If you’re like most people, you’d like to barter but you have difficulty finding trading partners. Of course there’s Craigslist.org, but as much as we love Craig’s List, there are credibility issues with some people who post there. There are also great websites like BarterQuest.com and U-Exchange.com, but sometimes its difficult to find someone in your town who has exactly what you want to trade for.

Meet the local barter club.

Barter clubs are starting to crop up across the United States and for good reason–people want to trade and they want to trade quickly and locally. Barter clubs, versus a commercial barter exchange, also have another gargantuan advantage: they typically don’t charge a fee or only a small one. Paying a $30 annual fee (or less) is far more accessible to individual traders than the $500 average membership fee that commercial exchanges charge. It makes sense that a commercial exchange would have that type of fee because it is geared toward high volume trades from small to large businesses. Bartering a million dollars in product is a normal practice for many businesses. But an individual isn’t usually going to come anywhere near that sort of volume.

That’s why we’re so excited by barter clubs that are entering the scene. Three that have recently started are Michigan Barter Marketplace in Saginaw, Boulder County Trader in Colorado, and Go Local Dallas. These sites give you the best aspects of a commercial exchange (ready access to other traders, Internet listings, personal interaction) and fewer barriers to trading (large membership fees, contracts, transaction fees). If you don’t have a barter club near you, check for a MeetUp group or read The Art of Barter to learn how to start your own.

Barter clubs are the everyman access point for trading outside of websites, and we hope to see more and more of them. (If you have a barter club we haven’t mentioned here, let us know and we’ll list it on our website and in a future blog post.) Let’s hope they take off like wildfire.

–  Shera Dalin

Journalist Shera D. Dalin and barter consultant Karen S. Hoffman are co-authors of recently published “The Art of Barter: How to Trade for Almost Anything” and owners of www.barterstrategies.com.

Randy is just up the road, in Loveland, Colorado.  Check out his site at swapstartmybiz.com, and make him an offer!

We’ll be checking back with Randy often.  You should too!  He’s going to have some great barter items coming up.

– Bonnie

Anne is a landscape designer whose computer is giving her problems. It’s the beginning of the season and cash is tight. Bob is a computer tech who has just gone out on his own and is eager to get the word out about his service.  He’s listed Cash and guitar as his wants, and added Try Me! to his listing for Computer Services.

Anne sees Bob’s listing under Computer Services.  She notices the Try Me! icon on Bob’s listing and uses the Ask this Member! link on his listing to send a message asking if he’d barter for landscape design.  Bob messages back that he lives in an apartment.

Anne goes to Search to look for guitars.  She finds three, returns to Bob’s listing and sends him the listing numbers.  Bob puts the numbers in Search and pulls up the three guitar listings.  He messages Anne that two of them look acceptable. One of the two listings doesn’t have a Try Me!  The guitar listing with the Try Me! belongs to Carl, who has listed his wants as Dining and Furniture repair.  Anne messages Carl asking if he’d consider some landscape design in exchange for the guitar.  Carl responds that he doesn’t need any landscaping, but his mother has wanted to get the yard at her townhouse spruced up.  (This is actually shaping up to be a four-way trade; Carl owes his mom some money.)  If Anne could take a look at the yard, suggest a plan and help him select the new plants, he’d swap for the guitar. Carl asks Anne to email pictures of some examples of her work, Bob visits Carl to check out the guitar, and Anne checks Bob’s customer references.  It’s a deal.

Scenario Two

Diane is moving and won’t have room for her antique hutch in her new condo.  She posts a listing for the hutch under Antiques and under Furniture.  She lists Moving and Hauling and Cash as her wants.   She looks at listings under the Moving and Hauling category and contacts the two nearby movers who both have the Try Me! icon on their listings.  Neither one is interested in the hutch.  Diane goes to Advanced Search and searches for Antiques under Member Wants.  She finds Ed’s listing; Ed restores and resells antiques and has motorcycle to trade.  She messages Ed and sends him a link to her listing for the hutch.  He messages back that he’d like the hutch, subject to inspection, but he thinks his motorcycle worth about $100 more than the hutch.

Diane contacts both movers again, this time with the listing for the motorcycle. One of the movers will accept the motorcycle in exchange for moving Diane’s household to the new condo.  Diane checks the mover’s references and asks for proof of insurance. Ed takes the motorcycle over to the mover for a test ride and inspection and leaves it there.  Later in the day he picks up the hutch and $100 from Diane and gives her the signed and notarized title to the motorcycle.  Diane delivers the title to the mover and they sign a contract to pack and move her to the new condo after her closing next month.  For tax purposes, the three parties agree to assign a value of $1,500 to their trades.

