Interesting LAT story yesterday on the new barter economy, people trading in goods and services rather than cash. I had no idea Craigslist had a barter section, but here you can even trade a “no-longer needed” engagement ring in for a motorcycle (sportbike preferred). Nor did I know that the going rate for a flat iron is five BB guns and 4 walkie-talkies.
I did note that all the people interviewed were white-collar workers: a writer, an actress, a violinist. The blue- or no-collar worker who does physical work does not seem to fare so well in this economy, either. Referring to the Pilates instructor:
She also barters for the smaller stuff. Rather than plunk down cash, she’s hoping to offer someone an hour of private Pilates instruction, which normally costs $150, to clean her house once a week.
An hour of Pilates instruction for cleaning someone’s whole houseful of a week’s worth of whatever needs to be cleaned? Even aside from the obvious “justice for janitors” issues of paying a living wage, can’t you get more than that in other sections of Craigslist for cleaning someone’s house, like, naked?
