Word: barterer
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...value of currency plummeted, Poles bought almost anything they could find. The reason was simple enough. One man's expendable Chinese rug might turn out to be another man's treasure. The result: a primitive system of barter. A cab driver with a can of oil could trade with a café manager for a pound of coffee. A pair of leather boots would get a sack of potatoes, and a bottle of vodka was pure gold. A Warsaw schoolteacher marveled when one enterprising boy in her class announced that he was willing to trade girl...
There is an element of suburbanite garage sale-flea market economic chic in the new bartering boom. Many traders admit to a strong pride in managing their lives with little money. Says Betty Cordell, 39, owner of a Barter Systems franchise in Atlanta: "I would not pay cash for a haircut, for cosmetics or dry cleaning, dental services, medical services or other costs of everyday living...
Inflation and high interest rates are the biggest spurs to bartering. "Barter is a booming business because of the economic climate," says Moreton Binn, 45, chairman and chief executive of Atwood Richards, Inc., of New York, the nation's oldest (1958) and largest bartering organization...
...fashioned bazaar bargaining has now been made easier by computers. The machines locate the parties that might be able to make a trade and then give money-like credits that can be used in future deals. Says James Blunt, vice president of marketing and sales at Barter Systems' six-month-old office in Stamford, Conn.: "We operate very much like a bank-a bank of goods and services instead of cash...
...very cash-oriented Internal Revenue Service is now closely looking into all the wheeling and dealing, since the benefits received from barter agreements are generally still taxable at fair market value. In order to catch up with members of the new cashless society, the IRS is auditing more than 2,600 barter-ladened tax returns. Yield so far in additional taxes assessed...