Barter: To trade goods or services without the exchange of money.
If you’re short of cash and know you’re going to need some plumbing work done I recommend you place an ad on craigslist for bartering.
I can remember some wonderful days of bartering and items and other forms of payment that was fair and different.
When I worked on construction projects years ago I met many other craftsmen that were doing home projects and needed some plumbing work done.
Advertising in the newspaper (which I never did) was one way of getting people to barter with you. It was not like today where you can easily place an ad on craigslist for free and get a variety of requests.
When you have children to raise and money is tight but you take on a project in your home like adding an addition you need the skills from fellow tradesman sometimes to help with your home project and get it done right the first time.
Sometimes you can barter and sometimes the other person what’s cold hard cash.
My first barter was for a fellow tradesman who owned horses. He needed a kitchen sink hooked up and I wanted my two children to ride horses all day. With that, we had a wonderful day. My wife and his wife took the kids horseback riding while I hooked up the sink.
My first fishing boat was bartered for. The carpenter needed a gas line hooked up and I liked his boat. Fairtrade.
An acquaintance of a good friend of mine gave me carpet for my basement in exchange for a hand drawing of how he should run his sewer.
Like anything in life, you have to be careful about who, what, and where the work will be done for. Is the other person truly interested in bartering and will the other party agree to give you what you want in exchange for your work once it is completed?
For me it has always been with someone I knew at work, a friend, family member, relative, or close acquaintance. I have never been disappointed with any barter job I did.
You don’t want to get sued, or injured on the person’s property so always be careful about how large a job you take on.
For any IRS agents out there, insure to pay your taxes for the value of the item you received.
Good Luck and happy plumbing.
