you more likely to click on? Just because you are trading doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use eye-catching strategies from eBay.com or classified ads. Selling is selling, even if you are bartering. Your headline is critical to attracting attention immediately and standing out from the crowd of traders who are also offering cars. In the body of your barter listing, make sure you give as much detail as possible. Give the viewer plenty of reasons to contact you and begin the barter dialogue.

Photos are helpful, if not essential. Make sure they show the item from key angles and are of good quality. A good model is eBay, which has perfected the art of the online resale. Just as you would at eBay, note if there are flaws in the item. You should show them so that the viewer can see exactly what he or she is purchasing. This way, you will not only have an informed partner on your hands but also be establishing trust by showing everything, warts and all. You also eliminate the risk of a buyer later claiming that the flaws were hidden. For a service such as home repair or hairstyling, you may be able to take before-and-after photos to demonstrate your capabilities. Post a photo of yourself on sites that allow pictures. This sort of personalization fits perfectly with the atmosphere of barter. Since this is a person-to-person interaction, personality matters—even over the Web. We all prefer to deal with someone who is more than just a name and an account on the Internet; your photo is just one more way to engender trust.

Depending on the nature of the trading site, you should list your own Web site or blog, if you have one. An Internet presence shows that you are more professional and not a fly-by-night trader. Again, this is just more fodder to add to the bank of trust you are building. By listing a link to your Web site, you are able to supply even more detail about your goods or services, providing testimonials and direct contact information on your site. If you are a service provider, put your résumé on the trading site, or, if that’s not possible, let viewers know it’s available for downloading through e-mail or on your blog or Web site.

Consider whether urgency will be an element of the trade. While most trades are going to be for goods and services that have no particular shelf life, there are some that stick around for only a brief while. If what you are offering has a time limit on its availability, make sure you indicate that in either the title/headline of your listing or early on in your description. Limited-time offers such as a vacation home rental could slip by without a taker if you don’t promote the necessity of acting quickly on your offer. The same thing applies for produce, puppies, tickets to events, or anything that can age beyond desirability or usefulness.

If there are limits to your offer, you’ll save yourself a lot of misunderstanding and grief if you are clear about what they are. If you are offering a service, make sure you spell out exactly what you will and won’t do. (Example: “Home-based child care, ages six weeks and up. No nights or weekends.”) If there are aspects of what you do that require paying cash for a related service, mention that as well so that there is as little confusion as possible.

While we mentioned earlier that you should affix a value to what you are offering, keep in mind that it might vary by region. You may need to visit CraigsList.org or look at regional publications like your town’s newspaper to get a sense of regional values. Not sure exactly what the market value is? Then you’ll need to surf over to sites like eBay.com and Amazon.com to expand your research. Stores and catalogs are certainly other venues to check. Just remember that the value of the trade is based on current market value, not what you paid for it. That should take into consideration the condition of the item, if the market is flooded with it or not, what others are paying for it, limited-time availability, and other similar factors.

When it comes to what you want to barter for, again, being specific is more likely to land you a trade than being general. Saying “open to whatever” may seem like the right signal to send to show that you’re willing to discuss anything reasonable. But are you truly open to anything? Can you really use a gross of brussels sprouts? Failing to list two or three specific items you desire (and preferably far more) means that someone who has the thing you want will not be able to find you in a keyword search—and then you’ve missed out on a trade. The key is to provide detailed information (without going overboard) while at the same time expressing openness to offers for goods/services that you haven’t listed as wants. In many ways, Internet barter is about casting a wide net that expresses flexibility along with specifics. The more flexible you are, the more “big fish” you’ll land. Just stand out in the pond a bit by listing what kinds of “fish” you most want.

