Trade Goods Ideas

[Nomad1]

http://shtfschool.com/trading/trading-101-for-long-term-survival-scenarios/

[ZDMZ]

Interesting article. I have never heard of "Selco" but he seems to know what he is talking about.

I am conflicted by his comments about not giving any charity. Selco seems to speak from actual experience and yet I keep thinking that as members of the church band together things will be different than his experiences.

What are your thoughts? I would like to think this through before there are problems rather than be caught by surprise by peoples actions.

[acorn]

Interesting article. I have never heard of "Selco" but he seems to know what he is talking about.
You need to read Selco's history. He lived through the siege of Sarajevo. Every other prepper site I've ever read about comes from theory and people's ideas of what a SHTF scenario might be like. Selco LIVED it.

I think his point about charity is that you CANNOT give charity in such a scenario without either word getting around or your beneficiary coming back for more, perhaps by force. And don't expect church members to band together the way you anticipate, either.

[ZDMZ]

I can see where giving charity (in whatever form that may look like) in such a situation would be like feeding a stray cat - (and we all know how we don't want cats hanging around :l0 (38):). There is still the Godly principle that "charity never fails". Unless it just never fails when everything is going ok. I'm not sure a hardline "never give charity" rule is the best way to go.

I will have to read up about Selco's experiences to get more perspective. Having never been through a SHTF experience myself, most of my thoughts about it are vain imaginations, gleaned from movies and reading other people's vain imaginations about how things will be.

I'm starting to think that even though I have some physical preparations in place I need more mental preparations.

[Earthling]

I keep thinking that dealing with other people is going to be just plain dangerous and that some degree of isolation will be needed. For us outgoing types - that will be hard - but hey I lived through this winter cooped up because of weather, flu, & cold! There is already plenty of pressure on various things in Relief Society so I can see this happening easily.

A good friend (popular prep speaker) said he thinks the pressure will get so bad it will be difficult to go to church. Gives you something to think about! I store basic church manuals too in case we ever need to have church at home for any reason.

[acorn]

I keep thinking that dealing with other people is going to be just plain dangerous and that some degree of isolation will be needed.
Exactly!


A good friend (popular prep speaker) said he thinks the pressure will get so bad it will be difficult to go to church.
I fully expect and plan to "do church" at home if it comes to that. We have more than enough teaching .MP3s, books, etc. to keep us going for years. We'll keep an MP3 player charged however we have to in order to keep it going.

[DMGNUT]

Great thread started by Nomad1 over 3 years ago... worth reading (or if you've read it... rereading).

[signseeker]

That's a really good article. Interesting ethical questions posed, too...

[DMGNUT]

I've never stocked up on "extra" things that I've heard of others stocking up on (just for the purpose of barter and trade later), but have always wondered if maybe in hind sight, I might wish that I would've.
Having said that, I don't really think I'd be able to buy some of the things that people have talked about on some sites... coffee, booze, etc... things that they think will be popular items (among non-members), as it just seems wrong in some way... almost like contributing to the delinquency of minors... or something like that.
If the Lord doesn't want me having them, I'm pretty sure He wouldn't approve of me providing them to others.
Anyway, I agree that some of the things that we might end up needing, might not occur to us until its too late, or maybe we did think of them, but we start running out much sooner than we thought we would... and having things to trade (that we don't mind getting rid of) might not be a bad idea... but if I'm not willing to get "certain" things, that leaves me with just getting more of what I was getting anyway.
Not that that's necessarily a problem... I was planning on having extra of everything anyways as I'm sure I'll be sharing a lot.
But Selco makes a good point about drawing attention to yourself in an unwanted way.
I will share with who I can, or who I'm prompted to share with, but I have to agree, we won't want unwanted attention.
In the end I say we just do a lot of thinking (and praying) about what is included in the "every needful thing" we've been counseled to have on hand.

