‘Think back to the time when during your childhood you swapped your toys with friends in return for one of theirs’ – that in a nutshell is barter. In simple words ‘barter is trading services or goods with another person where there is no money involved’. There are accounts of bartering system being used back in 6000BC Mesopotamia. Phoenicians adopted barter system and bartered goods to various cities across oceans. Babylonians developed and improved bartering methods: goods were exchanged for food, tea, weapons and spices. At times long past salt was a popular item for exchange. In the Middle Ages Europeans travelled around the globe to barter crafts and furs in exchange for silks and perfumes. Bartering also became popular in the 1930s during the Great Depression as there was a lack of money. Barter the oldest form of transaction in the world before the invention of money is very much alive and kicking in today’s society. Plenty of people....
A case for barter
‘Think back to the time when during your childhood you swapped your toys with friends in return for one of theirs’ – that in a nutshell is barter. In simple words ‘barter is trading services or goods with another person where there is no money involved’.