TIMING AND THE APPROACH

Consider trading for an item or service during the off-season for that particular good or service. People often don’t think to purchase boats, landscaping, time at a beach house, pool maintenance, or a new deck during the winter, but that’s exactly when you should be offering to trade on such seasonal items. Businesses or the owner/provider of those items are often less busy at those times, and you’ll get a warmer reception to the barter discussion than you would during the high season when there’s more demand, or they have customers with cash in hand clamoring at their doors. That doesn’t mean you have to plan your vacation at the beach in December if you’re going to be shivering your beach balls off. But you are more likely to have a fruitful negotiation if you broach the discussion in the off-season. You can negotiate for the optimal time to stay, perhaps several months down the road.

Since barter isn’t like buying something off the shelf, your approach to a prospective trader can make all the difference in whether the trade happens or not. If you’re in do-or-die mode, a prospective partner might be frightened off by your tenseness. No one enjoys dealing with desperate people, and that level of angst kills your ability to creatively think about how to make the deal work. While barter is, simply, the exchange of one thing for another, it’s also a social interaction, which is crucial to keep in mind. We’ve seen people come into an exchange with a sense of entitlement or a superior attitude that was off-putting to their potential partner. The end result was a dead deal and bad feelings on one or both person’s parts.

And when it comes to actual negotiating, don’t denigrate what the other person is offering in an attempt to cut a better deal. This is more about making a match than beating the best bargain out of an adversary. Common sense and basic courtesy should be your guiding lights. For example, if you make an appointment to look over the items to be traded, keep the appointment and be on time. While it seems obvious that you should treat others the way you’d like to be treated, we’ve seen plenty of people act otherwise. Friendly, interested, open-minded, and respectful are the best attitudes to adopt in any trade, and you’ll find that this will lead to greater rewards.

CHECKING IT OUT

When an offer is on the table, don’t just grab it blindly. Treat any deal like you would a cash transaction in terms of the research you do and the questions you ask. Depending on what you’re trading for, you should ask

• how old it is,
• what condition it’s in,
• whether the trader owns it or if there are outstanding loans in force,
• whether there are any cash outlays involved,
• whether the item has ever been damaged, or
• if there’s any other pertinent information you should know.

If you’re seeking a service, check out the provider first. Call professional licensing agencies, or check listings online if they’re available, to ensure that the individual is in good standing with regulators, such as state dental or physicians’ boards. Look online or call the Better Business Bureau to see if any complaints have been filed and, if so, how they were resolved. Ask for references from the trader and call them. It also helps to ask these customers detailed questions about what sort of work was done for them and if there were any hiccups along the way. Just asking if they were satisfied with the provider won’t necessarily solicit the details you need to make an informed choice.

Be careful to avoid over- or undervaluing the trade. You might be tempted to nudge up the value just to get more in return, or perhaps you have some sort of emotional connection to the item and you’re having a hard time letting it go. Overvaluation truly goes against the trusting spirit of barter. While you might be lucky at trading for more than you offered a few times, your trading partners will eventually realize that you’re overcharging and go elsewhere to barter.

If your trading partner is the one who seems to be asking for too much in exchange, your knowledge of the fair market value of the items or services involved will help you bargain more effectively. When Karen was trading with a restaurant to hold her son’s wedding rehearsal dinner, knowing the value of the deal came in handy. The husband and wife owners of the restaurant said they were willing to trade but that they would accept half cash/half barter for the dinner. Karen, who used trade credits that she had earned from business consulting and workshops through a barter company, could clearly see the value of the trade because all of the prices were printed on the menu. There was no need to haggle over the cost. The deal worked out well for everyone involved, and Karen’s son and new daughter-in-law were thrilled with their rehearsal dinner feast. Karen and Rick were thrilled to be able to provide a memorable event for the family while also easing the strain on their wallets.

If the deal is unequal (and many times deals are, at least to a degree) and you need to offer more to make it work, you’ve got a couple of options:

1. You can throw another item or service into the mix. If you’re asking a handyman to build a deck in trade for your cleaning his house every other week, and he can justify that the deal is slanted in your favor, offer to sit for his kids or elderly parent for an appropriate number of hours to make up the difference.
2. If you’ve offered everything you have available to trade, it might be time to pry out your wallet and sweeten the deal with some cash. Nothing prevents cash from being part of the mix as long as you’re happy with the combined offer. Just be clear on all aspects of the deal before you shake on it. If you are paying out more in cash than the retail value of the item, that’s probably a bad trade.

