subject: Unlock The Secrets Of Barter Pricing [print this page] With bartering gaining in popularity as the economy continues its downturn, its entirely possible that youve decided that youd like to give barter a try. Perhaps you have a skill that you know is worth something in trade. Alternatively, maybe youve just had a baby graduate to toddler-hood, and youre dying to clean out the nursery and rid yourself of the extra clutter. The only problem is, youve never engaged in barter before and you have no idea where to begin in terms of pricing your goods or services. As with all new things, they seem difficult and intimidating until you know what youre doing. After that, youre in for smooth sailing. After learning a few basic rules about barter pricing, youll be ready to jump on the barter bandwagon and find out what all of your friends already know: barter is not only fun, its profitable!
The golden rule of barter pricing is that you must put a barter price on your good or service that is equivalent to its cash value. In other words, if you are bartering your services as a web designer, you may not ask for a car in exchange. Clearly, that would be overvaluing and overinflating your service. The safest and easiest thing to do is to set a cash value price in your mind for that which you want to barter, and then figure out what a reasonable trade would be.
If you find yourself involved in a situation in which someone in your barter club is clearly overinflating prices or values, it is obviously best to avoid engaging that person as a barter partner. It might also be appropriate to contact the broker or arbitrator of your barter club in order to apprise them of the situation.
If you truly do have a good or service that you think might be worth more than fair market value, many barter clubs have an auction site. This site would be the correct venue for you to list that particular good or service. Always remember that what you are offering for barter is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it, barter-wise. As with all things, the market will let you know what it will bear.
Once youve been bartering for a short while, the pricing aspect of barter will become second nature to you. So what are you waiting for? Go clean out a room! Assess your skill set! Begin to put a barter value to the things you have and the things you can do and go out and barter!
