Swap Cycle - Online Swapping Community

Swap Cycle - Online Swapping Community

Welcome to Recycle and Swap!
Welcome to Recycle and Swap, one of the best swap websites around. In response to global economic developments, we got to thinking about doing without money. The method we decided to use, now that money seems to have dried up everywhere, was barter. If you are thinking, "but barter is useless," you are mistaken! An astonishingly large proportion of the global trade in goods and services is barter-based, to protect traders against alarming currency fluctuations.

For example, Pepsi took profits from Soviet Russia in the form of vodka, while the largest barter of all time took place when China agreed to build massive infrastructure in the Democratic Republic of Congo in exchange for copper and cobalt supplies worth an estimated £6 billion. About the same time as this, Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed with Pakistan and Thailand, respectively, to swap oil for food.

The Wall Street Journal has described barter as a “powerful cash-saving tool”. The journal of the “reciprocal trade industry”, Barter News, goes further: “We’re moving into the golden age of barter,” it reported, adding that 600,000 companies in the US alone actively traded both locally and across borders.

Happily, barter works for individuals too. A Canadian made headlines by bartering, via trade after trade on the internet, a paper clip for a house. A photographer persuaded every tailor in Savile Row to make him an outfit in return for photographing them at work. A couple cut £9,000 from the cost of their wedding by bartering for the church, the reception, the cars and the photos. To do this, they worked as housekeeper and labourer, dug ditches, delivered leaflets and repaired cars. “We ended up with a £12,000 wedding for just £3,000.”

The challenge lies in finding the right exchange network. This is where Recycle and Swap comes in. Get in touch and see for yourself! We have seen huge increases in book swaps, clothing and accessory exchange, council home swaps and landlords swapping their properties, everything, even down to gardeners and allotmenteers exchanging seeds. On Recycle and Swap the variety of offers is stunning. So many transactions are taking place that wouldn’t have done if people depended entirely on money. This also includes the swapping of skills. Typical of this is the woman offering to do housework in exchange for somebody fitting tiles in her kitchen!