For $100 and a little research, Diane has solved the problem of what to do with the hutch, and now can spend money on things for her condo that she would have otherwise had to use for moving.

Springtime is when we do the home maintenance and cleanup from the winter.  My place needs spring cleaning, window washing inside and out, carpet cleaning, gutter repair or replacement in a couple of places (or maybe they just need cleaning out), yard cleanup, more pea gravel brought in, rose and tree pruning, and the interior wall paint completely removed from the garage floor. (Former occupant, what were you thinking?)

Some of the work I’ll do myself, for some I’ll pay cash, and for some I’ll barter.

Very soon now people will be looking for contractors, painters, electricians, gardeners, carpet cleaners, craftspeople, masons, carpenters, handymen and just about anyone who does home repairs or improvements.  If you’re one of the above I hope you’ll try bartering your skills this season.

In the meantime: Spring, spring, winter, spring, winter, winter, spring….

– Bonnie

Lowden’s plan for healthcare reform involves swapping chickens for medical care. While barter is as near to my heart as anyone’s, I consider the Lowden Plan, while lofty in its idealism, just a wee bit impractical.

Imagine walking into University Hospital for a scheduled X-ray.  You’re going to have to tote several chickens; X-rays are pricey, maybe 20 or 25 chickens.  There will be feathers and God knows what else all over your clothes and shoes, and chickens can be noisy.  If someone complains, security will probably be called in, making you late for your appointment.  Not practical.

Then there’s the potential for gaming the system.  Someone already came up with the idea of bringing a snake instead and then just claiming, “It tastes like chicken.”

Lowden claims her plan has legs because “Doctors are very sympathetic people.”  There I agree with her; most of the doctors I’ve run across are indeed sympathetic.  But they’ve got overhead.  Payments on a BMW are surely at least $800 a month- how many chickens is that?

Lucky for us, just in case, some clever souls (via Buzzbomb.it) have come up with a wonderful chicken-to-medical procedure calculator: http://lowdenplan.com

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has put out a handy tool for finding a physician willing to barter:  http://dscc.org/chickens

And last but not least, the Wall Street Journal has taken a serious look at the proposal:  http://bit.ly/bSAMW6

I say, go for it-  but with something other than chickens, something the doc can use.  And if bartering won’t work, try bargaining.

– Bonnie

Several things affect the value of a gift card:

-  If the card is nearing expiration, you’re not exactly going to be in the driver’s seat when it comes to negotiating its value. Worst of all, the card may be worthless because it’s already expired.

-  In this economy, a card for Costco or Target is easier to barter or sell than one for DiamondEarrings.com.

-  A card for Famous Footwear may be easier to swap than one from Joe’s Shoes for Gigantic Feet.

-  A monthly “service fee” is deducted from the face value of some cards.

-  If the barcode has been scraped or bent, the vendor may not be able to accept the card at all.

-  Some cards can be used online but not in the store, and visa versa.

-  Some cards are linked to an individual and cannot be transferred.

To determine the face value of a card, ask customer service where it’s accepted to run the card and give you the details.  Some stores will give you a receipt showing the current face value and expiration date.

To find a website where you can dispose of your card, just run a Google search on “trade gift card” and you’ll get thousands of results.  All the sites are a bit different, so you’ll need to do a little research.  You’ll get a better deal when you trade the card rather than selling it for cash.  Traders are charged around 5% and/or a modest listing fee.  The going discount for cash is usually 25%-40%.  Most, but not all, sites guarantee the value of the card to buyers.

You can list your card on Boulder County Trader to swap it for a different card, something else you’d like or cash.  Whatever you do, get that card out of the drawer and get some value from it before it expires.

- Bonnie

Adam owns a small specialty meats shop and needs help setting up his books on new bookkeeping software. He approaches Barb, a CPA down the street from his shop, to see if she’d be willing to trade an assortment of fine meats for her help. Barb, who bills at $150 an hour, looks at Adam’s setup and figures about two hours to get Adam up to speed.

