The Art Of Bartering Is Not Dead Yet, or is it?

[Stevester 500E]

I have read a couple of articles on bartering and it seems some people think the art of bartering is dead and some think it is not.

As a Mercedes enthusiast, I have done a little bit of bartering, but it seems like bartering is declining.

A very simple explanation is:
With the advent of various ways to sell items on the web and the access to world wide buyers, cash is still king.

If one owns an Inverted Jenny stamp, you don't offer to trade it, correct?
You sell it for cash and buy other stamps of your liking.

 

[JC220]

I wouldn’t say the art of bartering is dead. Perhaps some of our current younger generation couldn’t be bothered but for most people it’s AOK and almost expected to negociate over the price of certain items. Primarily in the purchasing of cars or car parts IMO.

If dealing with any foreign buyers then the use of Paypal is pretty much a must. It has opened up a whole new league of buyers since people can quickly and easily trade between countries with little worry of being ripped off. But there is a major caveat to that. Never, ever send a payment as “to a friend” to avoid the fees as this method means you have zero chance of recourse if something goes wrong. Paypal also lock this funding method to come from your bank (Or maybe paypal balance too im not sure) meaning you could not claw it back via a credit card company either. So be careful out there. Cash IS king for local transactions and I wouldnt have it any other way.

I do occasionally also trade parts for parts but not very often.

Bartering is very much one of my best skills to keep my fleet alive. Just yesterday I saved about $150 USD over a couple of used parts bundle deals I haggled in the local yards. Those little savings add up each month to go towards other purchases.

[video=youtube;u75XQdTxZRc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u75XQdTxZRc[/video]

 

[gerryvz]

I do not accept PayPal payments where I have to "eat" someone's fee. I refund the payment back to them and make them re-send it. A seller should not have to pay fees.

 

[Ntrepid]

+eleventybillion


Robert

 

[JC220]

I do not accept PayPal payments where I have to "eat" someone's fee. I refund the payment back to them and make them re-send it. A seller should not have to pay fees.

If you know and 100 percent trust the individual then you can send as friends or family. But in any other circumstance I send a little extra money via the normal option for goods or services to cover their fee’s and protect myself in the process.

As a seller for many items myself I do accept PayPal in the normal manner along with the fee’s as well if I do not know the person as that’s what I would expect myself. For members on here it’s not an issue and as a friend payment method is AOK.

I did get burned once buying an item overseas which did not turn up. I found that when going into my Paypal account there isn’t even an option to flag up or dispute a payment to friends or family. Just a notice pops up to say it is impossible to recall this payment in any way. It is just a polite heads up for people trading online – of course there are exceptions to every rule!

 

[JC220]

A prime example is if you were buying something on Ebay orsimilar site and the vendor replies asking you to contact them to make PayPalpayment as a friend as it will be cheaper….. don’t do it! That’s how I wascaught out before and was simply not fully aware that the payment is as good asbye bye when sent that method as Paypal don’t want to know if a problem arises.

I think all members on here know each other enough to trade asa friend and that’s good – I don’t discourage that at all.

 

[Stevester 500E]

Does anyone remember the days when you could trade something for someone's labor?
Or trade labor for labor?

I guess bartering or trading aren't completely dead.
I still see car ads, from time time to time, that offer to trade, i.e., "will consider trading for a motor home". I wanted the car he was selling so bad that I went out an motor home. I called the guy back to see if we could trade, and the car was sold !

So, I have a motor home that I would consider trading for an old Ford Pinto....
Just kidding.

 

[LWB250]

I barter when I can. I have a real estate attorney for whom I do IT work for, and when I buy or sell a house I don’t pay a fee. It’s a casual arrangement we’ve had for years, and we’re both pretty comfortable with it.

As for PayPal, if it’s an unknown seller I pay the fees for a standard transaction. I don’t mind and consider it insurance.

As for CYA with PayPal, I do it this way:

Since they require a linked bank account, I have a separate account that is used for nothing but PayPal. It has no overdraft protection and is not linked to any other accounts. When I use PayPal I transfer the necessary funds into the account. If I pull funds from PayPal, I immediately transfer them out.

i do this as the result of a failed eBay transaction from a few years ago where a buyer had buyer’s remorse over a purchase and decided to file a claim against me. PayPal pulled the funds without notifying me, which really disturbed me. I swore that I would never let them do that again, so I set up the arrangement I currently use. This way I’ve got a linked bank account, but as I control the balance, they can try and debit me but will get nothing.

As for the fallback credit card account, the card is expired and I have a notification on file with the CC company blocking any charges from PayPal.

Their policies have morphed into something that favors the buyer to the point where the seller has almost no rights. When I realized this I decided this was the only way I could use them and feel protected.

Dan

 

[DerFuror]

Does anyone remember the days when you could trade something for someone's labor?
Or trade labor for labor?

I do it all the time. I recently borrowed a friend's VERY tall extension ladder for a few days so I could frolic about on my 12/12 pitch roof. I sharpened his lawn mower blade in exchange. I'll also trade away unwanted stuff for wanted stuff or to borrow stuff that I don't have to perform work I need to do.

It can be quite fun.

A noticeable segment of the digital generation lack the interpersonal skills that play the essential part of bartering. Living behind a device, many are missing out on developing an important life-skill & are sometimes taken advantage of because of it.

 

[northNH]

Back when I was a kid, my father occasionally needed to borrow a 24' extension ladder from our neighbor.
The neighbor, a cautious German like my father, would not lend it outright.
He would sell the ladder, with Bill of Sale, to my father for as long as he needed it, and buy it back for the same $20 when Pop was done and hadn't fallen off...