exchange of skills

[HelBel65]

Hi all. Not sure the best place to post this so I thought I'd start here!

Is there such thing as an exchange of skills system yet in ED? Got thinking about this since moving into my new flat here 3 weeks ago. There's a fair bit I want to do to the place so am spending hours looking through the EDF for recommendations for plumbers, gardeners, decorators etc (and very handy it is too!)

However I'm a professional classical musician and there are undoubtably people looking at the forum for music/theory/instrumental lessons. I often have free tickets for big concerts in London too, but they are usually wasted!

How brilliant to swap these skills to everyone's advantage! (tu)

Any thoughts?

Helen :)

[Salsaboy]

What sort of concerts?

[Razors]

HelBel65 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hi all. Not sure the best place to post this so I

> thought I'd start here!

>

> Is there such thing as an exchange of skills

> system yet in ED? Got thinking about this since

> moving into my new flat here 3 weeks ago. There's

> a fair bit I want to do to the place so am

> spending hours looking through the EDF for

> recommendations for plumbers, gardeners,

> decorators etc (and very handy it is too!)

>

> However I'm a professional classical musician and

> there are undoubtably people looking at the forum

> for music/theory/instrumental lessons. I often

> have free tickets for big concerts in London too,

> but they are usually wasted!

>

> How brilliant to swap these skills to everyone's

> advantage! (tu)

> Any thoughts?

>

> Helen :)

I'm good in the sack . . .

[Annette Curtain]

Razors Wrote:

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> I'm good in the sack . . .

Indeed...

Preferably weighted down with a few bricks and slung in the river

[Razors]

Aw pull yourself together you miserable old pair

[HelBel65]

So....is that it?

I expected at least a tiny bit of discussion....!

[Undisputedtruth]

I suspect Razor is in the 'wham bam thank you ma'am' type discussions.

[Alan Medic]

Do you want to learn Spanish HelBel65?

[Huguenot]

It's a great idea but.... have you considered the tax implications?

On a small scale where it's just about a couple of people helping each other out it's probably not worth HMRC pursuing, but on a 'village' scale they may not be so lenient.

Technically barter (swapping) amounts to evasion of income tax, corporation tax or VAT and could possibly also amount to fraud.

Make it visible on a local forum and the evidence is right in front of them!

Secondly there's practicality: it may be difficult to identify two indviduals who have corresponding items. It may require three, four or more individuals operating in a network to ensure that everyone gets what they want.

Comparative value then becomes difficult to ascertain, so it usually involves the creation of a 'value' score for each product that then becomes a currency in its own right.

You'd need some sort of monetary authority to oversee that to ensure transparency and accountability.

Where this was achieved in Totnes, the Totnes pound was freely changeable with sterling at a 1:1 value - and since neither customers nor businesses were obliged to accept it, it became a timely and effective marketing gimmick that promoted local business, rather than one that leveraged it.

I'd probably just stick to occasional friendly swaps to avoid the pitfalls and possible legal issues that an 'organised' arrangement would entail.

[The Minkey]

There's a skills swap already up and running. I recall someone posting details on the boards a while back but I don't remember the URL, sorry. Sure there must be someone on here who's got a better memory than me.

[El Pibe]

My mum has been instrumental in setting up one of these in a small town in Middle England's herartlands as part of the whole transition towns thingy.

I must say, as noble and sweet and well intentioned as it all sounds, my reaction was a little bit like Huguenot's. The moment it stops being good folk acting all neighbourly to each other and becomes a medium of exchange I can't see how it avoids becoming a different version of money.

Surely anyone who's skills are in greater demand gets more of other people's services in return for their own, in other words they get paid more.

And to echo Huguenot, if it becomes popoular and formalised then the state inevitably wants to get their fair share, at which point everything becomes quantifiable and divisible and you either have to work for the state or use some sort of transferrable means of exchange to reflect the value of your services offered, perhaps by creating IOUs out of paper and writing different numbers on them to reflect how much of a service they can be exchanged for or for anything of equivalent value.

You can see where I'm going with this can't you.... ;)

[the-e-dealer]

I'm pretty sure there is or was a local LETS scheme. Which is or was perfectly LEGAL.

Yes Here's the link to Enrol.

http://www.letslinkuk.net/london/southwark.php

[Razors]

Undisputedtruth Wrote:

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> I suspect Razor is in the 'wham bam thank you

> ma'am' type discussions.

Do I know you Undisputedtruth?!! Possibly met after Barry Barry per chance . . . B)

[PN33]

This is a concept I've been interested in for a while. It seems that there's quite a few folks doing it, this site seems to have a fairly decent set up: http://www.swapaskill.com/

I'd love to know the law on this? Surely it can only be perceived as fraudulent when it's approached as a time banking thing, where units of 'time' are earned and can be spent within the participating community. That's basically currency. But to me that is different than a plumber fixing an electricians sink in exchange for new sockets??

[Annette Curtain]

This is a bit of side ways view , but relevant as it shows the power of communal action & labour

I've long admired this

Also, if you google Organop?nicos ( for some reason I can't get the link to work) you might find it interesting too

Personally I say trade on

( and the trade have done this with each other for years btw )

I mean really, what are they (the man) going to do? take you to court because you plumbed a sink in in exchange for a few light sockets.

:-S

Netts(tu)

[Jeremy]

I think it's a good idea, but it's likely to work best for tasks which aren't your profession. Good examples might be teaching languages, helping out with DIY, driving, gardening, (non-professional) music lessons, music production, etc. The moment you're giving up your time as a professional, it's likely to get rather too serious.