Everyone Wants to Barter
photo credit: lumaxart
All the statistics say that we are dealing with money problems more often by bartering products and services. Doing some kind of swap or bargaining some kind of deal that avoids exchanging money is an obvious way to help you deal with a cash-poor situation, and it’s rapidly becoming more popular.
For example, if you have a skill like book-keeping or bricklaying, and you need either something done or you are looking for a particular product, especially something second-hand like furniture or appliances, then finding someone to swap with can make a good deal for both of you. Swap 15 hours of book-keeping work for a second-hand washing machine, for example, and you’re probably both in front.
Craigslist sites, for one, can show us the recent increase in these kinds of bartering trades. Apparently between April 2007 and April 2008, the number of ads posted in its “barter” section almost doubled, from almost 64,000 up to over 121, 000 in just twelve months. There are also a number of online bartering sites that have seen their usage rates grow too.
If you do think that bartering is a good way to go, you should know that from a tax point of view, a bartering arrangement is still seen as taxable income, so don’t forget to declare it.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 at 3:06 am and is filed under Saving Money. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
