Bartering is Back!

Before the invention of money, people traded goods and services through a system known as bartering. (Here is a very interesting history of bartering and money for your educational enjoyment). Bartering dates back as far as the caveman. "I need a blackberries and you need fish, I have fish and you have blackberries, let's trade!"

After the creation of the monetary system, bartering took a backseat as a way to get the things we needed. But bartering is making a comeback these days, as history shows it has done every time money became more scarce.

If you enjoy the idea of bartering as much as I do, I'd like to pass along to you a couple of sites where you can put the bartering system to work for you. One of the best ones I found is Swaptree, where you can trade your books, CDs, movies and games. A site similar to Swaptree is Book Mooch. Oh heck, here's the whole list I found of bartering sites!

Here is also a site I really like where you can sell or trade your unwanted items, very similar to what Mercardi.com does on their site with gift cards.

Bartering is fun, so get busy trading your blackberries for my fish!