I was ready to jump at the opportunity myself, and I just didn't jump quick enough.

love
riker
or hugs, kisses and all the other things, if you prefer

-- Modified on 7/19/2002 10:20:27 PM

And in a hobbiest barter town, sometimes one party does not pay up.  

Had bartered to deliver flowers to a providers every week or so.  After two months worth and several hundred dollars of material, got nada out of it.  My own time spent was considered free, and damn did i spend alot.  At least she enjoyed them. Oh well, a good lesson about trust to file away....I know some people would call it stupidity, losing money and time.  Some would consider this a ROB, but I see it more as a bad decision on my part, should of stopped when the signs were evident.  

Sweetysable seeing how your deal went, i'm thinking i should have been a photographer.

I have done some bartering, and all went well.

I also initiated the barter. Actually I wish I could do more of it.

If both are fully in agreement then why not.

Just my thought.

Hugs,
Tammy

I know a provider who bartered for work on her house.  She was very dissatisfied with the work.  It became a big hassle.  She threatened to call his wife if he didn't make it right (this is what she told me!). Too messy, don't you think?

Sweet Sable,  I'd love to barter with you. I am offering three hours of fantastic DATY. What will you offer in return?

but I (as a hobbyist) would not initiate the idea with a provider unless I had been a long-time client and felt extremely comfortable doing so or unless she introduced the idea.  The hobbyist bringing-up this idea could be seen as "negotiating", which I will not do with this sort of transaction.

I absolutely agree that barter can be great if both parties are equipped with sufficient information about the other one's skills and market rates.  As a result, it probably only makes sense when arranged between two parties that know each other fairly well.

As an example, I am an expert on digital video and computer imaging technology.  A lady that I had seen several times was looking to get a Digital Video recorder, and have it set up on her computer system, so that she could record, edit, and improve upon her personal workout and dance routines.  

If left to her own, she'd have spent over $1000 on equipment, and still not have had anyone install it for her, and show her how to use the stuff.  And, to make matters worse, she probably would not have gotten all the correct stuff to interface properly with her particular computer, and do what she needed it to do.  Through my industry contacts, I was able to get a good set of equipment (brand new) for under $600, and I installed it for her, and showed her how to use it.  This involved around 3 hours of my time, and tapped into my knowledge base, which she could have not gotten at any cost in a consumer appliance store.

In exchange, she spent a weekend with me.  It is actually a bit of gray area as to who initiated the barter.  I did not do it directly, but I hinted at it.  It was her who actually proposed it.  Before this could have happened, she needed to know that that I had the specialized knowledge skill that would be useful to her, and I needed to know that she actually would benefit from this.  I would not have brought it up directly, but I did make it clear that I would be happy to do it for her.  I had already seen her for several lengthy dates (including a week-long vacation together).  In the course of our prior interraction during our trip together, she mentioned that she was looking at buying a certain Camcorder (one which I considered obsolete and way over-priced).  And it was quite obvious that she would have ended up wasting a bunch of time and money in the process.  So I started to drop hints about how she shouldn't get that unit, there were better ones available for her needs for half the price, all the while probing how she'd be using it, and how she'd get it installed, and exactly what capabilities she needed and why.  It was clear that she didn't initially have that figured out, but that I could help her.  In her mind, she was looking at spending $1000-$1200 and not knowing if she'd get what she needed and how to use it.  I ended up spending $600 of my own money and 3 hours of my time, and in exchange got a whole weekend with her.  She got a system that did exactly what she was looking for, along with the training on how to use it.

But this couldn't have happened if we hadn't already spent a significant amount of time together, and she knew and trusted what I'd bring to the deal rather than cash.