Barter Thread Tangent

[Aohtee]

Just who is it you intend to barter with?

If you divide the world into people who prep and people who don't, which group are you likely to interact with?

The people who don't prep are not going to have the things you need for survival.

The people who do prep are not likely to want a box of tampons or a bottle of whiskey for the things you both need for survival.

Do you have a plan for bartering with Farmer Jones for his eggs and milk or with gardener Jane for her vegetables?
Do you know what they will want for their resources?

Are there even people in your immediate area that can fill in your prep gaps?

It seems like a waste of time and money to stockpile items if there is no "market" for them.

[Ernie]

Originally Posted by Aohtee

Just who is it you intend to barter with?

If you divide the world into people who prep and people who don't, which group are you likely to interact with?

The people who don't prep are not going to have the things you need for survival.

The people who do prep are not likely to want a box of tampons or a bottle of whiskey for the things you both need for survival.

Do you have a plan for bartering with Farmer Jones for his eggs and milk or with gardener Jane for her vegetables?
Do you know what they will want for their resources?

Are there even people in your immediate area that can fill in your prep gaps?

It seems like a waste of time and money to stockpile items if there is no "market" for them.

That was kind of my thought.

That thread was a reminder to me that a whole lot of people think "survival" is all about the modern material goods they can accumulate and store.

I remember when Forerunner's shop burned, the forum was all about "Oh no! His stuff!" They fail to realize this is a man who put it all together from scratch once and could do so three or four more times in his lifetime without breaking a sweat. How? Skill, hard work, and a deep faith in God.

For most people, I guess collecting tampons, whiskey, and toilet paper is just their way of trying to extend modern living out past its sustainable level. They can see that it's going to fall but are just scurrying about trying to gather up enough of its trappings to see them through ... to when?

Restructuring your life now while it's easier will be a whole lot better than trying to do it in 3 months when you have to. And all that junk you accumulate in your basement WILL run out, especially when the factories, highways, and megafarms shut down.

The people who are going to survive are linking up now and figuring out how to do so when there is no forum, no email, no internet. While we talk ... they do.

[Aohtee]

I agree Ernie.

When the economy in this country, and then the world, changes, the best bartering resource you can have is the ability to change with the times.

It's the skills you have collected that will make the difference.

[michelleIL]

I lost my need for tampons when I realized that God designed us as humans to operate a ceratin way. We don't decide one day not to poop or pee...so why stop ourselves up in other ways. Kinda silly huh?

[Bonnie L]

Originally Posted by michelleIL

I lost my need for tampons when I realized that God designed us as humans to operate a ceratin way. We don't decide one day not to poop or pee...so why stop ourselves up in other ways. Kinda silly huh?

Down to earth - I like that! I lost the need for any of that stuff after a certain age. Freedom! I love it.

I do keep some pads on hand for guests. That's sort of what I see barter as. It might not be tit for tat, but more like, "Here, you need it." Then, at some time in the future, that person or another will provide something I need.

My dh is getting old & I'm not very strong, so I can see a future need to barter cutting down & chopping firewood. We've got enough trees that a portion of the firewood would likely be the trade.

[Spinner]

Originally Posted by Aohtee

...

It seems like a waste of time and money to stockpile items if there is no "market" for them.

This is why I don't buy items for barter. I only stock things I use. If I can barter some items that are replaceable (like garden veggies/fruits), that's good, it they don't get bartered, they get used.

It's hard enough to buy stuff I need, I sure don't have extra money to buy things that I MIGHT be able to trade someday, but would probably end up wasted/rotted/lost/tossed.

[Cyngbaeld]

If it isn't something we will use, I don't have funds or storage space to waste on it. Who knows if I'll ever need to barter something or have the opportunity? I figure skills are something I can use to make my life more comfortable now and in the future. Plus, if my skill is the valuable commodity, it doesn't benefit someone to kill me to take my barter goods.

