Ever since the beginning of time people have needed to exchange goods that they have for goods that they don’t have. Before money and Fiat currency we would barter. Barter isn’t a dirty word, in fact it is what countries were built on and is still practised today all over the world.
But it isn’t easy and there are some rules. If it was easy then we would do it more than what we do and we wouldn’t need money at all. But we do. So where does bartering and swapping fit?
When looking to swap your goods for someone else’s goods you first of all need to place a realistic value on it. The phrase “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” applies here. Use this knowledge to your benefit when finalising a trade. Strong negotiation skills are a plus. Here are a few ways to barter your way to the best swap with SwapU.
What is bartering?
Investopedia defines bartering as:
Bartering occurs when two or more parties – such as individuals, businesses and nations – exchange goods or services evenly without the use of a monetary medium. While a barter economy is considered more primitive than modern economies, barter transactions still regularly transpire in the marketplace.
How can bartering/trading help you?
Here are six tips for bartering your way to the best swap:
- Know the value of what you are selling. Don’t allow yourself to be pressured into a bad trade.
- Be persuasive in your pitch. The person with the most information usually gets the better end of the deal. Look to coming to an agreement on value. Find more about agreed value here.
- Sweeten the deal. If you know that your item might be worth less then why not add more than one item to the trade or even some cash.
- Share all the details. An honest trade is the best way to go – share all the information up front, whether good or bad.
- Use your manners to your benefit. Manners go a long way; so does being firm.
- Embrace your walkaway power. If it is not a good deal, walk away. Best case scenario, they chase you down and agree to your terms. The worst case scenario is you leave without the trade. However, you still have the opportunity to make a good trade at another time with a different bidder.
But be aware. When receiving income from bartering, you may be required to pay GST.
Bartering is a skill and the best method for improvement is continued practice. The good news is, there is almost no limit on what you can trade. Especially on SwapU.
When times are tough and the economy is slow many people are without work and without money. How do these people get what they need if they don’t have the cash to pay. Could they swap what they have to get what they need?
Ownership of items can limit our experiences because owning something means that there are many things that you can’t own due to lack of money. If you rely on your possessions to provide you with positive experiences then it follows that there are many things that you can’t experience because you don’t own the possessions that allow you to experience those things.
When you look back over your life do you want to say that you are rich with objects and trinkets or rich with unforgettable experiences?
Imagine that you own a really nice car
You have spent a fair bit of money on this car. One day you decide that you would like to have a boat. You can hire the boat but you’d like to use it more than occasionally so that can be inhibitive. You could sell your car but if you do you’ll lose money on the car. You’d like to have both but you can’t because you can’t afford it so you keep the car knowing that you’ll miss out on the experience of owning the boat.
What if you looked at ownership differently? What if you looked at ownership as owning not only an item but also an experience? You own the car and the feeling of the power at your fingertips. But you also want the experience of wind through your hair and the saltwater spraying in your face. You own one experience, but you want another.
What if there was someone who owned a boat but wanted a nice car?
A car like yours. They would like the experience that you have. You would like the experience that they have. Why not swap experiences? Why not exchange your car for the boat? Both will sit there and depreciate in cash value anyway so why not leverage the value that the item still holds in unforgettable experiences for a new owner. If this idea is whetting your appetite, learn how to swap your car here.
Problem
You might not want the boat after a year because now you have a love for camping and you’d like a caravan. The solution is to swap it again. Don’t like camping anymore? Swap that caravan for a 4×4! Why not?
If our original car owner had have bought the car then sold it to buy the boat and then sold that to get the caravan and then sold that to get the 4×4 he would be down thousands and thousands of dollars because he would invariably sell it for less than he purchased it for. With an agreed swap this won’t happen. The swappers agree on the terms of the swap and can even include cash to barter terms. They both agree that the car is worth the price of the boat and more importantly they agree that the experience wrapped up in the swapped items is worth it.
Click below to start swapping today on Australia’s #1 swapping marketplace.
