Help me understand the barter economy

I keep seeing ads on craigslist for trade only. I just emailed a guy about a motorcycle asking for his cash price and he said that he didn't want to sell it - trade only. I don't have a trade, but want his motorcycle. Being a Econ major, I wanted to explain how money was invented to ease these types of transactions, but maybe I am missing something? Is there a government conspiracy going on that he is trying to protect himself from?

I too see this all the time. I figure they watched that faked TV show and figure they are going to turn their item into a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house.

If they trade, no money can be traced to anybody. But then again, if you are trading, you can be out a good product for a bad one.

I've done parts trades before and I kind of enjoy it, mostly Porsche wheels in exchange for other Porsche parts that I know I can sell for more than the wheels were worth. But cash is still king.

I've also traded beer for a motorcycle engine, which I subsequently traded to someone else for more beer. GRM'ers were involved on both ends of the transaction...

But... a motorcycle must have a title in order to be registered for road use. So, by definition, the gov't knows a transaction took place.

I always assume "trade" is code for "hand-whammies."

Depending on the item, I'd assume one might be able to negotiate that into a mouth hug.

poopshovel wrote: I always assume "trade" is code for "hand-whammies."

[sigh] I thought I had heard a rumor that you Hongs got a major driveline component (don't recall if it was an engine or a transmission) by bartering a bag of pork rinds and a case of Natty Light. I thought that was awesome.

just ask them how much cash you'd have to trade them for the item they are selling..

Ask them what kind of trade they're open to. Then ask them to show you a Craigslist add that appeals to them. Buy said object and then trade?

to the OP's topic, i also see it as both limiting and borderline retarded. for example, right now there's a car i want that's listed in the motorcycle section because the seller wants to trade for a specific type of motorcycle. i only found it because it's on my weekly list of things i type into the search field on the front page of CL. looking in "cars and trucks -- by owner" would not have found it.

i sent the seller a text (his preferred comms) stating clearly "what's the cash price? i don't have a bike to trade." and have gotten no reply.

I tried this with a '94 325is, no sunroof, no VANOS car. A decent one. None of you asshammers would trade me anything for it. Literally, not a single offer. Not even insulting ones. So I traded it for cash. It took 2 days to sell.

From this I conclude there is no barter economy.

there is a barter club in Chicago and I know a guy who benefits. It usually works well for owners of small business's.

Barter Bob will give you a used copier from his copier business. You as the dentist gives his family a bunch of dental work. That is what I have seen work best.

Your scenario always tends to boggle my mind.

Ranger50 wrote: If they trade, no money can be traced to anybody. But then again, if you are trading, you can be out a good product for a bad one.

Cash.

You know that thing where people try to trade from a pencil up to a TV? It can work. When we were in middle school, a bunch of us went door to door trying to trade stuff. I think we worked up from a box of paperclips to a fairly nice stereo. I've always thought about putting something I don't need up on craigslist "for trade" and seeing what i get.

In reply to mtn:

Good plan, could be fun. But would you turn down a fair cash offer for it?

My original post was about a old 1980's dirt bike with no title. I think that it is worth $500. I have $500. I expected a response along the lines of - $500 is acceptable or I need this many dollars for it. Not " not for sale - trade only"

Rusnak_322 wrote: In reply to mtn: Good plan, could be fun. But would you turn down a fair cash offer for it? My original post was about a old 1980's dirt bike with no title. I think that it is worth $500. I have $500. I expected a response along the lines of - $500 is acceptable or I need this many dollars for it. Not " not for sale - trade only"

Depends. If it was something cheap, probably not. If we were into the thousands of dollars, maybe. Also depends on what my bank account looks like

Ask him what he wants to trade for, and go out and buy $500 worth of that?

The 'trade only' for vehicles is understandable if it's the person's only DD. It's hard to go looking for a new DD when you have to -gasp- walk to check out another used car to purchase.

JoeyM wrote:

poopshovel wrote: I always assume "trade" is code for "hand-whammies."

[sigh] I thought I had heard a rumor that you Hongs got a major driveline component (don't recall if it was an engine or a transmission) by bartering a bag of pork rinds and a case of Natty Light. I thought that was awesome.

HAHA! Yeah, that was the transmission for the superturd. A buddy in Chatt. had one with a stuck axle that he was willing to give up for free. Couldn't get out there to pick it up, so he and his wife dropped it off at the house and we had beer and (a 5 pound bag of) Dr. Poop's world-famous hot wings as payment.

Wayne traded a race-jack for the car itself, which was in need of a transmission and causing drama with my buddy Mike's landlord.

poopshovel wrote:

JoeyM wrote:

poopshovel wrote: I always assume "trade" is code for "hand-whammies."

[sigh] I thought I had heard a rumor that you Hongs got a major driveline component (don't recall if it was an engine or a transmission) by bartering a bag of pork rinds and a case of Natty Light. I thought that was awesome.

HAHA! Yeah, that was the transmission for the superturd. A buddy in Chatt. had one with a stuck axle that he was willing to give up for free. Couldn't get out there to pick it up, so he and his wife dropped it off at the house and we had beer and (a 5 pound bag of) Dr. Poop's world-famous hot wings as payment. Wayne traded a race-jack for the car itself, which was in need of a transmission and causing drama with my buddy Mike's landlord.

You guys are rockstars!

poopshovel wrote: I always assume "trade" is code for "hand-whammies."

I have learned something new today.

Is it his only form of transportation? Sometimes i deal with cars where the person can't afford to have downtime to get another vehicle even if they have cash in their hand from the transaction. They just want totrade for another running vehicle that fits their needs better. That said, the right amount of cash changes anybodys mind.

Being an '80's dirtbike with no title and a value of $500 or less, I imagine its less "I've got no other transportation" and more "I want something different, but I don't want to do any work to find something different myself, so find it for me and you can have what I've got". At least in this case.

I always assume that they want something equally cool, and they don't imagine getting enough cash from the deal to go buy something that cool.

I also think that with a trade you're less likely to feel like you took a loss. AKA spending $10k to build a car and selling it for $5k, compared to trading it for a car someone else spent $10k building.

Personally, I'll take cash

do you know what they are looking to trade? maybe you can find what they want for $100 and trade it to them.

i don't understand either. i put up a 3 wheeler for trade and when people asked my cash price i told them.