Cash-strapped consumers and businesses are coming up with creative ways to fight higher costs. One practice gaining popularity: the ancient custom of bartering.
That's right, before there was money, there was bartering. And it's back, baby.
]]>The rise of bartering for goods and services means consumers are now trading for such things as wedding services, tombstones, breast augmentation and Botox treatments. The cash-free transactions are often facilitated through the Internet and barter exchanges, which are third-party record keepers that coordinate trades between business owners.
In the past two years, membership in trade-exchange businesses has climbed 10% to 15% annually compared with 5% to 8% annual growth prior to that, says Mr. McDowell. He estimates his members do $3.8 billion to $4.3 billion in trades a year.
Obviously there are potential pitfalls to the process, but you are generally giving up something that costs you very little, such as expertise, for something that would cost a great deal more if you were to buy it outright. So with prudence, this seems like a good and viable option for saving money.
But how widespread and practical is it really? Has anyone reading this used bartering to save money and/or afford something they might not be able to purchase?
Web Barterers' Tricks of the Trade [Wall Street Journal]
— FREE MONEY FINANCE
Another awesome one: swapping media. Paperbackswap.com and its affiliated swap sites for DVDs and CDs - pure win.
Of course, it would be illegal to make copies of swapped CDs before sending them off.
]]>The ONLY way I could even IMAGINE a possibly legal or moral way to tax bartering is if the bartering was UNEVEN. Such as me trading a bicycle for a CAR worth much more than the bicycle. BUT then you run into another major issue. WHO gave the government the right to DECIDE what things are worth. Where is that "power" in the constitution.
I also do NOT recognize Income Tax. I do not pay income tax. I pay "extortion" penalties because they have a bigger stick than I do. The same way you pay the big ugly man who threatens to beat you up if you do not pay him protection money. You can call it anything you want Extortion is still extortion.
WAGES are NOT INCOME. Absolutly ZERO income or revenue is generated when you earn wages. Absolutely None.
You gave up hours of your LIFE in exchange for Money. That is an EVEN ZERO net positive end result. There is no income there is no profit there is no revenue.
When you get a commission. THATS INCOME
When you get a bonus THATS INCOME
When you earn a PROFIT on something you sell THATS INCOME.
INCOME TAX as it is currently applied is by definition SLAVERY or Indentured Servitude and is NOT LEGAL.
Again I pay it only because the big ugly man threatening me demands I do and there is no way to defeat this man as of yet. So as others do I pay this illegal tax.
]]>Hi i think the interesting point of bartering involves transfer of ownership. If you provide the recieving party transfer of ownership for all services rendered, you wont have to worry about the irs until you liquidate your proceeds. i believe bartering yor ownership is how you save depending on how long you hold on to the service that was originally bartered
]]>It's actually a much better way to do things; like building a good team at a small business.
]]>@TechnoDestructo: Obviously not -- they'll want the cash equivalent. Even though bartering may flourish, we're still mainly a cash-based society, and even with credit cards and electronic transactions, that isn't changing anytime soon. The government may be turtle-esque in doing many of its duties, but that tortoise will beat the hare when revenue to feed its bureaucratic belly is at stake.
]]>Yeah, would the IRS accept services for payment of taxes?
]]>So, how would you satisfy the IRS if you bartered for everything and you never saw a single penny?
Reference:
[www.irs.gov]
Engaging in bartering and being taxed on it presupposes, of course, that you don't lie. If a bartering economy does start blossoming, don't think Uncle Sam won't try to figure out ways to get its sizable piece of the action.
]]>Stupid semantic distinction, I know, but it's how the porn business doesn't get shut down as a prostitution racket.
]]>my parents are in the restaurant industry, so they are professionals at bartering. it costs $300 to have the lot plowed/salted when it snows. so they do that and get $300 worth of free food. we needed a new roof at home and the roofing company needed a party. traded that off and currently our bathroom is being redone for about $7000. we are paying them around $3000 and the rest is food for the company who is doing it.
]]>Yes.
As Eyebrows said previously, sometimes you are just better off to exchange goods and real money.
]]>About once a month, my neighbors and i would go to Costco together so we can split up the products by buying in bulk. There are some good deals to be had when you do this, especially if two parties can match up a lot of stuff they need to get at Costco.
]]>If you avoided cash altogether and only performed bartering transactions, how are you supposed to pay taxes on your "income"? If you don't deal in currency to begin with, then how exactly are you going to be taxed? Pay the IRS some percentage of the blueberries and widgets you traded for?
]]>Those bartering CLUBS I actually might be a fan of, since it'd considerably simplify tax issues.
]]>Some people recently (especially in the South, for some reason) have begun using Silver Certificates again instead of cash. This is the same sort of thing, replacing the US Dollar with something of equivalent value. The IRS isn't fooled.
]]>Technically, that is untrue. Barter does create income and the IRS does tax it. You must report it.
I've done a little barter. I do some legal work for artists, and sometimes I'll barter for a piece of their art. There are some ups and downs to it; it's difficult to find the right barter arrangement.
]]>Newspapers barter services for advertising (cleaning service got free ad, the size of the ad/number of times it ran = cost of service and number of times service was used.
I love bartering for computer/electrical stuff with my savvy friends. Once, we got wires crossed on our phone lines and since it was an "inside" problem the Phone Company wouldn't fix it without having us pay quite a bit. Pall of mine crawled under my house and rewired us - paid him in copious amounts of beer and a homecooked meal.
]]>I own a professional tutoring center and I have one parent who couldn't pay but was a farmer. Now I get either a side of beef or a whole butchered pig every 6 months! I usually give most of it away to shelters or family now but our freezer is well stocked!
]]>i'm about 70% sure it won't work.