[arbilad]

I've never stocked up on "extra" things that I've heard of others stocking up on (just for the purpose of barter and trade later), but have always wondered if maybe in hind sight, I might wish that I would've.
Having said that, I don't really think I'd be able to buy some of the things that people have talked about on some sites... coffee, booze, etc... things that they think will be popular items (among non-members), as it just seems wrong in some way... almost like contributing to the delinquency of minors... or something like that.
If the Lord doesn't want me having them, I'm pretty sure He wouldn't approve of me providing them to others.
Anyway, I agree that some of the things that we might end up needing, might not occur to us until its too late, or maybe we did think of them, but we start running out much sooner than we thought we would... and having things to trade (that we don't mind getting rid of) might not be a bad idea... but if I'm not willing to get "certain" things, that leaves me with just getting more of what I was getting anyway.
Not that that's necessarily a problem... I was planning on having extra of everything anyways as I'm sure I'll be sharing a lot.
But Selco makes a good point about drawing attention to yourself in an unwanted way.
I will share with who I can, or who I'm prompted to share with, but I have to agree, we won't want unwanted attention.
In the end I say we just do a lot of thinking (and praying) about what is included in the "every needful thing" we've been counseled to have on hand.

Yup, in my opinion trade goods are whatever you have that you feel willing to part with in exchange for whatever the other guy is offering. I'm not going to judge someone who stocks booze and smokes for trading with other people. But I'm not going to do it myself. I don't think that anyone will be well served by having their addiction fed. Also, there are unruly types who will target you specifically if they know that you have booze. You can even trade labor for goods, or someone can perform some labor for you in exchange for some of your goods.
I think that part of what people are thinking when they mention storing booze, smokes, and coffee is that if they have luxury goods that puts them at an advantage in a trading situation. However, I think that really quickly people will start to value practical stuff more. For instance, I wouldn't trade a can of dehydrated milk for any amount of gold, because until society comes back, gold is worthless to me. And even once society does come back, I think that gold will take a while to regain its value. Whereas dehydrated milk would have immediate and high value to me in a situation like that.

[DMGNUT]

For instance, I wouldn't trade a can of dehydrated milk for any amount of gold, because until society comes back, gold is worthless to me. And even once society does come back, I think that gold will take a while to regain its value. Whereas dehydrated milk would have immediate and high value to me in a situation like that.

I understand your point completely, and I guess it's my desire, hope or just stubborn belief, that society will come back (sooner rather than later, in some form or another), which ultimately causes me to buy gold (and silver too).
Of course, it's at the bottom of the second list (only after I have my year supply of food and every needful thing, and since I feel I do, that it's now part of list 2... which is ... "what more or what else, should I be getting").
On a humorous side note... I'm lactose intolerant and also allergic to dairy products... so your example with a can of dehydrated milk, doesn't work for me... :cool (2):
Having said that, yes, of course I still have lots of dairy items (powdered milk, etc) stored, because no one else in my family is lactose intolerant, or allergic to dairy.

[arbilad]

Although the conversation about milk does make me think of something else - if you store luxury items that you personally would use (after getting the basic year supply of course) then that does put you at a trading advantage. I wouldn't store coffee, for instance, because I wouldn't use it. But I could get shelf stable chocolate milk packets, and that's something that I could either use myself or use to trade with someone who just has the basics.

[DMGNUT]

I like your thinking on storing stuff that might fall into the category of "luxury" items.
But I must return for just a moment, to a thought about precious metals...
I realize "during" the event, whatever that might be, precious metals will be good for nothing.
But I still can't see an "after the event" time, where things don't return to some form of normal (whether that's the same normal as before the event, or a completely different normal, doesn't really matter).
The point I'm making, is there has always been (and in my opinion) always will be, a "currency" of some form or another, and as I'm guessing our "dollar" will no longer exist, precious metals are the most likely choice, and I believe they will rule again.
So... I guess my desire to have precious metals could be called a "longer", long term prep item.
Or maybe I'm just nutted-up. :out: :001_unsure: :wink (2):