[||Downhome||]

I wouldnt waste my time storing up wiskey, be better to save the parts for a still and stock pile the grain you would need (could serve threefold purpose seed,food,or for the still if need be) as long as the feds are in operation though I wouldnt set up no still! once they are gone might serv a purpose. I would think seed and tools would be a wise barter tool, if you knew the folks you wouldnt even need to collect in full up front but take part of the harvest, be even better if you could build or repair tools with a small shop. not to hard to build a forge or blast furnace. that may be the best avenue for barter is service that many will be lacking knowledge or tools to perform. just a thought trying to envision post zombie land might not have anyone to barter with at all?

I think Im agreeing with cyngbaeld on service as the primary barter option! though for alot of thing you will need the equipment to perform said service not all but many.

[AngieM2]

I think hand sewing equipment would be handy. It's stuff I have around and use daily, but a BUNCH of sewing needles and threads can fit into a small space. This is more for teaching folks to mend and extend their clothing when $$ get tight. (and to take up clothing as our bodies shrink due to different/less fattening foods and probably more exercise growing the food).

Angie

[Common Tator]

This may sound like it's off topic, but it really isn't.

During the great depression, my great aunt was unmarried, raising her niece (my mom) on a very tiny income that she earned working at the corner market. She raised chickens and pigeons for meat, and had a large garden. There were plenty of hungry folks around. They lived near the railroad tracks and there were hobos that would stop by looking for a meal.

My great aunt had a very weak heart and had already had a stroke as a young woman. She needed chores done by someone with a good strong back.

The hobos had a system of marking neighborhoods to let other hobos know who was willing to feed them. Their home was identified as one that would feed them. So there would be a knock on the door, and a hungry hobo would be there, asking what he could do for my great aunt in exchange for one of her wonderful home cooked meals. They got a good meal and she got some good hard work out of them. It was always understood that they were expected to work for the food they received.

That may be what is bartered for by folks who have nothing. Work.

[Aohtee]

Angie,

I also sew. It's one of the skills I will be able to barter with. I'm stocking up on thread, needles, scissors, ect.

But how would you use these tools as barter? How many people who don't prep know how to use them, and if they don't prep, what would they use for trading?

People who do prep would already have them in their stocks.
They would not need the tools. If you are an intermediate to master level craftswoman, there will be a need for your skill.

The some for the still, the forge, or the blast furnace. It's not the tool that will be bartered for, it's the skill.

The point I'm trying to make is that the people most eager to barter with you will be people who have not prepped. How many strong backs can you afford to feed?

[||Downhome||]

well thats hard to say depends when it all went to the handbasket or your climate, may be able to get crops in and ekk a living from the wild till then so maybe many, or in the frigid north and in the cold of winter much fewer. I kind of think its a wont know till you get there thing. I have been thinking over the shop for a while already with a forge and hand tools and the addition of a blast furnace could make use of much salvage and build tools as nessary (even a whole machine shop it warrented) not so much for barter but I am a product of the modern world and machinery does and proper tools do cut the work load down, though I do know of primitive ways (still tools just not modern) to get the job done.

[mellowguy]

I'll answer the question about what (bartering items I stock up) and who (I'll barter these items with) when I start stockpiling barter items ... and I'll start stockpiling bartering items when I have extra prep dollars and no need for preps to be bought. I'm still at the point where I need to build up my prep with stuff I'll need. Why would I buy stuff that some stranger may want instead of stuff I'll need? Instead of buying a bunch of extra screws so they can be traded for nails, I'm cutting the middle-man and buying nails directly

I envy those that are so well prepared that they're now buying preps for others, just in case they'll need them and just in case they'll have something to trade in exchange.

Assuming society eventually needs rebuilding, those that will do best economically are the ones that will be able to leverage their skills, knowledge and tools to provide products and services to the masses. Trading widgets until the pile runs out would only be a temporary remedy. So if I was fully prepped and had extra dollars available, I'd focus on skills and tools that make valuable commodities while increasing my self-sufficiency rather than stockpiling the commodities themselves (i.e. woodworking tools, mechanical tools, a sawmill, a tractor, an outdoor bread oven, a greenhouse, etc.).

