Dec 22, 2008
Amanda Strouse - SDSU Backpack Journalist
Kaplan Journal

In this economic wave of penny-pinching, consumers shift toward a bartering style of shopping. San Diego State backpack journalist Amanda Strouse has the story.

A rocking chair is placed on a porch, distinctly labeled and awaits its new owner. A man arrives in a pick-up truck and takes home his new possession.

No money is exchanged, only words of gratitude.

With the convenience of the Internet, the necessity to tighten pocketbooks and the strength of the green movement, some participate in a charitable trend to give away what they don’t use. Following the Craigslist.com legacy, Web sites such as freecycle.org and twoshirts.org have been increasingly popular, making shopping and donating more feasible. So there's less clutter in closets and less waste in landfills as people thankfully take what they need without spending a dime.

Twoshirts.org allows users to post items that they have and are willing to give away or items that they need. Jason Coker, the site's creator, says the site is about individuals sharing their extra stuff. He says bartering and trading is part of a bigger cultural trend stemming from the Internet and this trend will only grow with time due to the convenience and excitement created from it.

His wife, Jenell Coker, says that re-using items is also appealing because people want to take care of the environment.

Janell: It’s also interesting when we give up our things freely and we take care of those who need things, we’re also taking care of our environment. When we treat each other like neighbors, we also treat our world better.

Coker says he’s seen a steady increase in the use of his site since it’s been up and an obvious jump in traffic since November.

Coker: For a lot of people, it’s about being pinched economically. When times get tough, you get more creative to get the things you need. I also think there’s a desire to get more intimate with people. The market exchange creates a division between people, but a gift exchange brings people together.

Items given and taken on these sites vary from children’s clothes to VHS tapes, couches to chocolate, and books to storage cabinets. Most offered objects are claimed within minutes of being posted on the sites.

Leslie Leinbach, an interior designer in Poway, has been a freecycle.org user for about a year. She says she’s given away everything from computer monitors, TVs, clothes and Christmas ornaments.

Leinbach: I used to take things down to goodwill, which required a big stack in the garage and a car trip. And I didn’t necessarily know where it’d end up and if it was any value to anyone. But I started using freecycle and it’s just different and more direct. It was so much nicer to give directly to a person who can use it and they don’t have to go out and find it.

These Web sites are useful for people who have things they want to get rid of or keep. But there are options for those who only want to use something for a certain amount of time.

Jeff Boudier is the U.S. general manager of us.Zilok.com, an international Web site where people and businesses can find items they want to rent. He says that because of the current economic climate, people will be renting things and looking for bargains on what they purchase.

Boudier: I think the market of ‘recycling of goods’ (through renting, swapping, or giving away) will explode in the next five years, and not so much because of the economy, but because there is a starting shift in the way people consume. The over consumption paradigm meant: buy new, use once, store forever. Some new economic systems will arise to allow for a more efficient way of consuming, based on functionality and usage, rather than on ownership.

As these traditional bartering, trading and renting ideas are mixed with modern-day technology and the bitterness of our economy’s credit crunch, they’re bound to gain popularity this holiday season. But is this a trend that's here to stay?

Wade Slome is president of Sidoxia Capital Management in Newport Beach and has worked in the finance sector for about 15 years. He says during tougher times, consumers tend to buy more on a paycheck-to-paycheck basis. But he says once the economic times improve, consumers will go back to buying new items.

Slome: Shoppers are smart. If they see value, they will modify their behavior. My experience leads me to believe that sifting through used goods and bartering for items requires more time as quality assurance is not guaranteed.

He says that the popularity of trading and charitable Web sites is because people are more socially and environmentally aware.

Slome: It’s a win-win-win proposition if consumers can save time, save money and simultaneously assist a cause, for example, the environment or the needy.