It’s not about money.
Our local group put on a great #GSD Workshop on Saturday.
As part of the workshop, we had a barter blanket session. Now if you haven’t been to barter blanket session, this is how it works:
Someone puts an item on the blanket-covered table. For example, I put a bottle of my homemade asparagus vinegar as seen below on the left. Other people put trade items on the table as well. The person who put on the original item can choose one of the other’s items as a trade, or choose none of them and withdraw his item. Whoever had the item that he chose now has run of the table and can place the next item.
There were books, homemade foods, tinctures, even a tent. No money.
One thing that stood out was the activity of perceived value. Each person had a perceived value of the item offered and the perceived value of their own item in relation to it. What was interesting was that it was not a numerical money value. And to watch as a person thought that their item was comparable, only to be turned down. Sometimes they would up the ante with an additional item (you don’t have to add just one). At times the original person did not choose any of the offered traded items.
This topic will feed into our next podcast episode – a discussion on the 8 Forms of Capital. Hint: It’s not all about money.