I have been mulling this idea over for some time now, and given recent events here, I thought that just maybe you guys would be interested as it could create more 'traffic' and appeal to people out there who have a sense of community.

As some of you know I attend various carboots and farmers markets. The face of carboots has changed over the years, there are market traders and businesses who can no longer afford rental prices for their premises or market pitches, so are a growing number of stalls you will find at such events.

One of the projects I was advocating at the couple of meet ups I arranged was forming a network of people up and down the county to kick off bartering in their local community.

I have decided to take the bull by the horns and am going to put up little notices in local newsagent etc just with my contact number for people to come along to an initial barter market meeting. People don't have to trade goods, they can trade their services. The thing is, even at carboots people are going about looking for what I call 'the bathroom taps'. The only people who seem to be making any reasonable income now are the folks running these events.

So, how's this going to work? Well there are plenty of barter websites out there where people usually advertise their services and what they want in exchange. However, they tend to be one off things...like wanting to get their living room decorated in exchange for whatever it is they can offer. The other problem is, they are not very regional and usually very few people.

The idea of getting your car pre mot checked/serviced in exchange for some english lessons for your kiddly winky seems like a win win situation to me. Or maybe getting your haircut a couple of times in exchange for a massage or a mitmo or some essential oils in my case. It's all very well having these websites out there...but they are just not popular enough....yet!

So I was thinking, I would like to direct anybody I get in touch with to come and register here, and with a bit of computer wizadry already done by whoever is going to be doing that, register their service or items they can continually supply here on SZ under their relevant county in The Zone market place. Then, as I have noticed (which I don't fully understand ) when searches are made SZ will crop up as part of that.

On a local level, I am hoping that there will be people out there that have empty garages, know of places that are privately owned but not used that we can use on a regular basis. My neighbour is going to ask his boss if we can use the staff carpark at weekends...if you don't ask, you don't get! I just need to get just one place as a meet up point and the ball will roll. Legally, there is no comeback from the authorities as no money is being exchanged. There is no come back off trading standards as long as there is no 'illegal' goods (or services) being exchanged.

Lets throw a couple of examples from current members out there...just to get your creative juices flowing. Thoreau...craft goods, Dawney...saxaphone(?) lessons, mikey...English lessons, andy...computer lessons, any car mechanics amongst you? Hairdressers, painters/decorators, plumbers, gardeners, What you need for your services could be just a bag of groceries up to a straight swap with another in your locality.

Now, just in case some of you think this is a pipe dream...I have already tested this out. Over the last couple of weeks I have had a wee notice on my table simply saying "Barter accepted here"....I have already bartered, and I have got some pending! In fact, forget the monetary 'value', and life is already beginning to look rosie. I've had a couple of jobs done...my patio doors have been fixed along with a garden post that supports some trellising replaced (I thankfully already had a spare post) in exchange for a reflexology treatment, I have bartered a mobile phone cover (knitted by my own fair hand ) for some incense charcoal briquettes, I have got a couple of christmas gifts sorted in exchange for some fingerless mits/mobile covers/wot-not bags. It all started with neighbours giving me some tomato and lettuce seeds and only wanting the odd lettuce and bags of tomatoes during the summer. Knowing what I have in the pipeline, I could very well be in a position later this winter where my grocery bill will get halved! Can't be bad!

So what say you guys? Are you up to getting yourselves and what you can offer on here? And you must have friends who for the sake of 5 minutes registering and posting their services who wouldn't mind at least giving it a go.
How about throwing the net further afield....get a small group of people together...network, chat to your local butcher, baker and candlestick maker....

Trading bridges
Jane

Actually at least myself and dubs are car mechanics.

Distance knocks it all on the head a bit tbh. Locals a winner.

I know my dad does carboots so I can sympathise with what you say there for sure.

Thanks boss.
So is there any way the Trade Zone can be set up by county, and perhaps other places in the world say by country?
I hope you and dubs might consider putting your mechanical skills up for barter?

