Exchanging my Flippo’s (the plastic collectibles found in chips bags during a certain period of my youth) with something like cigarettes seems like the most stupid exchange I could ever make.
As a kid we were swapping marbles and for black or white one we needed to give 10 normal coloured ones, and for snake eyes which had specifically coloured like eyes inside and particular size, authentic, unique, we had to have discussions over how many to trade to get them into the collection. Also during the war over ex Yugoslavia people survived thanks to barter Transactions. Exchanging basic needs between each other like food, as the money had no value from one minute to another. Countries who survived huge inflation experience they know very well what blockchain is and how valuable Satoshi creation of blockchain technology and bitcoin is for the human civilisation.
Typical barter transactions were some type of food exchange with various degrees of fairness. Another kind that i particularly remember was an exchange of one encyclopaedia for one chess book of the 1940s and many chess magazines from 1960s. This one was very unbalanced from my point of view (maybe my counterparty POV differ). Barter transactions have a great component of subjective value.
The most memorable time when I was a part of a barter transaction took place when I was in elementary school. I had a copy of Pokémon Sapphire and I traded it for my friend’s copy of Pokémon Emerald. Looking back on it, it’s interesting to consider if it was a fair exchange or not being that the two items are so similar. I hold it nostalgically as one of my favorite video games, but at the time of the exchange it was newer, more sought after, and had more inherent value, so it would be fair to evaluate it as in my favor.
Trading cards for ones that i was missing in my colelction
I don’t remember such a trade. When I think about it, I can’t imagine a fair exchange except for food. If you need something, then that would make sense. If there is a global crisis and basic goods are no longer freely available, there may be more bartering of goods.
Describe a barter transaction that you’ve been a part either as a child or adult.
List the two items in the barter transaction and, looking back, did you think it was a fair exchange and why?
- Bartered fancy looking loose-leaf paper / notes with friends in school. It was quite a fair exchange because it involves trading reasonably rare commodity with limited supply. For example, one kid have only 24 sheets to trade so whoever can get that particular “release” will get good deal. However there was no way to validate rarity or value because the other kid’s parents can buy more of the popular ones and flood the market and making it common and valueless.
Pokemon cards! It was a better deal for me because the card I received was more rare than mine
I once exchanged a bishop and a knight for a rook and a pawn. We both thought it was a fair exchange because we both got what we wanted. 
A barter transaction I can look back on relating to this would be trading Halloween candy with my cousins. Since trick-or-treating gave us little ones all different types of random candy, there were select types of candy (to this day) I didn’t like the taste of. Since my younger cousin was a fan of Twizzlers and I wasn’t, I used to trade him all of the Twizzlers in my candy bag for all of his Twix and Snickers bars. It was definitely a fair exchange because we each replaced the types of candy we didn’t like to the other who had the candy we were more a fan of.
-
Soccer shoes for a friends soccer shoes
-
My apple for a cookie in school when I was 11.
My family and I have always been into flipping just about anything. It used to be mostly garage sales or craigslist. Facebook marketplace has been my main platform for buying and selling recently. The excitement and chase of a deal is always thrilling. While most of these transactions have been buying or selling rather than bartering, I can remember a trade of note. I recently was selling a old 4 wheeler and was offered mechanic services in exchange for the 4 wheeler. At the time, my car did need a wheel bearing and brakes done. I think it was a fair exchange and we both were happy with what we had received in the deal.
The most recent barter I can recall was in 2017. I did 9 days worth of work on a gentleman’s fishing lodge cabins on the Nushagak river in western Alaska. I did the work in exchange for him taking me up river on a Moose hunt. I got a really massive bull Moose so it was really good for me. I think I may have made out a bit better than him on the deal.
As a child my parents bartered a car engine and install of it in return for a book case and hardwood flooring being installed in our home. I thought it was a fair exchange as both parties got what they wanted out of the deal.
I have bartered Audio Engineering services for Photography services. I felt it was a fair barter. I have bartered session guitar services for violin session services. That also seemed like a good trade.
When I was a child (11years old) I exchanged my stack of candy to a rare pokemon card Venusaur (first evolution). It was a good trade then since I got some jealous faces and made me feel like a super hero. It would have been even better trade if I had held it to this day… those are worth a lot nowadays
Trading marbles. They all had a rarity like what you would see in today’s NFT trade. It was based on what the demand was of that specific marble.
My friends and I were mostly into MLB and NBA cards and some comics. Everyone was mostly fair and agreed on transactions based values stated in magazines at the time. Dreaming of finding a Ty Cobb or Mickey Mantle rookie card in one of the card shops made collecting more fun. Occasionally, we would trade based on emotion or respective favorites. I can’t remember and two specific items, but I also felt the trades were fair exchanges. Trading cardboard and paper for cardboard and paper is all it was, but if I had kept any of those items up to this day it might be an investment. If I could only go back in time and tap little me on the shoulder and say…“Bro…keep this one and use that one on your bicycle spokes bro.” 
1 Like
We used to barter flippos and zappers at school (flippos were round cardboards initially based on Looney Tunes figures and the Zappers were big plastic or metal rounds made to return/flip them, which was the purpose of the game. We would sometimes bet zappers during games but those ones were worth the most and we usually barter them, based on their look and efficiency to flip flippos; which was completely subjective but generally seemed fair as all zappers served the same purpose. Although some were definitely rarer and were naturally bartered for 2 or 3 of their kinds.
I have a biofeedback device that helps with a persons health. I often exchange sessions with a person for something they do or have. One time I exchanged my therapy for someone unique therapy. Another time I exchanged my therapy for items from a store owner.