100 Barter-able Skills and Services

In our everyday lives, if we need something done we usually break out the wallet or credit card and take care of the problem.  It's coming to the point for many people, however, that they need other options besides cash or credit, to obtain the things they want and need.  Enter the concept of bartering.
Bartering has been used for centuries and only went away from common use within the last century or so.  These days many people feel uncomfortable with the concept of bartering (not ALL people as many communities have thriving underground bartering networks).  Among the issues: they think they lack anything to trade, they are uncomfortable with the whole process, they don't know how to approach people about a trade, etc.
While much of the bartering process simply requires a bit of nerve and people skills, you will also need something (or many somethings) to trade.  Note that trading things--like a rifle or a car or something smaller--is perfectly fine for bartering but once the item is gone, it's gone.  With skills and services you can barter these things repeatedly.  Here are 100 barterable skills and services that many people are happy to trade for:

1. Car repair
2. Sewing
3. Computer repair
4. Computer setup and networking
5. Construction
6. Plumbing
7. Electrical work
8. Finish carpentry
9. Tree trimming/cutting
10. Butchering
11. Food production (meat, vegetables, fruit, etc)
12. Cooking/baking
13. Babysitting
14. Elderly sitting
15. Dog walking
16. Website design
17. Doctor
18. Nurse
19. Home health aid
20. Home improvement (build deck, clean gutters, etc)
21. Yard maintenance
22. Fire wood
23. Legal services
24. Dentistry
25. Logging/lumber
26. Hair cutting
27. Party/wedding planning
28. Tutoring
29. Teaching (dance, music, English, etc)
30. Furniture making
31. Reloading ammo
32. Artist (painting, sculpting, etc)
33. Animal husbandry/animal breeding
34. Well drilling
35. Heavy equipment operator
36. Foraging/dumpster diving
37. Wine making/beer brewing
38. Defensive skills training (karate, tactical shooting, etc)
39. Welding
40. Gunsmithing
41. Veterinarian services
42. Food procurement (hunting, fishing)
43. Small appliance repair
44. Electronics repair
45. Watch repair
46. Soap making
47. Candle making
48. Photographer
49. Musician
50. Writer
51. Video making/editing
52. Midwifery
53. Herbalist
54. Educator (how-to on any of these listed topics)
55. Land surveyor
56. Tax preparation
57. Accounting
58. Architect
59. Sports coaching
60. Fitness trainer
61. Software/app developer
62. Aircraft mechanic
63. Heavy equipment mechanic
64. Dental hygienist
65. HVAC repair
66. Interpreting
67. Locksmith
68. Parts machinist
69. Blacksmith
70. Residential/commercial painting
71. Sheet metal working
72. Iron working
73. Transportation (driver, boat captain, etc)
74. Auto painting/body work
75. Mining
76. Masseuse
77. Nail tech (manicure/pedicure)
78. Private detective
79. Security guard/body guard
80. Houskeeper/maid
81. Bicycle repair
82. Ministering (conduct weddings, funerals, etc)
83. Graphic arts
84. Flooring installer/cabinet installer/appliance installer
85. Glazier services
86. Masonry 
87. Tool and die maker
88. Pet grooming/boarding
89. Screen printing
90. Hauling/moving
91. Reselling
92. Bee keeping
93. Cheesemaking
94. Septic system design/installation
95. Security system design/installation
96. Spinning/textiles/making cloth/quilting/kniting
97. Canning/smoking/other food preservation
98. Producing electricity from solar/water/wind
99. Bee keeping
100. Skilled clean up (crime scenes, mold, after a disaster, chemical spill, etc)