Jane

Well there's no-one who lives near me on here, thats what I meant

I see this sort of thing naturally occurring if the economy declines anyway btw.

jane, i do like the idea and i'm behind it.
for me it doesnt go quite far enuff. i'd like to see people just giving eachother stuff. i get that most wont go for that though so barter is a good step.

dubmeup wrote:
I'm not sure whether or not everybody knows about the Zone, here, where people can also give / barter things amongst ourselves. I just thought I'd mention it because I didn't spot it myself till Mrs Pumpshaft brought up a similar idea (for the site, rather than outside communities) and one of the admin pointed it out.

tbh i bet the trade zone is one of the things that caused.frog frustration. very few of us have used it. lets give it some energy in honour of all the work he put in...

andyh wrote:
Your first sentence....did you miss this bit...
"I have decided to take the bull by the horns and am going to put up lit­tle notices in local newsagent etc just with my con­tact num­ber for peo­ple to come along to an ini­tial barter mar­ket meet­ing. Peo­ple don’t have to trade goods, they can trade their ser­vices."

and this bit....
"So I was think­ing, I would like to direct any­body I get in touch with to come and reg­is­ter here, and with a bit of com­puter wiz­adry already done by who­ever is going to be doing that, reg­is­ter their ser­vice or items they can con­tin­u­ally sup­ply here on SZ under their rel­e­vant county in The Zone mar­ket place. "

Second part....this....
"even at car­boots peo­ple are going about look­ing for what I call ‘the bath­room taps’."
and this....
"I have already tested this out. Over the last cou­ple of weeks I have had a wee notice on my table sim­ply say­ing “Barter accepted here”.…I have already bartered, and I have got some pend­ing!"
So yes it is growing, so why not grab that 'growth market' and get it on here?

I know with everything that has happened you have a lot on your plate andy, but I was only trying to help the ethos, community spirit and diversity of SZ.

I can't totally agree with dubs just giving stuff/services away....yes in certain cases, but not in a greater scheme of things at the moment. Maybe eventually that would work, but we have to walk before we can run. We have to wean people with itty bitty steps, and not expect to throw them in the deep end and expect them to swim gracefully and with ease.

Hey ho,

Jane

They are some good avenues to go down, whether they pay off, remains to be seen.
Go for it.

silvershine wrote:
half a pound of butter, a loaf of bread and a pint of milk...oh and a shave!
Thank you Silvershine

Jane

angelchemuel wrote:
I'm nowhere near your newsagents lol
I can't see anyone getting their car towed several hundred miles and across a ferry for me to fix it here unless the garage labour rates over there really are getting bad

andyh wrote:
I am not sure whether you are just being silly, taking the piss, trying to wind me up or truly and honestly missing the point?

Jane

angelchemuel wrote:
I've noticed that many women seem to be under the crazy impression that men have some kind of hidden message or meaning to their words...its you lot who invented poetry ya know



I'm not having a go at what you're doing at all, I'm just saying don't expect anyone to take me up on car repairs or for that matter me to take up anyone over there on anything tbh. I already trade with people in my locality just as I always have done, sometimes for money, sometimes for barter. C'est la vie.

There was no point for me to take off yourself and only the point I'm hundreds of miles away that you've completely ignored.
I didn't want to have to be captain obvious but needs must I spose

Just an extract from wot you rote....
"I already trade with peo­ple in my local­ity just as I always have done, some­times for money, some­times for barter."

And there it is!....So if you already barter with some folk there...get them to post under whichever part of Ireland you are in in The Zone market place...in turn they too might be bartering with other folk other than your good self...ask them to get those folks to register here too...and so it grows! On top of that...why not just find out from those you are already bartering with who else barters in your area, see if they would be interested in having a barter market.



Jane

angelchemuel wrote:
They already have one here, its the irish grapevine
Not that grapes would grow here...