A Bit More About Bartering

The other day, I saw a very welcome sight; someone mowing my neighbor’s three-acre pasture.

The reason this made me happy is simple. My neighbor lets me put my three Miniature Horses in that pasture during the spring and summer, something which saves me a lot of money on hay.  She also lets me train my driving Mini, Jewel, on the pasture’s hills.  (If you want to do combined driving, you have to condition your horse to drive on hills.) 

I usually will pay a small amount for the privilege, $30 a month or so, but for the last year, the pasture has been all but unusable. Weeds had grown so high I couldn’t mow them with my lawn tractor and the elderly gentleman who had mowed the pasture once a year for a very reasonable price just couldn’t physically handle the work anymore. And my friend couldn’t afford to pay more.

So the pasture was transformed into a get-out-your-machete plot of weeds that no one could really use. (That can happen very fast in Texas climate, where the weeds are much more drought tolerant than most grass.)  So when I saw it getting mowed, I was delighted

.

I called my friend. How had she managed it?

In a word: barter. 

The man with the tractor needed an ad done for a horse publication. My friend is a whiz with both Photoshop and the latest in layout programs. She did a camera-ready ad for him and gave him $25 for gas; he attacked the weeds.  Two problems solved, and except for the $25, no money out of pocket for either of them.

I wrote a post about barter some time ago, but in this era of increasingly tight cash and tighter budgets, I think it’s worth reminding people that they shouldn’t rule out barter as a way to get what you need. Right now, I need some driving lessons from an expert. I know an expert “whip” (that’s what you call someone who drives horses) who needs some video of her well-trained gelding being driven to use as a marketing tool. I have a video camera and I know how to use it.  If we can set this up, we’ll both get what we need with no money required.

To barter successfully, take stock of what you have in the way of knowledge, skills or unwanted items. Then look around to see who has what you need and might need what you have.  Can you swap?  A skill for an item, labor for training, expertise for expertise?  Make sure when you’re setting up the trade that you both understand what you expect to receive and what you’re offering by making a list of specifics.  In my friend’s case, she was willing to do a certain size ad, containing a certain number of pictures, created to fit the requirements of a specific publication and she agreed to a deadline. Her barter partner had seen the land he would be mowing, had a good idea of how much gas he’d need and was willing to do the job within a stated length of time.  Nailing down such details can help guarantee that both parties to the barter are satisfied.

Where do you find people willing to barter? Check online. Here’s a helpful article from Planet Green to get you started:

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tech-transport/online-bartering-websites-tips.html

One final tip: Keep in mind that the IRS usually considers the “fair market value” of what you receive in a barter as taxable income. For more information on the government’s bartering rules, start with this article at irs.gov.

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=188095,00.html

Saving Money Through Barter

If you're finding yourself a little short of cash these days, you might consider indulging in that most ancient of human transactions...bartering.

Long before there was money, bartering was a way to expand your range of possessions. Swapping a basket of freshly caught fish for a suckling lamb, a bag of wool for a woven cloak, or the chopping of a cord of wood in exchange for a hot dinner and a place to sleep....it's a form of commerce as old as mankind and as useful now as it was before humans invented money.

Recently, for example, a lady I know asked me to feed her horses for a few days while she visited a relative. She offered me a $50 round bale of hay as payment. She's also trying to sell her house and the pictures on her online ads don't do the place justice, so I offered to take better pictures for an additional bale. She has more bales than she needs, I have a little extra time and some useful skills....a perfect situation for a swap. Result? She gets her horses fed, better pictures for her ads and I get $100 worth of hay.

Bartering starts by deciding exactly what you need....and who might have it. If you're building a patio, for example, decide if you want pavers, bricks or flagstones and how many you'll need. If you need a bed frame, will you be happpy with anything that lifts your mattress off the floor or are you looking for an antique Victorian four-poster? Need a computer? Laptop or desktop, how much RAM and what do you need in the way of programs? Nail down some specifics, but also remember that you'll have to be flexible as well. So decide what's a true "need" and what's a "want."

Also do some serious thinking before you go looking for services. Some things--basic yardwork, helping clean out a garage, washing windows--can be done by almost anyone, but other jobs require experts: electrical work, anything other than minor plumbing, fixing your crooked teeth....and this may mean that you don't want to rely only on an online ad.

For example....do you want a Star Wars tattoo? (Don't laugh, someone was looking for exactly that on Craigslist.org this morning.) A badly executed tattoo can look awful and one done with dirty needles can literally kill you, so this poster definitely needs a pro, and that means someone who works at a tattoo shop. He's offering his skills as a handyman in trade, skills that businesses often need. If I were him, I'd make a list of all the local tattoo shops and contact them directly, a safer alternative perhaps than relying on an online notice.

The second part of the equation involves figuring out what you can offer in trade. Sit down and make a list of stuff you have but don't want. You may think no one could stomach your late Aunt Emma's avocado-colored sofa (currently taking up half the space in your garage) but that might be exactly what someone's looking for. The same holds true of any leftover building materials, auto parts, the above-ground pool you never use and hate cleaning, the cypress trees sitting right where you want to put a driveway (don't laugh, someone was offering that on Craigslist too) or the old LPs or stacks of National Geographics sitting in your attic.

Also list what you can do. You'd be surprised at what skills people are looking for. The fact that you're reading this article proves you know the basics of using a computer and searching online. There are a surprising number of people who want someone to teach them that. Or are you a good cook? Great at organizing? A terrific gardener? There are people out there who need new recipes for their next party, their home offices organized or their dying gardens revitalized. If you speak more than one language, can haul bricks or stack hay, refinish furniture or build shelves, knit, sew or wash windows....in short, if you're good at almost anything, you have a skill you can offer in trade.

Once you figure out the specifics, start looking. Craigslist is a good place to start, but don't limit yourself to that venue alone.Do online searches, check the Yellow Pages, put the word out to your friends and relatives or visit local businesses that might be able to supply what you need. Don't hesitate to bring up the idea of a trade. The worst that can happen is that someone says "No."

If money is tight, save your bartering efforts for things you'd otherwise have to buy. I needed hay for my ponies, so swapping my services for those two round bales meant I had an extra $100 to spend on necessities.

When you find that potential swap, ask enough questions to make sure you're both going to be happy with the deal. A woman once offered me a dog house if I'd do a "small amount of fence work." I asked to see the dog house before agreeing and found it to be a dry-rotted piece of junk I wouldn't pay $5 for, while the "small" amount of fence work consisted of taking down a hundred-foot length of four-strand barbed wire fence, posts and all. I politely declined.

And don't make a "services" deal open-ended. Set limits. Put things in writing. You may not need a contract, but a polite exchange of emails (keep copies) listing details of the deal is a good idea.

For instance, the friend who says she'll shoot your wedding pictures if you'll make her an afghan needs to show you some photos....and you should show her samples of your knitting. You also need to specify how big an afghan you're willing to make and she needs to know how long the wedding shoot will last and how many photos you expect her to take. Listing such specifics before you agree to the deal will help eliminate discontent later.

One last word: the IRS counts barter as income, so check before you trade for anything of significant value. You'll find more information on bartering and taxes here.

Good luck.....and good trading!