It's my first year, so what the heck stands for good barter? Short of a full blown massage parlor and booze, what makes for fun barter? Food? Drink? Toys?
I want to be original (so much for posting for help on here) but functional.

I took 3 extra cartons of smokes, one of my biggest joys was handing out packs to those who came up asking to bum a cig. I would just reach in my pocket pull out a pack and say here ya go brother/sister. No barter(well may be a hug and info on a good place to habg out after shift), no gift back, just seeing a happy face.robbidobbs wrote: Tobacco...if you don't smoke, bring some, unless you're politically opposed. Way good giftey out there.
Actually, that's not true. Some want this to be a pure 'gift economy', and that's fine. But that fact of the matter is, when you give somebody something, you're likely to get something in return. And that's nice! That's the way it should be. Try to think of a situation where you would give someone something without a selfish underlying motive... mm hmm. (I don't believe you.) So my question for everybody is, should Black Rock City be based on a 'gift economy', or a 'barter economy'? Seems to me, a quid pro quo system is the more natural solution.Badger wrote: Bartering is frowned upon. If you follow through you can expect a goodly amount of shit to fly your way for doing it.
Tis sadly true. But if those certain camps demand something of you, are they really camps you want to spend time at? The gift works both ways.Tancorix wrote:
As for giving of yourself, I've done that and had some interesting and positive experiences. But there are certain camps (I won't name names) that seem like if you don't have stuff to gift them, you're not welcome to even come in and look around, let alone do much else. I'm also not the type to freeload on someone either...so there's the catch 22. What to bring, what to give? And with only a couple of weeks left before the gates open, the tension builds again.
As usual, Tancorix hits the nail right on the head.Tancorix wrote:I've been watching this thread because this is something that bothers me every year. It seems like you have to have something to gift people if you want drinks or other things, and I'm never sure what to give. ... I've been 2 years now and I struggle with it, and I can imagine what a first timer is thinking when they read about "the gift economy".
There are always gonna be a few twits out there who don't get it. As someone who has strung beads since the 90s and who will be gifting her own beads for the third time this year--don't worry. As a community, we are more likely to appreciate the hand made than the mass produced. (Wide variation here.) And in some ways the gift is itself only the spore of the encounter.Fat SAM wrote:Do you guys think anyone is going to dog me and my wife for bringing hemp neckelaces/anklets/bracelets? We're both worried people are going to think it's hack or something. We really have put a lot of time and love into making them, though, you know? Figure that ought to be worth something....