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Bartering, Swapping and Giving Stuff Away in Athens
ou don't have to break the bank to redecorate a
room, take some sewing lessons or even get a new
TV. The most it may cost you is a few hours of
your time or a trip in your car. Sometimes, you can
even score something you need for free.
That's because there are now a handful of Internet-based
groups dedicated to providing the Athens community a way to
trade goods or services, swap unwanted (but perfectly good)
stuff, or even just give away what might otherwise end up in
a landfill. Along with the Really Really Free Market, an event
organized by the local chapter of Food Not Bombs, the Athens
Freecycle group provides an online forum to give away things
you no longer have a use for.
If you prefer both to give and receive, there are web-based
groups that let you do that, too. Athens Time Bank lets mem
bers "bank" hours they've spent helping someone or providing
a service, and then they can
"spend” their hours using other
members' services. The Facebook
site Athens, GA Local Swap is
populated by friends of friends
and offers a forum for members
to post pictures of their trad
able items and post "wish lists."
Then, others can match up
their own unwanted items with
requests from others—and get
something they want in return.
There are other, scattered Yahoo
groups and Facebook sites that
serve similar purposes.
The bottom line, though, is
that whether you're trading for
something else or simply keep
ing an unwanted item out of the
dump, it's all contributing to a
micro-economy that doesn't deal
in currency, yet contributes to
the community in other ways,
organizers say.
A thens resident Julie Moon
started the Athens, GA
Local Swap page after
hearing her friends say they
envied her for being able to
resell unwanted household items. As a professional organizer,
she wanted to help others find new purposes for things, and a
Facebook group allowed her to do that.
"The idea was basically, make it really simple: Take a picture
of what you have, put it out there for the world, and not have
to go through Craigslist, where you don't necessarily know who
you're interacting with," she says. New members of the group
are added by mutual friends, creating an informal vetting pro
cess. Traded items include watches, baseball tickets, rugs and a
cherry armoire. If you like it, find something in your house to
swap for it and it's yours.
"I swapped a lady yesterday for some pillow inserts," Moon
says. "Who asks, 'Who has pillow inserts?' But she had them.
And I had this little lamp, and she totally wanted it."
According to the federal tax code, organizations like time
banks are not "barter exchanges" and do not have to report
transactions. Yet, when someone participates in a true barter—
a trade of goods or services from one person to another—the
IRS can make an effort to enforce the tax code. That's because
you're supposed to report the fair market value of bartered
property or services as income on your federal taxes.
"Trades are circular, not back-and-forth," explains Time
Bank founder Willow Meyer. "You very rarely give something to
and get something from the same person."
While Moon's Facebook group is closed to complete strang
ers, anyone can apply to be a part of the Time Bank. Meyer
goes over all applications—which include personal refer
ences—to keep the group organized and to offer guidance to
members. Since it started about a year ago, it's grown to more
than 200 members, providing 100-200 service hours a week.
helping the community. "The Time Bank provides an avenue to
actively do something good for someone else, which enables
positive changes in both giving and receiving," she says. "The
time commitment is what I put into it, so if I have a busy
schedule and can't help, it is OK because I know others will
come forward so that things can be accomplished... The flex
ibility helps me stay committed to the bank without feeling
overwhelmed."
Wagman organized a childcare project with the Athens Area
Homeless Shelter through the Time Bank, and says she was
overwhelmed by the response. Some of those who contributed
"were out of their comfort zone, and I cheered for the genu
ine effort they showed," she says, adding that projects she's
worked on for other Time Bank members have similarly placed
her in unfamiliar settings. "I loved helping on a small farm,
animal-sitting for a grad student while he traveled home. I
am completely capable of doing
what he needed but, at the same
time, I wouldn't be able to do
more elaborate farm chores—I
have no idea how to tell if a goat
has a fever."
T
Janet Geddis (from right), Willow Meyer and Vanessa Lawrence work on cleaning up the new space for Geddis’ Avid Bookshop. All are members
of the Athens Time Bank, founded by Meyer, which is coordinating work days to ready the shop for its opening.
