Kind of reminds me of that game – bigger and better.

However, I’m not sure that most designers are really all that interested in “flipping” goods for profit. I know I’m not. I would greatly prefer to concentrate on doing the thing I love than trying to find a buyer for something unrelated to my own services.

Interesting thoughts though. Thanks for sharing!

Nice ideas about value being different for everybody too. Very true. What is valuable to me here in Canada may not be valuable at all to you in Australia (for example)!

I agree with some of the comments above that this is good business sense (@Jan) and that a value-exchange helps build good relationships (@Sneh).

I’d also like to add that in case one is going for a barter model in a particular transaction, wherever possible, bring in a flavor of word-of-mouth marketing. This is the most powerful form of marketing, and if I have one more person mentioning my services in his blog, or tweet about my work, it has a lot more value than spending cash on advertising to get your name out there. This is especially true for creative fields like design, and even business solutions.

Of course, to have a fair value exchange, two things are essential: 1. A good product/service that people would want, and 2. Your own awareness of your value and ability to articulate it. Any transaction (cash of kind) will leave a bad taste in the recipient’s mouth (and mind) if the rendered services are below perceived value. Hence it is critical to position your value at the same level as the exchange and set the right expectations. This can be done only when you’re aware of what your work is worth (not to you – but to the person you’re going to give the work). A lot of this comes with experience, but it can be picked up only if you’re conscious about the fact that you need to articulate your offering as a value to the other person, not to yourself.