Bartering was once the main form of currency and now it's not utilized nearly as frequently as it once was. However as we see downturns in the economy, people tend to look back to more frugal ways of living. Bartering is a great way to trade products and services with one another while leaving the pocketbook unscathed.
Think outside of the box! What can you offer in return for what you need or want? Do you have a skill or specialty you can provide in exchange for goods and/or services?
Examples of bartering:
~ Bartering starts in our childhood years; you'll see it in the lunchroom as two kids exchange sandwiches or snacks from their lunchboxes
~ Wheat farmers cannot live on bread alone, but could trade surplus to local cattle farmers for meat
~ Let's get more relevant to saving money...coupon trading is one of the most popular forms of bartering these days
Bartering is only limited to your imagination, skills, your offerings and the ability to find another person who needs what you can offer plus have something that you want in return.
IMPORTANT!! If you decide to swap services like babysitting and pet walking, make sure that you have agreed upon an upfront monetary value for your service so your swapping will be fair and equal. Swapping services is often harder than swapping real goods because you really need to know what the going price is for the service you're offering.
We love to hear from our readers, tell us if you've ever bartered before. What was your bartering arrangement?
in canada, if you barter services that you usually provide in order to earn an income, or barter goods that you usually sell in a business in order to earn income, then your barter transactions are taxable according to CRA
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tp/it490/it490-e.html