When should a freelancer barter?

Every once in a while, Thursday Bram at FreelanceSwitch has a prospective client ask her if she’d be willing to accept payment in barter, rather than in money. Most of the time, her response is ‘no.’ Her landlord doesn’t accept payment in barter — she checked — so, she has to bring in cash in order to pay her own bills. But there are some barter deals she has taken, and they’ve really paid off for her. She gets a fair amount of her design work done by bartering with another freelancer: she trades writing for his site in exchange for him designing her site. There are certain situations where barter can really pay off for a freelancer.

3 Responses to “When should a freelancer barter?”

Jared Quinn on September 3rd, 2009

I’ve only accepted barter when it’s design work for my technical development skills between me and a couple of designers I’ve worked with closely before.

I certainly wouldn’t accept a barter arrangement on any project more than a couple of hours worth of work.
Alex on September 3rd, 2009

Good point Jared. I once spent about three hours on a tiny project and received two cases of fine old wine (from the winemaker’s personal stash). Good deal.
Mary on September 30th, 2009

Sounds like my story! I’ve been bartering for a while successfully on http://www.barterquest.com. I offer design in exchange of medical massage, apple laptop, books… I was skeptical at first but now I am hooked! Why pay when you can get it for free.