what gives the hour its value?
What happens if my time or product are so popular that I accumulate more Hours than I can use?
Is everyone's Hour worth the same?
Can we use dollars and Hours together?
How is the Barter Network Organized?
Swapping, exchanging, bartering. Though we use money to purchase most goods (food, clothes) and services (haircuts, phone service), just about everyone engages in direct trade of one sort or another. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. If you watch my kids tonight, I’ll watch yours another time.
Bartering, as a way for individuals to get what they need, has a lot going for it.. Especially when the trading can be organized in such a way that when a tailor needs a room painted, she doesn’t have to search for a painter who just happens to need a pair of pants made, before she can get the work done.
Bartering stretches your cash. By trading your labor for services like car repair, transportation or plumbing work, you can spend more money on goods and services that are difficult to barter for, such as food or rent.
A neighborhood barter exchange can provide a reliable local support system to meet residents’ sudden or emergency needs for assistance.
By bartering residents give themselves the opportunity to make better use of local resources and further develop a wide variety of their own skills.
Bartering between neighbors can strengthen community ties and increase the degree of local self-reliance.
The Barter Network will be made up of members of the greater Charlottesville community who want to barter skills and hand-made goods. Each participating member will advertise their skills and needs through a periodically updated directory (on-line and published). Members are invited to freely contact other members directly to request services. Members will "pay" for services with an alternative currency. A rotating group of three members will act as coordinating committee.
Special Note on Exchange Rates: A huge economic advantage of an alternative currency is that, unlike the federal dollar which often leaves the community, the {alternative currency] stays and re-circulates in the local economy. "Social benefits derive largely from the community atmosphere created by the system: each participants work is valued, so people feel better about themselves and others; children, retired people, and those otherwise out of the work force can be rewarded for their initiatives; and participants gain a sense of purpose and contributing to the community." No matter how the exchange rate is structured, these benefits exist. Additional effects on our economic and social life will be determined by how we value the work we offer in alternative currency. Do we start with the assumption that all work is worth the time it takes to complete it? Or do we assume a market-derived value for our work? Or do we try to find a middle ground by personally reflecting on our needs and estimation of the value of our labor and so arrive at a valuation independently? While all exchange rates will be worked out between members, this barter network would like to encourage members to strive towards an hour = hour basis whenever possible, with a ratio of 3 hours = 1 being the upper limit.
1. Join the barter network, and send in your $3 registration fee.
2. Access web directory and list goods and services you can trade.
3. Check that you've received your three hours worth of start-up currency.
4. Call someone to offer or request goods or services.
5. Share or ask about credentials and experience.
6. Negotiate a barter of currency for goods or services or a direct trade of
goods and/or services. (Ideally, one hour of time spent at labor equals the
value of an hour's worth of currency. However you may come to any agreement
of relative worth that doesn¹t exceed the three-to-one
ratio cap--see note on Exchange Rates
7. Make the agreement specific and clear. Put into writing if necessary.
8. Give good service.
The hour is backed by people, skills, tools, time, and goods. Its value
increases as the list of people and businesses willing to take it grows.
You can spend hours with individuals or businesses listed in the
Charlottesville Barter Network directory who are willing to accept them at
the time. Members may opt to decline a reqest.
Watch your balance. You¹re free to decline requests to provide services or
goods. Donate or give as gifts. You may also start accepting CBN Hours as
a percentage of your price.
We have been taught to think that teachers should be paid less than bankers,
that psychiatrists should be paid more than shoestore clerks, that muscle
work is valued less than mental work, that office labor is valued more than
home labor. We believe that everyone¹s honest labor has the same dignity
and value.
Most people will value their hour of labor as worth a CNB Hour, but some
may believe their skills are worth more than this. We have structured the
CBN so that the exchange rate is somewhat negotiable but capped at a three
hour -to - one hour ratio.
Yes. One could offer to part with a home-made candle for an Hour plus $5
cash.
The U.S. dollar, printed in huge quantities is subject to fluctuations
related to deficits, recessions, capital flight etc. While the value of a
U.S. dollar is never stable, there are always sixty minutes to an hour. CBN
Hours re-circulate in Charlottesville. Their use promotes local control of
the environmental and social effects of commerce.
exchanges of non-professional goods and services are not taxable. Exchanges
of business goods and services are taxable. The ³fair market value² of
goods and services received is calculated by bartering members. CBN does
NOT record transactions, so it¹s your responsibility to report any taxable
transactions on income side.
They are a form of scrip often issued during money shortages (See history of
Great Depression!). They are not illegal: the government¹s concern is tax
collection.
The CBN is coordinated by a rotating three-person committee made up current
members. Committee members serve a nine-month term in which they receive
activation forms, print and distribute currency, resolve disputes, manage
web-site and directory, advertise the barter network, and arrange the
annual meeting/potluck.
All members need to contribute to the on-going management of the CBN by
either serving on the Coordinating Committee or paying another member (with
CBN Hours) to serve as a substitute on the Coordinating Committee. Keep in
mind that even with only 20 members, you¹d be asked to serve once every four
or five years!