]]>@A.W.E.S.O.M.-O: You can trade sex for items or money, as long as it on film, apparantly. Not sure exactly how being paid for sex in a pornographic film is any different from being paid for sex otherwise.
This nation has some really odd ideas.
]]>@zentex If you're really bartering for CPA services and that CPA is not considering the bartering revenue for both of you, I'd get a new CPA. A CPA who doesn't consider barters revenue is either an unethical CPA or a CPA who doesn't know what they are doing.
]]>It was a really good deal, actually. For things like instruction in a specialized skill - where there's a lot of expertise involved that was hard/expensive to acquire, but there's a low cost of actually offering the lessons - swapping even is an amazing bargain for both parties.
Does Craigslist have a skill-swap portion? If not, it should.
]]>Instead of going to Geek Squad or something similar, a friend of mine deals with any computing problems by posting an ad offering beer and pizza to anybody who can fix her machine. (She is tech-savvy enough to be able to sort good candidates from bad.) There's always a 20-something guy who decides he might as well get a free meal for some machine repair.
]]>DID YOU KNOW:
Bartered goods and services are considered revenue!! All income from bartering is taxable, and therefore must be reported to the Internal Revenue Service in the tax year the goods or services were received.
]]>@Jonukas: That idea was cool, but once the story hit the media, I think people started trading big things just to be a part of it. Like, in the last three trades he went from a KISS snow globe to a movie role to the house. A snow globe to a house in three trades! Good luck to anyone who tries that today.
]]>The use of currency is the ultimate form of bartering.
]]>I'm so glad I'm not the only one with dyslexia this morning. In my mind, I'm going, "Sure! Bartending is a GREAT way to make money!"
]]>Try that in an urban area and you're pretty much stuck with who you think you can trust on Craigslist or the skills of the two to three people you know in your apartment building.
]]>@Jonukas: I had workmen remodeling a home. I bartered two window air conditioners for two days work.
Years back in the renting days, I barted half a month's rent for furniture I was willing to leave behind, so the landlord had a 'model' apartment to show.
And I will often negotiate reduced prices when shopping. Especially clothes, electronics, furniture, art, auto repairs, you name it!
]]>Not me, but apparently you can get a house...
]]>Now that my dad has retired, my wife is thinking about bartering massage therapy for the chiropractor and his wife for adjustments for the two of us.
]]>@speedwell: There's no need to be so incredibly insulting. Why don't you read the new commenting rules Ben posted.
]]>And I think we deserve a beer for that.
]]>I always use Wampum at Best Buy. Make an offer on a TV, and when they turn to go get a manager, you wampum on the head and take the TV.
]]>@A.W.E.S.O.M.-O:
Okay, so you can't trade it for money or goods, but can you trade it for services?
@B: I never understood why you can't trade sex for items or money, but you're allowed to give it away for free.
]]>@speedwell: Don't you be calling Miss Peacock dull!
I wouldn't go to a Doctor who accept barter either. And exactly what recourse would you have for a botched or negligent surgery? Repo his slipcovers? Intentionally not proofread a memo?
You don't buy the cheapest parachute and I think there are somethings where quality needs to trump the best obtainable deal.
]]>@MissPeacock: You wouldn't go to a plastic surgeon who accepts barter? That's pretty ignorant. If you have something the plastic surgeon needs or expects to be able to trade for something else, you may certainly barter it. In my case, I could use my secretarial skills (in both medical and insurance settings) or my graphic artist skills (for marketing purposes). Or who knows, my sewing skills to make him slipcovers for his living room furniture, curtains, or a handmade quilt or two. Or I could offer a few lockout job coupons to him to use or trade to other people for other things (since I have basic locksmith skills, ethically acquired through a locksmith study course). Your dullness amazes me, frankly.
]]>@robocop_is_bleeding: Hey, see my comment above!
]]>Usually, I'm bartering for other services. A typical deal is something like one session of family portraits (between 5 and 8 rolls of film) for 3-4 massages. I did this with my massage therapist, and it had two advantages. First, it was indeed cheaper for both of us. Second, as no money changed hands, to taxable income was created, so we both saved an additional 30+% in marginal tax rate payments.
]]>@SkokieGuy: I'll give you a cow for some beans.
]]>It used to be common place for folks to do this, but somehow people either lost the skill or some savvy retailers managed to convince people that the price tag is the lowest price available.
On a more personal level, almost anyone with a marketable skill has probably bartered for something in their life. I've done it many times for lawn services, rental time in a Cessna, etc. Being handy fixing computers has its perks!
]]>@sir_pantsalot: You're hanging in the wrong circles. Every woman I know who's gotten implants is VERY proud to show em off.
If you dare not notice or comment, the newly augemented will often specifically solicit your opinion.
Also, generally being a gay male will entitle one to a "Don't they feel real" request to check out the newly purchased bazooms.
]]>Dyslexia: Spending the 60 seconds reading 'bartering' as 'bartending'.
Let me tell you this article didnt make much sense for a minute there.
]]>But ladies, please do not augment your breasts. Please, please, please.
]]>@MissPeacock: When people get a new car, house, iphone or other new items people always ask if they can see it. After a breast augmentation is it alright to ask to see the new toys? If you are not going to show anyone then why get them in the first place.
]]>My dad was a printer and he would do business cards for a lady and she would cut his hair. It cost hime some paper, a little time and some ink he had left over form other jobs and it only cost her time.
]]>I am having a lot of success with the Wimpy method. I'll tell them I'll gladly pay them Tuesday for whatever they have today, and then make sure I'm in the next town when Tuesday rolls around.
]]>@reiyaku: Go to craigslist.com, then select For Sale, then Barter and look for yourself.
]]>this is amazing... if anyone can provide statistics as to how wide spread it is then id be more than willing and more apt to barter
]]>I have some magic beans to trade for?
]]>