Back in the ‘80s when Clark was in the travel business, he had people stop by once or twice a year from barter groups. People were able to get travel from Clark without laying out any cash, and he got barter credits for other services. The margins rarely made sense for Clark, but it seemed like a great idea. Just as stocks trade on exchange, bartering works similarly. You agree how much barter you’ll take, and, through an exchange, you can choose where you’d like to spend that money. In a typical barter, you are doing business with people who have not typically done business with you. You end up with “mad money” in an account and you use it however you wish. The down side to bartering is that you’ll usually have to pay a fee to join an exchange, and you’ll usually have to give up a certain percentage of the action to the person running the exchange. And according to the New York Times, there are now 400 exchanges all over the country. These are usually for smaller businesses that trade locally, but some trade globally. Some businesses have used bartering to try to cheat the tax man out of money, and that is not legitimate or legal. The second downside is that if the business goes bust, you are out of money. To find out more, go to nate.org.