[damoc]

i thought about this also and there will always be something someone has or can get that could be of use.

labor, i would want to expand ponds and fields and firewood and i would welcome
a barter of labor for some extra food i may be able to produce.

currently unutilised or underutilised resources such as acorns,blackberrie brambles
roadside grasses/grains are currently not worth harvesting but in hard times this would likely change.
there are a couple of areas along roadsides where i live just full of wild oats and rye and oak to someone looking
for food or a barter comodity they would be valuable.

water carriers firewood merchants outside of the cities even just a small
distance there are many resources that non preppers could quickly learn
to use,sell or barter

some of the non preppers may have skills we may need like medical skills

in a total collapse becoming a recycler could be something you could trade
many non preppers have the ability to pull apart a car now.

even the ability to tranport is a barter comodity especiall if it saves me going to town

but agree only stock what you need,can use or produce

[GoldenCityMuse]

The assumption that those who prep will have all the items they need & want is not necessarily true. More likely, there are people [like me] in various stages of preparing, who due to time & financial constraints have not got all they want to yet. So if there is a calamity, they will still be short some of the items they want.

Another point is that sometimes you can find a bargain on a quantity on certain items. So you buy them, with the idea of selling them online, or at flea markets, etc. But then if there is a collapse during that time, they still have their stock of items, that they now use to barter with others who have different things they wnat and need.

Situations change, circumstances differ, and remembere, this board is but a supremely tiny slice of the prep community as a whole, & those who have all they need are in the minority. I enjoy their thoughts and feedback, but we can differ and still not be wrong in this instance.

[manygoatsnmore]

Good point, Slick. I do not keep around a lot of stuff JUST for barter, but I am sure that I have extras of some things that other preppers would find useful, and I do not have everything I need to be fully prepped for whatever may come...does anyone, really?

[Riverrat]

I stock what I need. I figure if I need it then others will as well. My tools and other equipment are just for me. The skills I have are what I will have to barter with. I have some seeds put up, if you want to eat, then you can help grow the garden. That is how I plan on barting, and that will be mainly with family and friends who live close to me.

[Saffron]

As far as bartering - Where I live, several "like-minded" individuals/families have put plans in place and are currently doing a dry-run, as it were, to see how it will work.

Basically, each "member" of the barter group brings something different to the table that the member is highly skilled in doing, where others would need that skill. IE: one member is an excellent hunter/tanner, another member has a large flock of chickens and some dairy cows. The chicken owner wants deer meat or tanned skin for clothes, and the hunter wants eggs and milk. A barter situation.
Or two members have large garden areas - both plant standard gardens, but half of the field is a dedicated crop - one may have tomatoes and one may have beans - so a barter situation between them can happen as well as for others who do not have enough garden area or cannot - such as the hunter. The hunter gets vegies and the gardeners get meat.

The most difficult part is decided how "valuable" the services/products are. The greedy get thinned.

You should be able to maintain your family - but having skills is also important - especially if you have needed skills that many people are clueless about. The main problem is finding others with items you would need/want. Setting a plan in place with like-minded others is something to start now.

[Aohtee]

Saffron,

I'm curious as to how you found and organized the "like-minded individuals".

Unless you feel you've already given too much information. I would understand the need for silence.

I definitely agree with knowing with whom and for what you will be bartering before you have the need to.

[texican]

I reckon I'd barter with people that I know, people that I feel will be around for the long run, people that can generally take care of themselves.

People I'd not barter with, people with entitlement issues, issues with law enforcement, drug and alcohol addicts, leeches, lazy people, and probably a lot more if I thought about it. First off, I don't even want these people anywhere near me, or even know of my existence. Let some ne'er do well on your place, let them find out You have something and they have nothing, and then you have a whole nother set of problems... Then it's not bartering they come back for, but for everything you own.

Never let a stray in, they're hard to get rid of. (we have a few strays around the place right now... they're in, tight, and probably won't leave).