The great thing about direct barter is that it’s not absolutely necessary to have complicated legal contracts, lawyers, or elaborate sales tickets to seal a deal. While those elements can definitely be part of a trade (nations such as Russia and China certainly wouldn’t barter without them), a simple handshake, verbal agreement, or e-mail is all that’s necessary for most transactions. The exception would be if you’re trading for big-ticket items. A short, straightforward contract is a good idea in those instances. A contract can be as simple as sending an e-mail confirming what the trade is, the value of it, and the conditions for how it will happen (trading ten haircuts over a year for painting a living room, for instance). Summarizing the details helps to solidify the trade and avoid confusion later on if a dispute arises. (See a sample contract in the Resources section.) Barter is inherently about trust, and most of the experienced traders we know operate with that mind-set. However, they also use good common sense when making a trade. If an exchange is generally equitable and all parties feel that they are getting a fair shake, the deal is a good one.

So how do you protect yourself when exchanging goods if you aren’t in the same area? If your item is small enough to send through the mail, a little insurance can’t hurt, in case the postal service loses it. It also helps to send the item via certified mail to prove that it actually arrived as you promised. If the item has a high value, such as jewelry, you might be better served sending it via UPS, FedEx, or another carrier that tracks every single package.

Once you’ve concluded a deal, it’s a good idea to record each trade. You can keep a log of whom you’ve traded with, including contact information, date and value of the trade, what you swapped, and how much cash was involved, if any. If you love your computer, keep up with your trades by using QuickBooks, a spreadsheet, or whatever tool works best for you. Tracking is essential if you are self-employed and your barter is related to that employment because there are tax consequences (more on that later) to your trade. Logging your trades is also helpful because you may have the same item to trade again and want to look back at your previous deals as a reference point. You also get to prove how much cash you’ve saved and congratulate yourself on all of those great trades you’ve concluded. What a confidence builder!

CO-OPS AND BARTER COMMUNITIES

Trading doesn’t have to be about just stuff and services. You can trade your kids. Well, not really. But you can trade taking care of your children. Many parents are familiar with the babysitting co-op, although they may not have such a formal name for it. These types of co-ops are just another form of barter. They’re popular in many areas because they give parents a ready source of trustworthy adult babysitters and no need to fork over a wad of cash to the sitter at the end of a night out. Babysitting co-ops work best with at least five families who live in fairly close proximity to each other. As a parent, you’ll have to determine if you are comfortable sitting for the variety of ages and numbers of children in a single family. If you aren’t comfortable caring for another couple’s infant along with their twin toddlers, you may not be a good fit for that particular co-op. But don’t despair. Look for another one, or, if you can’t find one, start your own! Let barter empower you.

Expect some preliminaries before you are admitted to a co-op where you aren’t well-known to everyone in the group. Before a family is admitted to the co-op, the other members want to be confident that they can trust their children to be safe with every parent. New members often join by invitation only so that absolute strangers aren’t in the group. Some co-ops require a few home visits before they admit members, and others even go so far as to do a background check before admitting new members, which is easily done by becoming a block- or safe-home program member. Background checks are also available on a variety of Web sites that provide the information for a small fee.

When forming a co-op, members should develop rules of conduct. For instance, you’ll need to decide if overnight sitting is permitted, how sick children will be handled, and who will keep track of the hours earned and spent. Some co-op members pay each other in scrip that they design or some other form of currency, such as raffle tickets or poker chips. (You can even personalize it with photos of kids or toys.) New members are often given a set amount of scrip to begin trading with. The scrip can be issued in varying denominations, such as fifteen-, thirty-, and sixty-minute increments. Sitters earn additional scrip if they care for more than one child at a time. Some co-ops allow members to charge more scrip if the care is provided in the children’s home rather than the caregiver’s house. Some clubs have regular meetings to discuss issues, resolve concerns, and check to see that parents aren’t being overlooked for sitting opportunities. If a sitter isn’t getting many requests, the co-op members make note of it and try to call on that sitter more often. The rules for each co-op are best set by its members according to their particular concerns and values, and the rules may evolve as the members’ needs change.