Barb would be happy to barter for her work, but she’s a vegetarian.  However, she remembers Carl, a caterer she was considering for her next office party.  She calls Carl and finds he would happily accept $300 in quality chicken breasts from Adam; he goes through a lot of chicken in his catering business.  In exchange, Carl will apply a $300 credit to Barbara’s bill for the office party.

What happens in this scenario?

Adam gets help with his bookkeeping without having to dig in his pocket to pay Barb $300. He makes a profit on the chicken, trading it at retail.  He may now get referrals from Barb and business and referrals from Carl, the caterer. Plus, he’s found an accountant he’d like to work with.

Barb gets a couple of hours of business she wouldn’t have had otherwise, and perhaps a new client in Adam.  She may get referrals from both Adam and Carl, and she has to come up with $300 less cash when she gets Carl’s bill for the office party.

Carl gets $300 worth of chicken he doesn’t have to pay for out of pocket. He’s found a great local resource for meats, and Adam says he’ll give him a nice discount on future orders.  Carl will make a profit on Barb’s office party, and may get other work and referrals from both her and Adam.

This is truly a win-win deal.  Just remember to keep your mind and options open, and you’ll manage nicely without the “barter bucks.”

– Bonnie

Thus far, Mark Collantes’ quest for a seat on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceshipTwo has really kept our attention.  Alas, Mark was unseated yesterday, if only temporarily, by a story from the BBC.

Devon musician Tobias Ward-Edwards traded his motor home in exchange for a commissioned portrait of his idol, Jimi Hendrixs, by artist “Nick” Viney.  This had apparently started out as a cash arrangement, but when Ward-Edwards became somewhat strapped for cash during the production of his new album, he asked Viney if she’d take his motor home in exchange for the painting when it was finished.

Vaney agreed, and everyone is happy.  Ward-Edwards has his inspirational Hendrix painting, and Vaney and her children plan to move the motor home to a small piece of land she owns in France.

You gotta love it. Read the story by Jemima Laing and get a look at the painting here.

And remember, it’s an honor just to be nominated.

– Bonnie

However, the unfortunate reality of free classifieds means that anybody who reads free online classifieds may take advantage of the opportunity to get in touch. As tempting as it may sound, and no matter how rewarding it can be at times, free online classified advertising can actually be a lot more troublesome than convenient.

Consider this situation: you’ve got an “overly patterned” sofa you now realize was a mistake. You don’t have enough things in your garage to get rid of, so doing a yard sale is a lot of effort. It would be really nice to sell the couch with a classified ad in the newspaper, but those cost too much for one item.

Should you post something on Craigslist?

Not if you want to deal with a half-dozen spammers crowding your e-mail inbox, random strangers showing up at your door, or unreliable “prospects” who end up wasting your time and effort because they weren’t that serious about purchasing your item in the first place.

I don’t know about you, but this situation comes up for me pretty often. I usually have something I don’t have room for or I want to replace. I’d pay for a classified ad in the newspaper if I could post it once every month, or every other week or so — but that’s not how classified ads work, unfortunately. Isn’t there a better solution?

Why not invest a known amount of money (a regular, reasonable, and low fee), into something that will pay off for both you and somebody in your community?

That’s where Boulder County Trader comes in. It’s the ideal time-saver, reliability-indicator, and option-creator when you need to trade skills, exchange gift cards you received for the holidays, or fill the extra customer hours you have ready to be filled at your business. You get all the benefits of a paid classified ad, but at a fraction of the cost, and with the ability to keep using the service. Plus, you have access to other members- traders, sellers and buyers who aren’t going to waste your time, because they don’t want to waste theirs. Unlike free classifieds, Boulder County Trader is geared towards trading — barter your goods or services for someone else’s goods or services, and both parties win.

Remember that sofa that was a mistake? Don’t try selling it and ultimately end up spending more money — if you sell it at all. Trade it for services, goods, or maybe even a sofa you’d much rather have in your living room — all for a much better experience and a lot less headache.

– Jenny N.

Meet Mark Collantes, author, pilot, financial markets wizard, marathon runner, dreamer.  Mark has a great imagination and isn’t afraid to put it to work.  His project for 2010 is to parlay ten signed copies of his novel The Academy into a ticket for a flight on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceshipTwo. (He needs about $288K; seating is limited.)  How will he do it?

Through barter.

What would you be willing to trade him for one book?   You can join the fun by making him an offer.

Let’s check in on Mark from time to time to see how he’s doing.  GalacticBarter.com

– Bonnie