Barter

[cjsmith]

With no cash income, I am musing more strongly lately on the idea of trading goods and services for other goods and services directly, with no actual dollars involved.

If I have A and want B, while you want A and have C, we need to find a third party. Is that really sufficiently daunting that few trades are done? Or do people have enough varied wants that a bargain can usually be struck?

When does the government get a cut? If I trade my red pencil for your blue one, the IRS probably doesn't give a hoot, even if we're both happier that the deal was made. But if I'm trading a month's labor for, oh, I don't know, a motorcycle, they might care. Where's the line?

What do I have that I'm willing to trade AND that is in demand? I am great at plunging into big hairy organization-and-cleanup tasks, like sorting old photos, and breaking the problem down into manageable chunks. It takes time, but it gets done and done well. What else? I will catch a spelling error in just about anything, but computers can do that too. What else? Must ponder.

Comments

[shadopanther.livejournal.com]

Errand running? I've often joked I need a "wife" to take care of stuff like that - letting pets out, picking up dry cleaning, packages, etc.

I think I've read descriptions of something like that. The title that they used was "Personal Assistant".

-- Shadopanther