Today I am very proud to announce that we are now featuring a barter marketplace in our Homesteaders Co-op. This post is an update to our fundition project.

Our marketplace of sustainable goods and ethical services is now organized into three main markets:

Shop - Monetary exchange for goods and services (STEEM, SBD and USD).
Barter - Goods and services are exchanged for like value. No money is needed. [New]
Gifts - A market of gifts. [New]

What is Bartering?

A barter, or a trade, is an exchange of goods or services between two or more parties without the use of currency. Bartering for a good or service is different than purchasing a product because there is no money involved. Bartering is a form of non-monetary exchange.

Often monetary value is used to find an equivalent or roughly equivalent value of goods or services that are being bartered. Since most of us are used to valuing goods and services in currency, currency can be a convenient measure of value. However, it is not necessary to use currency to measure value. Often, value can be very personal and when monetary value is removed from the picture, expression of value can be more open and less constrained.

Hybrid barter and Monetary Exchange

It is certainly possible and normal to use money (such as STEEM, SBD or USD) to make up for some value when the agreed value of goods/services being bartered are not equal.

Proof of a Desire to Barter

We gave our vendors the option to elect whether they are open to bartering. 8 out of 21 vendors have already specified that they are open and willing to consider bartering with customers and/or vendors. Nearly half of our vendors already see value in being able to barter. This is very positive feedback we are on the right track.

The Fear of Missing out on Profit

Aren't we worried that we won't be able to oversee bartering activity or profit from it? What if vendors barter and we can't control their activities?

This is exactly the fear that we want to avoid. Fear of loss of profit can lead to greed. As mentioned above our vendors have already expressed through their actions that they would like to have the option to operate in non-monetary exchange of goods and services.

By letting go of fears and letting go of control we are able to open our marketplace to new possibilities in personal freedom and economic choice. These freedoms and choices are not new but they may not be obvious or easily realized in our dominant economy, dictated by industrial commerce.

Opting Out of Greed

By not seeking profit, our market's participants may interchange [ Hive account@wwf ] goods and services for like value. By not choosing profit we can opt out of middlemen in our transactions. Middlemen of transactions historically seek profit. A middleman that chooses to grow, and is able to grow, plausibly passes a point of seeking profit that turns into a greed snowball. Greed places dollar signs on the backs of customers, shoppers and advertisers until they are no longer seen as humans, but are seen only as profit or lack thereof. All decisions are made based on maximizing profit or minimizing loss, rendering ethics, morality and humanity obsolete.

Homesteaders Co-op is not a middleman in any transactions, whether they are made with money, by trade or as a gift. By choosing not to be a middleman we have the unique opportunity to opt out of greed. Certainly it is possible for greed to make its way into our marketplace, our minds and our actions. But our initial success and track record has been built on generosity, independence, empowerment and choice. Our actions and reputation are on the steem blockchain for anyone to audit.

What is possible, that wasn't possible before, when we put our ethics first and fear takes a back seat? This is what we hope to continue to reveal as we continue on with this intention.

First Successful Barter

I appreciate that Hive account@papa-pepper (of Pepper Family Homestead: vendor of seeds, accessories, crafts and more in Homesteadesr Co-op) recently made this request to barter with my seed project, Seeds of Abundance. He was interested in a few of the seeds that we are offering and suggested a trade. I had already been interested in some of The Pepper Family Homestead's products and found a few more that interested me and we set the terms of our barter by email, outside of the Homesteaders Co-op marketplace.

It was a true peer to peer exchange. It was a successful barter [ Hive account@sagescrub ] inspired by our marketplace and transacted outside of any system, even outside of Homesteaders Co-op.

In my experience bartering can (but doesn't always) lead to generosity, especially when I am bartering with people I know, people I respect or people that I can share interest or values with.

Trust

Because we are communicating about an exchange we have the opportunity to exchange ideas, language and ideally build more trust. When we are bartering we have a relationship that goes beyond the typical add to cart and checkout - click, click, swipe, swipe. And in the case of this barter, Hive account@papa-pepper inevitably offered to share some plants that aren't available in his store, and that led me to feel more generous and offer more seeds to Papa Pepper that aren't available in my store. We both got more value than we expected and a feeling of gratitude to share and trade with each other.

There is a certain lack of perfection in this type of transaction. A computer or a businessman might call this transaction messy and having a lack of accountability. But isn't life often messy? Nature is messy and imperfect. Being of nature, perhaps we humans are also meant to be less than perfect. Perhaps it is ok not to hold ourselves to a standard of perfection, a standard of clear reconciliation and a maximization of profit.

And so I celebrate money because it gives us opportunities to transact with people we may not have been able to transact with otherwise. And I celebrate bartering because it reminds me of my humanity and brings me closer to the people that I transact with (those whom I trust), which leads to more pride and humility in my actions and appreciation and respect for my peers and our community.

Your Friend,

‐ Hive account@sagescrub

This is an update to our fundition project: Free Community Marketplace for Handmade Goods in STEEM/SBD

We Have Free Instant Steem Accounts to Share!

We have free steem invites for anyone in the #homesteading, #gardening, Hive account@ghscollective, Hive account@naturalmedicine, Hive account@tribesteemup, Hive account@ecotrain, Hive account@earthtribe communities that have any friends or family members that are interested in joining steem and joining our communities.

With our invites they won't need to wait 1-2 weeks or pay ~4 steem to get an account. If we have enough free SP at the time of sharing an invite it will come along with a small delegation so that they have some RC to start out with. Direct message Hive account@sagescrub in discord for an invite to share with your friend or family member.

A Free Marketplace for Steem

We provide a FREE marketplace for you to transact in STEEM, SBD and USD. Our vendors are committed to sustainability, ethics and quality in their lives and work.

Unlike other marketplaces our vendors are not charged listing fees, subscription fees or transaction fees. This service is 100% free.

Support Your Alternative Economy:

Purchase handmade products with STEEM, SBD or USD at homesteaderscoop.com
Join the conversation in our Discord Group
Follow our Curation Trail on SteemAuto to automatically upvote our contributors and vendors
Delegate SP to Hive account@homesteaderscoop
Donate to our ongoing Fundition project

Why Delegate to Homesteaders Co-op?

Your delegations will help us grow our community and reward our members for their ethical choices and actions.

In our modern world it is not always easy to choose to live sustainably. To do so often means forgoing income potential and the status quo. Our Steem Power is used to up-vote community contributors and vendors in thanks for their efforts.

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