Another form of grassroots organized bartering is the barter fair (or faire). These are grand community events that marry the joy of live musical performances, the energy of dancing, the delights of festival food, a variety of vendors’ sales booths, and the art of bartering. Some even include camping, group healing sessions, massage, teaching, and demonstrations. One of the biggest draws to the barter fair beyond the entertainment value is the presence of local farmers who come to sell or barter their produce. Fairgoers can get great fresh fruits, vegetables, and proteins—sometimes organic—just by bartering.

Some barter fairs will have a “freecycle” table of donated goods that fairgoers can pick through to select a few items and then barter with them for vendors’ products. Freecycle tables allow people to clean out their closets/garages/and so on, provide some grist for the barter mill, and generate goodwill among the crowd by providing freebies that can be put to good use through recycling. Often kids will grab a few items at the freecycle table, which gives them a chance to learn about bartering.

Another community-building aspect of barter fairs is that they are often organized and set up by volunteers who get free admission to the fair in exchange for a few hours of their labor. They may do anything from setting up a stage, installing a temporary kitchen, emptying garbage, selling tickets, or breaking down equipment and cleaning up after the fair is over.

Perhaps the biggest difference between a barter fair and a flea market or swap meet is that barter fairs tend to attract more homemade arts and crafts compared to mass-marketproduced goods that so frequently populate flea markets. The barter fair culture is also more free-spirited, earthy, and equitable than the decidedly commercial flea market. You’re more likely to see campers dancing around a bonfire at a barter fair versus suburban housewives shopping for kitchen gadgets or country kitsch. No matter the spirit behind the event, barter is still the basis, and it’s an entertaining way to spend a weekend with the family and get to know other likeminded traders.

In essence, direct barter can take on a variety of forms and venues, but it all boils down to one thing: two or more people exchanging things they value. The added benefits are building a stronger community, saving money, recycling, solving problems, and getting to know your next new friend.

GREAT TRADE!

Hugh Simpson gets our honorary title of Barter King. Hugh, who lives in Tellico Plains, Tennessee, had a whopper of a trade from the very start of his barter career in the 1980s. Hugh loves plying his skills as a public relations expert, and he’s pretty creative with it. So when Maggie, a kitchen designer in Atlanta, offered to trade with him for his PR help, he was certainly willing to listen. At that early stage of her career, Maggie couldn’t afford Hugh’s $100-anhour price tag, but she had an intriguing offer. Her ex-husband had a side business importing Mercedes-Benz sedans from Germany to the United States. He had a customer who was getting ready to trade in his 1973 Mercedes for a new one. Maggie offered to trade the used Mercedes for twenty-five hours of Hugh’s work.

“Done!” said Hugh, who was dragging around in a beat-up Pontiac and knew that a pricey Mercedes would certainly make his stock go up with the opposite sex.

In short order, a then-hot-to-trot Hugh was tooling around in a swanky Mercedes, and Maggie got top-notch public relations assistance that helped propel her to a career as one of the most sought-after kitchen designers in town. Maggie saved time by not having to clean up the car, advertise it, field calls, or meet prospective buyers. Hugh didn’t have to pay sales tax on the car or search for just the right vehicle to suit his needs. Hugh’s only regret is that he didn’t hang on to that car over the years. He estimates that it would be worth $40,000 today.

With his appetite whetted, Hugh didn’t stop bartering there.

He traded managing an 1896 inn in North Carolina in exchange for a free place to stay for two years, during which he got to learn handyman skills that became useful later in life. He has also traded for clothes, trips, food, and art. Hugh estimates that over the years, he has traded for nearly $250,000 in goods and services.

