Barter for services. Good idea or not?

[guest102613]

do you need any IT help?....

I say go for it if u are comfortable with the other person as i assume there will be no screening and if you dont mind them passing the word around (oh wait free advertising)

[PoppyToyota]

Have Tongue Will Travel!

[zebra]

Originally Posted by pyramider

Does Tractor Supply carry botox in Weatherford?

No but Ellis Equipment in Weatherofrd has it, 3 times the price like everything else they sell...

[Drlovefw]

I've done photos for providers and it's worked out great.

[netman]

Originally Posted by jkerouac

I've found it to be dicey. Everyone thinks THEIR OWN service/product is golden. The value of cash is inarguable.

+1.

Over the years I have heard of many stories where one or both parties felt shortchanged.

I'm not saying bartering never works, but if I had to guess I would say that less then 20% of the bartering transactions end up with both parties happy.

netman

[ithyphallicus]

Maybe with a regular but otherwise I would say don't do it.

[Bob Soldios]

I think as long as it's something the provider needs and is willing to barter for that's fine. For instance my side hobby (aside from this hobby) is that I get old "dead" laptops and refurbish/repair them. As a result at any given point in time I will have a stack of low to mid range laptops around my house. These aren't top end machine, but great if you just need something to hop on the net, browse the web, postrespond here or check your P411 account from while at an incall.

I know a provider who mentioned in chat one day that she really needed a provider-specific laptop so she didn't have to worry about prying eyes on her normal computer. As a result I traded her one for a very nice session. (These are laptops that if I sell them on CL I get around the same price for as a nice 1hr msog session)

That worked out well for me.

I also know providers who even openly list that they will do appointments for non-cash commodities and don't see a problem with it. Money is simply a medium for when you don't have specific matching needs for a barter

[Courtney]

There is nothing wrong with at as long as u dont not need the cash more then the materalistic item. But if u are interested in doing that go for girl.

[WICKEDVETTEGUY]

I have had many successful barters and trades in the past and no real failures. The key is communication! It does make things much simpler when both parties have a fixed rate of service, but things can be worked out on occasion if they are not. My business is service-based and there are always tons of variables with what I do, so it can be difficult to make an up-front agreement on a trade. There does have to be a certain amount of trust involved for anything to work.

[Just4Hobby]

Bartering is great if there is a "market maker" or a "mediator". Some communities have used it to allow business activities while cash or credit based transactions could not happen. They create their own currency. The market maker or mediator, city officials or community leaders will need to manage and coordinate business activities based on their own currency.

Perhaps we can use eccie bucks for fees and earn eccie bucks with goods and services? Problem is who is allowed to create and manage eccie bucks?

Me, me, me hehehe jk

[Dharma]

I've bartered in the past and I've got a system that works for me and keeps both parties happy. First, write down the terms! This is a contract like any other and you both need to keep track. Don't rely on memory because there will always be a disagreement and that just sours the relationship.

Second thing is that I never barter 100% of the deal. No one likes to work for free so there has to be some cash involved. I prefer anything from 50/50 to 80/20. Even if all you're exchanging is services and $20 that's fine. Even that small amount can be enough to keep one party from backing out on the other party. It's not a good way to get stiffed

There are some things I won't barter and some people I won't barter with. I have to know them well enough to trust that they won't welch on the deal.