Meyer says a planned upgrade to the Time Bank software in
coming months will change how members offer their services,
giving them the opportunity to provide certificates for a cer
tain i.jmber of hours for a certain service. The purpose, she
says, is to avoid members thinking they can't redeem particular
services they may regard as premium—when all they did to
earn their Time Bank hours was some gardening or childcare.
"Money creates distance," says Meyer, "so often, people will
think, 'I want that, but I shouldn't ask for that because it feels
like I'm just asking' ...Athens has strong bartering relation
ships, but ...[people are] used to thinking of trades as a value,
and that's something that's different about the Time Bank:
everything is universal. The things that are expensive in the
cash economy are all equal in the Time Bank."
B
ut, if you think you've downsized so much that you have
.no more things to swap, there's always your time. At
least, that's the idea behind Athens Time Bank (www.
athenstimeb . ik.com), an online community of people offering
up their skills and paid in credits for others' time. Offers may
be language or music lessons, child care, professional services
such as haircuts or accounting, or even help feeding the ani
mals on a farm while the owner is away.
In the Time Bank, one hour spent doing something for
someone else—whether it's an hour of babysitting or an hour
of accounting services—is equal to an hour of time in the
"bank." Yet unlike a bank holding your checking account. Time
Bank members can run a deficit when requesting services; it's
about keeping time moving from one member to another. And
while it's not a marketplace for "stuff," there is a specific ben
efit to trading time in this way: it's non-taxable.
K
'athy McCain, who moderates the Athens Freecycle list-
serv, says groups that barter and give items away work
rin Athens because it is a small town. Despite the surge
of students every fall, there are plenty of people who have
been in town for decades, and they are willing to share with
other residents.
"I know there are newcomers here, but there are a lot of
people who have been here for years," McCain says. "We're not
that small, but there are small sections of the town where peo
ple have known each other for years... I think, being a smaller
town, you're more trusting. And, I'd rather have the barter sys
tem back—if people use it correctly, it works out well."
There also is a subculture in Athens that highly values
human connections and enriching the community, adds Donna
Wagman, a Time Bank member. Joining the Time Bank gave her
a chance to help her neighbors and feel like she was actively
he philosophy of the
Athens Freecycle group
goes beyond bartering:
rather than trade for something
in return, members simply give
their items away.
Athens Freecycle is a moder
ated Yahoo group that requests
potential members apply by
writing a few sentences on
why they want to join (thus,
eliminating spammers). McCain
says the group has about 2,700
members who offer up anything:
TVs, microwaves, construction
leftovers and even, occasionally,
animals.
"Most of the time, it's people
asking for something they might
need, like a microwave, old
doors—people ask for every
thing," says McCain. "There's no
limit to what you can ask for;
people have something they don't need and see somebody who
needs it, and they think, 'Why not give it to them?"'
No money can be exchanged and advertising is not allowed
(no offers to trade goods for services). Yard sales may be
posted, with one caveat: the sale must include a table of free
items, clearly marked. "It's not for people to make a profit
off of; it's to keep a usable item out of the landfill," McCain
explains.
While the Freecycle group might seem like a giant, free yard
sale—on a computer screen—the group hasn't yet organized a
single, large giveaway event. But another Athens group, Food
Not Bombs, is planning its next Really Really Free Market for
sometime in September (search "Athens Food Not Bombs" on
Facebook for updates). The event simply designates a time
for people to show up with anything they would like to give
away—and then the free shopping starts.
"People can bring cold-weather clothes before it gets
too cold," says Katie Austin, a second-year student at the
University of Georgia who helps cook with the group at its
weekly food giveaways. The Really Really Free Market, she says,
is part of the group's overall mission of finding alternatives to
a consumer-driven culture.
"Capitalism becomes really destructive in the way we econo
mize our life, and sometimes you have to choose between food
and clothes. And it shouldn't be that way," Austin says. "So,
it's just coming up with a new way of exchange."
It's a way of helping people out, she says. And if you find
a new home for an old coat or a pair of boots in the process,
even better.
Kristen Morales
8 FLAGPOLE.COM- AUGUST 24, 2011
