Will Rising Prices Cause Consumers Stop Consuming in 2009?
Cro-Magnon Man Had it Right! Let's Get Down and Barter!
Bartering is an exchange of goods and services without the use of money. The reason bartering is going to be renewed in popularity is because we are headed for times of tight money - where liquidity is drying up and it will be hard to get loans. Interest rates are climbing and bartering will afford the consumer a way to swap out his "stuff" for either someone else's "stuff" or services. Bartering is a method of survival when there is little or no cash to spend and the cost of goods are excessive.
Bartering affords the individual a way to hold onto cash in their pocket, yet continue to receive the goods and services they need for their every day life.
Pros of Bartering
Improves consumer cash flow
Reduces consumer debt
Relieves stress for the consumer due to more control in the consumer's life
Maintains liquidity for the consumer
Avoids borrowing costs for the consumer
Consumer has cash reserves
Cons of Bartering
Might have to wait for the right product or service
Bartering offers no guarantees
A bartering club has a membership fee which needs to be weighed into cost
There could be contracts used in a bartering club, so consumers need to know legalities
In the tough times when the butterflies are flying out of wallets, the pros outweigh the cons in bartering. It will be important for the consumer to check out the successful and credible bartering clubs. This is where online Internet searching will come into play. You will see all sorts of aspects of bartering - the membership fee based bartering clubs, free online bartering clubs similar to a Craigslist.com, bartering parties, bartering seminars, and bartering direct mail.
So, look for the popularity of bartering coming back as the consumer this year realizes - he also has to stop the madness of his own consumption or he will not survive!
Published by Sea Shepherd
Too much to list View profile
- How U-Exchange Improves Online BarteringBackground information identifying online bartering options and comparison between different bartering websites.
4 Steps to Safe BarteringBartering is verbal, and very often the parasite of confusion rides along. By thinking, asking, agreeing, follow-up, you will drive better and safer verbal bargains. Conflict...- Bartering: Bringing An Old Practice Full CircleThis informative article describes the practice of bartering and how to protect yourself in a transaction.
- Establishing Profitable Relationships Through BarteringUsing what you know or have to get what you need or want through bartering
- The Barter SystemWith all of the economic problems we are facing, why not just go back yo the old system of bartering?
- Join a Bartering Club
- Five Reasons to Not Join a Barter Exchange
- Bartering - a Great Way to Trade
- My Sim-ulated Life
- Bartering: The Way of the Future
- The Ethics of Fees and Bartering in Counselor/ Client Relationships
- The Basics of Bartering
- Bartering -Improves consumer cash flow
- Bartering -Reduces consumer debt
- Bartering -Avoids borrowing costs for the consumer
33 Comments
Post a CommentSo very Insightful!!
it very well can happen !............
2009? Hell, I have already cut back drastically on what I would have normally spent out in extras and gas! I don't travel nothing like I used to! 2009 will be only worse!
An idea who's time has never passed? Have you seen Jack Cummings book "The Tax-Free Exchange Loophole: How Real Estate Investors Can Profit from the 1031 Exchange"? Be well, Michael
Great article :) Sheri
Very interesting, Irene, and true too, in my opinion. This is part of what I believe will be a larger trend: learning from the past and adjusting lifestyles to be more like how we lived in the past. Why do I say that? Because things are becoming more like they were in the old days. Antibiotics are losing their effectiveness, food is taking up a larger percentage of our budgets (as they did before food became cheap), people are becoming more socially conservative (with AIDS there's no more 70's-style partner swapping), etc. Hard to believe? Look at the surge in interest in Jane Austen, natural cures, home gardening.
Thank you all!..Jane, yes, I was thinking about the Depression when I came up with this..I figure how else can people survive..we can work together if we put our minds and "stuff" together and not continue to consume off this earth!...
I love this! Excellent topic choice and A1 article as well. Hey, it worked in the old days just fine. Why not now? :-)
P.S. I actually got the link to this article from your blog, not the email notifications I usually get :)
Now THIS is some creative thinking and also something that I think is all too true. With a Depression era parent still living, she recalls when bartering was the norm. It had to be. People gave chickens (or fresh eggs) to the doctor for delivering a baby. Those with gardens contributed food to elderly or ill neighbors and might get something else in return. It worked, people survived and they got through tough times. Excellent article!