It seems that these days people do not want to pay for handmade stuff what they are worth. I have heard so many crafters say that they have to lower their price for someone to buy their products.
The reason isn’t rocket science! China now produces products at such a low cost that it nearly impossible to compete with them. People are after the next ‘sale’ or ‘good buy’ they can find. Any crafter will know that the time that they spend making their products will never equate to what they can sell it for. It does sadden me that people don’t always see the amount of love and time that is put into handmade products.
So I have been thinking of another way to share my products and skills and in turn help someone else. Bartering!
I know that there are many people that barter successfully all over the world, so….PIK ME, I want to try it!!
Funny when you are thinking of something you land up talking about it to everyone!
Luke 6:45(NIV)
45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
I have managed to have a few discussion about bartering and thus helping people around us in this week! Oh and I would like to claim that I don’t talk much, but I do, so might as well own up to it. I think then to clarify, they have been rather in-depth discussions.
I think it is best to first explain what bartering is:
Barter ˈbɑːtə
Verb: bartering
exchange (goods or services) for other goods or services without using money.
“he often bartered a meal for drawings”
synonyms: trade, swap, trade off, exchange, give in exchange, change
“peasants with a surplus of food could barter it for vital equipment”
I have to clear that bartering is not going to make you rich with money but it will make you rich in value. If bartering is done correctly you should be able to meet all your needs and maybe some more. I also don’t think that bartering is just about us getting what we want, but enriching and helping other people who do not have monitory means to obtain goods. Please note that I am not discouraging “giving” as I believe this is a vital part of what our purpose is, but I do love that we are able to empower people to use their abilities to obtain goods.
Bartering has become a way to trade for people in countries whose money systems are failing, such as Zimbabwe. You are able to get goods and services which you would never get by using the money you have. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to not think of money and just barter what you have for what you need. One of the problems is that we have ascribed a value to what we have to barter with and thus will not barter without the value being met.
I am pretty sure that we wouldn’t be able to barter and survive outside our economic system, but I am sure there must be a space for bartering creatively for goods and services where I am. Would that allow me to cut out the “middle man” and receive some services/products without the extra mark-up? Would that allow the person with a creative skill to make and barter with a product for something else they can’t afford with money?
The one limitation of bartering is that you need to find someone that has what you want and is prepared to barter with it. And so “bartering websites” and “facebook community sites” are born. I am currently part of a community site that offers “swopping” as one of the trades but I see very little of that happening. Can we trade in a society that just “wants, wants, wants” and is driven by how much they can get for a buck? How do you put a value on your product you want to barter? Can you trust the other barter???
I think we can barter successfully, if we can all get on the same page. It is not about making anybody rich, but fulfilling needs and maybe some wants…helping people that might only have a skill to barter with.
Do you have something that I want? Would you like to barter? I am hoping that I will be able to write another post someday of some successful bartering that I have done.
Get your creative juices flowing and find someone that wants to trade with you….how much richer our lives can be when we look for ways to enrich others and not just ourselves.
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