His advice on bartering: Just ask! Don’t be afraid to ask for anything, Hugh counsels. The worst that can happen is that you’ll get a refusal. But in Hugh’s experience, most of the time, people will say yes.

Here’s to saying “Yes!” to barter.

GREAT TRADE!

Back in the day when Gary and Patty Myers of Olympia, Washington, had little ones running around the house, they longed for a night out. But finding a reliable babysitter was a chore, and paying for one just added to the financial strain of raising a young family, so the Myers family decided to form a babysitting cooperative. (They became so adept at running it that years later, Gary wrote an entire book about it: Smart Mom’s Baby-sitting Co-op Handbook.)

Here’s how they did it: They gathered together several moms who also had small children and were willing to trade babysitting duties. Each mom earned four points for each hour that she babysat. She got an extra two points an hour for each additional child that she minded. When a “sit” was complete, the moms reported the total points earned and spent to the co-op’s “secretary.”

The secretary’s job was to take calls from the member moms (or dads, as the case may be) and connect them with other parents who were available. The secretary typically picked sitters who had few points saved up or were even in debt to the co-op. Usually the secretary would receive about two or three calls a week from members needing a sit, so the time commitment wasn’t too large. The secretary would serve for about a month, and then the job would rotate to another parent in the co-op.

The group also had a member coordinator who was responsible for bringing new families into the exchange. The Myerses discovered that as children reached elementary-school age, the parents didn’t need as many sits—partly because they could take the child with them to events and also because there were older siblings who were mature enough to do the job for free. So the member coordinator’s job was focused on recruiting families with babies or preschoolers to keep the co-op active. Gary believes that co-ops function best when there are at least ten families involved. At that level, a mom can always count on a sitter being available.

The members would meet every third Monday of odd-numbered months to keep everything running smoothly, deal with any issues, and appoint new administrators. That schedule mostly avoided holidays, and since the meetings were child free and around eight o’clock in the evening, the moms could relax and enjoy a night out and each other’s company.

TRADING TIP

When bartering with someone, try to bring as much value to the trade as possible. If you’re trading your baby’s outgrown clothes for an older child’s clothing, throw in a used toy or two. Your barter partner will be thrilled and want to trade with you again in the future.

TRADING TIP

If the first time you approach someone about trading and he declines, don’t give up. Wait a few weeks or months and then approach him again. His circumstances or opinion may have changed, and bartering might now be an option.

Talents, Skills, Hobbies, Gifts Quiz

Not sure what your talents or skills are? Take this quick quiz to assess yourself.

Do you like to do things with your hands, such as knitting, sewing, or refinishing furniture?

Are you mechanically inclined? Do you like working on automobiles, lawn mowers, or electronics?

Are you artistic? Do you like painting, drawing, or sculpting?

Are you sports minded? Do you like coaching and/or instructing?

Are you technology oriented? Like to work with hardware and/or software?

Are you into fashion? Do you like assembling outfits?

Do you like gardening? If yes, flowers or vegetables or both?

Do you like doing yard work?

Do you like to write? Review items? Research?

Are you research oriented? Like to read and learn?

Do you love teaching, instructing? What are you an expert in or at?

Is decorating your passion? Colors, furniture, placement?

Are you musically inclined? Do you like to sing? Play the piano?

Are you skilled in office knowledge, like bookkeeping, database management?

Do you enjoy graphic design? Marketing?

Do you love talking to others? Are you a natural salesperson?

Ask for assessment assistance ...

Ask friends and family what they see as your gifts and talents.

Ask coworkers.

Ask your pastor, rabbi, or spiritual mentor.

Ask your cochair on a committee.

Think about a time when someone complimented you on something you did, even if it was long ago.

WORKSHEET

My personal list of gifts and strengths:

Gifts, talents, strengths my family and friends see in me:

My degree(s), training are:

In my past careers I have done:

In my current career I have done:

My true passion is:

Here are some ways I could barter these talents, skills, hobbies, and gifts: