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Swap Till You Drop: In this tight economy, the age-old system of bartering is becoming a practical thing to do

Journal Photo by David Rolfe

Julianne Anderson of Mocksville is willing to trade her services of sewing clothes or curtains to get items she needs. In this economy, she says, "I really have to be conscious of money."

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By Laura Giovanelli | Journal Reporter

Published: April 5, 2009

Julianne Anderson has bartered for Christmas presents for her kids.

She has bartered for Wal-Mart gift cards, for a Victrola and for a sewing machine.

When her husband's birthday rolled around at the beginning of March, she tried bartering for an old Volkswagen Beetle. He'd had one when he was younger, and she knew that he wanted another one.

She didn't get the car, but that's not stopping her. Bartering has become a big part of her life -- her husband is a builder, and in this slow housing market, household finances are tight.

As the recession deepens, the idea of bartering -- the trading of goods and services -- is gaining momentum and coming back in style. Swapping instead of shopping is a way to use what you have to get what you want without spending much -- or anything at all.

The Andersons have three kids, ages 12, 9 and 4. That's why Julianne Anderson has swapped a stroller for a new DVD, a vintage quilt for some new clothes for her daughter, and a laptop for Butterscotch, a life-size FurReal stuffed toy pony that fetches $269 new on walmart.com, among other things.

"I'm bartering all the time," said Anderson, who lives in Mocksville. "Especially in this economy, I really have to be conscious of money."

Whether you have informally traded with your neighbors by mowing their lawn for baby-sitting your kids, or gone online looking for a stranger to take a used truck off your hands, frugality and thrift are in.

And the Internet has made bartering easier than ever.

Bartering posts on Craigslist are up 100 percent from this time last year, according to Susan MacTavish Best, a spokeswoman for the Web site. At Swap

Thing.com, Brian Kohlmeier, the vice president of content/customer service, said he has noticed an uptick from about 10 bartering posts a day to about 50 since midfall of last year.

"One person's trash is another person's treasure," Kohlmeier said.

Britt Beemer, the chairman of America's Research Group, a consumer surveyor, said he thinks that bartering is on the rise, though people seem reluctant to admit it. About two years ago, his company found that 15 percent of respondents would seriously consider bartering. That number has gone up to 28 percent in a survey done in early February, Beemer said.

"It's a culture of economic survival," he said. "The people who are bartering are never the lowest-end consumers. It's always the people who have a skill to trade."

A modern economy, frugal times

You might think that bartering played a big role during earlier hard times and economic slumps. But that's not necessarily so -- even during the Great Depression -- said David Kyvig, a professor of history at Northern Illinois University and author of Daily Life in the United States,1920-1940: How Americans Lived During the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression.

Historians have a hard time tracing an activity such as bartering, Kyvig said, because it wasn't something that was often recorded. But there is some evidence that bartering existed at the very low point of the Depression.

"My sense was that it was very heavily related to what people were able to produce in terms of their own agricultural products," he said. "I certainly wouldn't call it dominant or widespread. We've entered into a modern age where the range of tastes and desires has gotten beyond the capacity of simple exchange."

Still, even today, in the age of PayPal, bartering has its fans.

Anderson recently posted listings on Craigslist to barter old records, vintage jewelry, a 1992 Ford Explorer and a Honda dirt bike. She has also advertised her sewing skills -- she will do alterations and make clothes or curtains for money, but will consider swapping items in exchange, too.

To her, it's common sense.

"My mom was raised during the Depression. She just taught me the basics of life -- how to cook, how to sew. We didn't have a lot of money growing up, too," she said.

She has even arranged three-way barters, or offers to barter with people who have things for sale. The worse that can happen is that they will turn her down. But sometimes, they take her up on an offer. And sometimes, she will make deals based on a combination of cash and bartering.

"The problem is the time you've got to invest in bartering. I'll get maybe 10 ‘no's' before I get a ‘yes,'" she said.

William Hall of Winston-Salem will take garden equipment, such as a tractor, for two grave plots in the Garden of Memory in Walkertown. He has had the plots since the 1970s and no longer needs them, he said, because he and his wife want to be buried elsewhere.

Mac Sanford of Midway will swap romance and mystery novels for Dr. Seuss books. His daughter is pregnant, and he wants the books for his new grandchild.

"I've got the money to go down and buy them, but I'm on a fixed income, and I love to be frugal," he said. "An idiot is the one who starts to go out and throw around money. They're the one going to end up in the poorhouse."

Jeanne Dobson of East Bend has dabbled in wedding and commercial photography for about two years. She signed up for a correspondence course through the New York Institute of Photography, and is trying to turn her hobby into a business, Yadkin River Photography.

When Dobson lost her job as an insurance agent this month, she knew that she needed to cut down on expenses. That included car payments on her 2008 Mazda3. So she posted an ad on Craigslist to see if someone was willing to trade an older (and paid-off) car for a wedding-photography package. She has tried to trade photography for haircuts, and she is trying to get a sign for her small gallery in Rockford.

"Instead of sinking my personal money into things, I like to barter things I have for things I need," she said.

Wez Zane of Winston-Salem has unsuccessfully tried to get bites for a barter. He wants a laptop for his mother. For it, he will do graphics work or swap a 1987 Ford Bronco.

"You just got to find the right person," he said. "I figured, ‘Well, it's worth a shot.'"

And that's the catch with bartering: Without cash, you can't always get what you want when you want it. Because bartering is often tied to specific things that people are looking for, it can take a lot more patience and persistence.

Can't get away from cash

It is one reason why experts say that bartering won't replace currency.

"Money is more convenient because it doesn't require synchronization," said Andrew Whinston, a professor of information systems, economics and computer science at the University of Texas at Austin. "So this double coincidence of wants is difficult to find. But the online world has made it a little better."

Businesses often barter with each other -- such as swapping excess inventory for advertising. One way to do that is through a bartering network, which uses credits rather than direct bartering.

Whinston said that bartering between individuals isn't a major part of the economy. It flies under the radar, but it has been around for a long time.

"At the time the Pilgrims came, they were probably bartering with the Indians," Whinston said.

He said that bartering may become more important if the recession worsens.

"People have to live, and there are people who lost their job doing electrical work who will feed their families with pizza,'' he said. "You'll see more and more people out there who have a lot of skills trying to offer them for some food."

But bartering isn't immune from the tax man. You could owe the IRS money. If you barter, it's probably best to consult an accountant.

Sherry Jarrell, a professor of finance and economics at Wake Forest University, said she has recently heard of families offering to take turns baby-sitting for each other rather than paying someone to watch their kids.

"It's kind of like they've rediscovered bartering," she said. "People who have lost their jobs -- they don't have a ready source of income, so they look around and see what kind of services they can provide. It's just a way to economize.

"I think they'd much rather have the money," she added. "You learn to appreciate the monetary system a lot more when you try to barter."

■ Laura Giovanelli can be reached at 727-7302 or at lgiovanelli@wsjournal.com.

Barterer beware

■ If you are bartering online, post photos and precise descriptions along with your offer.

■ Be fair about what you are expecting for your trade, particularly if it is a service such as lawn care, plumbing or electrical work. And be realistic about what you can provide in return. Think about your reputation. Don't offer to mow someone's lawn for the summer and then do it only once.

■ If you are trying to barter with goods rather than services — say, used books or clothes — have a realistic expectation about what they are worth.

Julianne Anderson, a stay-at-home mom in Mocksville who regularly barters online, says she undervalues her items. "I make people feel like they're getting the better end of the deal," she said.