Bartering instead of cash
No matter how bad the economy is, people will always have knowledge and learned skills. A person who is unemployed may not have a job to go to every day, but they may be able to exchange their efforts directly to someone for what they need. Remember, money is a relatively new invention. For thousands of years, commerce among humans was simply trading for goods or service.
Bartering never become very popular once the convenience of money came along. Finding someone that needs what you have, and has exactly what you need is difficult. The internet makes the process much easier. Craigslist has a specific section for bater and trade advertising, and the website has seen “significant growth” in that category, according to a spokesperson.
Sellers who had tried to sell items for cash with no response for weeks are finding that buyers come out in droves when trade is accepted. Even professionals such as dentist Greg Moritz uses barter as a means of transaction more business. Moritz has made direct trades with patients for things such as new tile in his office, a paint job and even maintenance for the office fish tank. That can be a good deal for a skilled worker with little dental insurance. “Sometimes, I look for opportunities where I know it might be difficult for people to get good treatment because the treatment plan is too expensive,” says Moritz, adding that implant work can cost thousands of dollars.
In Massachusetts, Michael Zygiel, owner of Federal Telephone in Bridgewater, used barter for a recent rebranding of his company. Design work including a new logo, Web site, letterhead and business cards would have cost him as much as $20,000 if he had to pay cash. Through using the barter system, he only had a cash outlay of about $500.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that about 250,000 North American companies conducted barter transactions worth more than $16 billion in 2008. As small businesses find it impossible to borrow money and customers are slower to pay bills, the barter economy is becoming a crucial way for many companies to find the cash they need to keep operating. “It’s really of value to small businesses because it helps them to survive through the recession,” says Carmen Bianchi, director of the Entrepreneurial Management Center Business Forum and adjunct professor of family business management at San Diego State University.
Doug MacAskill, who owns and operates Douglas Fence Co., has often bartered his fence-building services and has 
received items such as a generator/welder and dirt bikes in exchange.
John Tanian found that his cash outlays for his accountant, lawyer, broadcast advertising, printing, and bodywork on his fleet of 175 rental cars totaled only $7,500 one year. Owner of American Discount Rent-A-Car, in Framingham, Mass., estimates the retail cost for these services at $75,000. He kept his spending to a tenth of that amount through barter. And that was in 1991.
There are over 400 barter networks nationwide, for individuals and businesses who would like assistance finding trading partners. The International Reciprocal Trade Association, IRTA, is a non-profit organization which promotes standards of practice within the modern trade and barter networks.
