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I've done price dickering most of my adult life but I've never attempted to barter goods or services. Does anyone here have experience and knowledge they'd care to impart?
I've done price dickering most of my adult life but I've never attempted to barter goods or services. Does anyone here have experience and knowledge they'd care to impart?
The Greek situation described isn't barter. It's using substitute or emergency currency. Like any other paper currency with no backing it will last only so long as people trust it.
Barter is the direct exchange of goods without the use of money. There are often favorite barter goods in primitive economies, that is goods that are easiest to use. We often see barter or partial barter at gun shows. Some are quite adept at it. I suspect that the ability to use it well is like any other talent; you either have it or you don't. I don't. If you stick with gold and silver you can get anything with no inconvenience.
Although the ancient Egyptians had no coinage until the time of the Ptolemies they had gold rings of known weight more than two thousand years before that. From a practical standpoint they had money and used it as such.
The idea of a universal bartering item, money, did not originate independently in hundreds of different societies without reason.
The Greek situation described isn't barter. It's using substitute or emergency currency. Like any other paper currency with no backing it will last only so long as people trust it.
Barter is the direct exchange of goods without the use of money. There are often favorite barter goods in primitive economies, that is goods that are easiest to use. We often see barter or partial barter at gun shows. Some are quite adept at it. I suspect that the ability to use it well is like any other talent; you either have it or you don't. I don't. If you stick with gold and silver you can get anything with no inconvenience.
Although the ancient Egyptians had no coinage until the time of the Ptolemies they had gold rings of known weight more than two thousand years before that. From a practical standpoint they had money and used it as such.
The idea of a universal bartering item, money, did not originate independently in hundreds of different societies without reason.
There are plenty of ancient societies and cultures that never used money. Whether the concept originated independently among the ones that did is questionable at best. Most likely it propagated through trade, conquest and time (history)
Good post, I tried repping it but it tells me I need to spread some reputation around.
I've always lived in areas that have always bartered. There's really no secret to it...
I have some grass that needs mowed, you have the equipment. Would you consider putting it up on shares for me?
I have some cattle I need to pasture, you need to borrow a pickup for the summer. Wanna trade?
I need to brand this weekend, I'll come to yours next... Etc, etc.
Get to know your neighbors. That's the knowledge I can impart.
One of the best "barter" items, if it comes to that, will be old 90% silver coins. While this isn't strictly barter (the coins have denominations on them), they are no longer in circulating usage and would trade for their value in silver content. A couple rolls of old (pre-'65) dimes would be sufficient, and something that all preppers should consider.
Booze, cigarettes, matches, food items (rice, sugar, and salt come to mind), toilet paper, basic tools, canning lids and of course, skills, would all be great to have. It's not possible to list all the things that others would find useful, but this is a small sampling. Greece at present is hurting, but not yet at the point of desperatation or starvation. They are, however, drawing money out of banks quite rapidly and also storing up non-perishable food supplies. This should give you a good hint about what we should be doing now, as what ails Greece is headed directly our way.
You can barter anything; I've been doing it off and on for years, as has DH.
DH has mad skills with engines of all types, but in our area the cars, trucks, and tractors go to the local mechanic, so DH does small engines. For 30 years, I have bartered artwork for everything; advertising started out as a hobby and became a business for awhile, now it's back to a hobby again. I've done everything from restaurant menus thru posters to laminated cards for emergency response teams to carry. If you have a skill that can fill a need, from growing to baking to making or fixing things, folks will come to your door, and if you know what they have and can do, you can trade instead of charge. DH fixed the local supply store owner's mother's lawnmower, and gets supplies at the store.
We trade eggs for produce, heifers for hay, work for practically everything including other work. DH fixed a neighbor's lighting system, and the neighbor came over to help band a bull into a steer and even saw us putting the steer into a trailer to take to market and helped us herd him in. Much of our trade is purely voluntary; we see someone needs a hand, help them, and they help us when they see we need a hand. When we butchered the steer we shared it with two other families, they and their kids come over to help when we need it. The 86 year old widow who lives at the far end of our pasture throws her clippings and garden waste over the fence into our pasture for the cows; she gets some beef from us too.
Sadly I tend to give stuff away. My bartering skills need tuning up I'm afraid. The neighbors get our grass for hay for example but we do get the mowing of our field when we are gone out of the deal so it is somewhat win-win.
Sadly I tend to give stuff away. My bartering skills need tuning up I'm afraid. The neighbors get our grass for hay for example but we do get the mowing of our field when we are gone out of the deal so it is somewhat win-win.
I'll tell them mow it twice a month or barter them a knuckle sandwich.
Some land owners have big expectations when it comes to hay.
They have a very small ,odd shaped parcel and expect the same price per acre ( or per bale ) as the landowner with a nice 40 acre square hay field.
When I was farming, I turned down most small parcels as the owner thought they were" worth a goldmine" when in reality the trouble dealing with it didn't justify moving the machinery to their place.
A big problem with bartering is the person that thinks what they own is sooooo valuable !
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