Contra Trade - How to Trade Goods and Services in a Modern World
August 27, 2009
have always been drawn to the idea of the medieval old timey marketplace. The kind where the farmer hauls his wagon of goods and trades for things like tools, clothing or other farmed goods with his own products. There is something very quaint and grass roots about goods being used as currency.
The biggest issue with doing this in a modern setting is valuation and how to trade good that are not equal value. I have found that this can be overcome in a few different ways. The first and most important thing is to have open and clear communication between the two parties regarding value and timelines. Most problems involved with a trade for goods can be solved by communicating clearly the expectations of both parties.
The goods or services of both parties involved in the trade need to be evaluated like they normally would for a sale. In some cases it is best to even go to the trouble of writing up invoices for what you intend to trade, even if you do not intended to technically “invoice” each other. When your dealing with unequal trades you need to make sure that the remained of the trade is logged properly and paid out either in the further trade or a dollar value payout.
Despite really liking the idea of trading for goods and being very open to it we at Concrete Cat have not traded goods very often. We have found that the biggest issue with trading goods is not really knowing where to start. It is a good practice when trading goods to think outside the box. First start by thinking of what profession you and your partner are in, next think of any collections you might have that would be interesting to the other party, art, furniture, antiques are all good starts for something you might like to trade with. Again with the trade of second hand goods it is a good idea to have some sort of supporting documentation as to what you feel a fair valuation of your goods might be, I find that even a search of “completed listings” in eBay can really help value a second hand item and give you an idea of what it is sell for.
I know this is not much but I hope that these few tips can help encourage you to try trading goods and services. As it currently stands here at Concrete Cat we are open to trading for art, vintage dive watches, store credits and who knows what else, try us we just might get lucky! We would love to trade more concrete counter tops and concrete here in Edmonton or even Calgary or Vancouver.
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