When the Economy is Going to Hell, The Barterers Get Busy

I came across this article about how bartering in Greece has exploded since their economy has tanked.  Then I thought about what I could write about bartering.  Then it dawned on me that bartering is something so interwoven in my life that, it turns out, even though I don't stop and think about what I do as bartering, it is done nearly as much as working for actual cash.  The list of things I have received in trade for my skills includes dental work, food, construction labor, construction materials, karate lessons, tools, firearms, books, dental work for the spouse, dance lessons for the kids, cars, housing, airline tickets, etc.
I come by my bartering skills from my grandfather.  He was a horse trader (literally) from way back, and bartering--trading for good and services--was something he did as naturally as breathing.  He was a welder by trade but fully half of the items he acquired (guns, tools, horses, guitars, furniture, et al) were via trade.  It didn't seem so unusual to us kids because in the country, that is just how things got done (bought) since cash was often scarce but hard workers were plentiful.
Here's how to get started with your own bartering:
Once you have a skill/item/service you can provide (and that can be everything from unskilled labor to highly skilled legal/medical/dental work), you are ready to get busy bartering.  All it takes is to talk with others and/or pay attention to conversations (mostly your own but also those of strangers) and when you hear someone has a need, simply ask if you can help them out.  The conversation may go like this:
--Stranger #1: "My parents just got into town and they expect me to unload their moving van."
--Stranger #2: "That sounds like hard work dude...wish I could help you out but I am busy all weekend (week, month)."
--Stranger #1: "Yep, I'm sure that's gonna throw my back out for the rest of the month but I can't afford to pay someone to do it--tough economy you know--so I guess I'll have to do it myself."
--You: "Excuse me but I couldn't help overhearing your conversation...small coffee shop you know...but I would be happy to trade you my labor unloading your truck if you are interested."
--Stranger #1: "Sounds great but I don't have anything to trade."
--You: "What kind of work do you do?"
--Stranger #1: "I'm just a paper pusher, I work for the tax firm down the street."
--You: "Well I could definitely use some help.  My taxes are due next month and I haven't even got started on them.  They aren't complicated and I would be happy to unload your truck if you want to do my taxes."
--Stranger #1: :Deal!"
It works the same way when you see someone who has a skill/service/item you need.  You simply mention that you would like (a deck built, your car fixed, an apple pie) then mention that while you don't have much money, you can do (whatever you can do, of commensurate value) and ask if the person would like to trade you.  Since more and more people are struggling these days--people who have skills/services/items often don't have so many clients coming in these days and people who need said skills/services/items don't have very much money--a bartering arrangement looks better to all parties.
So your next assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to go forth and barter.  Even if the deal is only worth 50 cents, at least you have taken a small step towards jumping into the game of bartering.  And if you need inspiration, check out this book about a guy who started by trading a red paperclip and ended up with a house (and a lot of adventures along the way).

Bartering 101

I don’t have to tell you that the economy is in the tank right now. Even the price of a pizza has risen dramatically because the cost of flour to make the dough has tripled over the past year. Of course there are ways to save money, and the option of doing without, but if there is something you really want and money is tight, consider bartering.Although bartering has been going on since forever, it has, over the past few decades, become less and less of a necessity as most people earned the money to just go out and buy what they needed and wanted without having to develop the skill or the social connections to get things without the exchange of funds. Here’s a few ways to get you onto the path to successful bartering:

• Read ‘One Red Paperclip’. This book about how a man started with a paperclip and traded it until he ended up with a HOUSE will make you inspired.
• Make a list of your assets, skills and resources. Include everything from the flowers in your garden and your power auger to your ability to bake bread and your friend who installs windows. All of these items may come in handy in the future when you put your bartering plan together.
• Start small. If you see that the neighbor has a kiddie pool which never gets used, offer to mow their yard in exchange for the pool that your children will enjoy. Starting small, with people you know, will build your confidence to move on to bigger challenges.
• Make sure every exchange is equitable, fair and enjoyable for all. Bartering means everyone is pleased with the exchange and a network is developed for future exchanges. Feelings of being taken advantage of, one-uped, or making a bad deal will kill your barter network faster than anything else.
• Look to expand your bartering network by checking out the barter section of the local newspaper or Craigslist.
• When making a trade, base the value of the item traded not on the retail cost you would pay at Macys but on the true value of the item to you and your trading partner, the amount of service the item would provide you, or the hourly wage it would take to earn the item at its true value. The very fact of bartering means you don’t have to take into account overhead costs, advertising costs, and other expenses that inflate the cost of an item.
• After you get your bartering feet wet, consider more complicated trades. Need concrete work done but your friend only does windows? Consider trading your plumbing skill to the window guy who then does the window installation for the concrete layer who then provides his concrete services to you. Get the idea?

Bartering is fun, valuable, and a lost art that really needs a resurgence, especially in our current economy.

CNI Challenge #9--Barter for Something Big

Old fashioned trading and bartering, for many people, has gone the way of the covered wagon. It's quaint, it seems, but no longer necessary. As money gets tighter for many people, I'm hoping to see a resurgence of this lost art. The challenge here is to barter or trade for something you need. I'm not talking a trade of corn for tomatoes--it needs to be something fairly substantial. If you want to learn how a man started off his bartering project with one red paper clip and eventually, through many trades, ended up with a house, read "One Red Paperclip" by Kyle MacDonald. You can also find his blog at http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/ Other useful information on bartering can be found at http://www.u-exchange.com/barter101. Give it a try! Bartering can be a fun, rewarding way to acquire the things you need while helping others to get the things they need.
p.s. My biggest barter was for teeth. A friend's mom needed dentures but he couldn't afford them. He was, however, in the business of installing flooring so we found a dentist who needed flooring to pull the mom's teeth and a guy who made dentures who's son needed flooring to make the dentures and, just like that, mama had new teeth.