Am I the only person that is sick and tired of people trying to trade pot in the barter section of craigslist.org?  Come on people!  In my area it feels like 10 to 20% of all posts in the barter category are folks that are either looking to score some weed or looking to sell it.  Of course they usually use colloquialisms to refer to it.  They call it “215″ or “420.”  Listen pot-heads:  Even in the liberal state of California it’s illegal to sell pot.  And bartering is selling.  Just ask the IRS.  Please get a life and stop cluttering up all the good barter listings on craigslist.

Speaking of which, I spotted this listing on craigslist last week in the barter category:

As all of you fellow barter fanatics know, being taxed on barter transactions is unavoidable if you want to stay on the right side of the prison door.  So with that in mind I think it’s worth while to mention that there is definitely a positive side to reporting all your trades:  Including your trades in all your books makes your financial statements look better!  In these times with great deals on loans, but so few people who qualify, keep in mind that every trade you make shows up on your P&L statement and makes you look that much more attractive to lenders.  If you belong to a barter exchange you will definitely need to include your exchange account on your balance sheet as well.  In the same way that inflated barter prices can hurt you on tax day, it can help you on the day you close your new lower home or business loan.  Additionally if you are looking forward to a loan you need in the future, or you want to start working on selling your business, it’s never too late to start bartering to improve your financials.

I’ve got three kids in grade school and no college savings to speak of.  That being said of course I want to give my kids all the advantages in life that I can.  High on that list would be a college education that does not burden them with tens (or hundreds) of thousands of dollars of debt on graduation day.  So my question to all of you wonderful barter fanatics with a whole lot more barter experience than myself:  How would you pursue bartering for college?

The good news is that my “real” business is online marketing.  Building, maintaining and promoting websites is something that every university needs.  My guess is that bartering with government agencies would be difficult/impossible so I shouldn’t bother with state schools.  I’m thinking that I should make a list of private institutions, ideally in my state that are “drivable” and start right now making calls and looking to make  a deal that will allow me to earn credit with them that will accrue over the years.  Then come high school graduation I can tell my kids they can go to any school they want as long as it’s the one I have my deal with.  The flaw with my plan is that it’s my understanding that most private schools have plenty of money.  It’s been my experience that folks with plenty of money don’t usually want to bother with the extra work it takes to barter.  Another problem is that a college education is more expensive than many websites are.  Even if I had a deal conducting $10k worth of work every year from now until when my twins leave for college, that’s only 8 years from now.  $80k doesn’t pay for whole college education for even one student does it?  I’m thinking that I’ll need to find at least one school for each of my kids that would want to do a lot of trading. 

Ideas?  Have any of you ever done this?  Please send your inspirations my way and I’ll be happy to share them.  Better yet….does anyone have contacts at colleges that would be in a position to discuss barter?