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Not for sale: Online communities help each other through bartering
Members of online bartering communities share and swap personal items to help ease each other's economic burden during the pandemic.
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One man's trash: Free clothes and household items from online strangers. (Unsplash/Courtesy of Markus Winkler) (Unsplash/Markus Winkler)
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em>Members of online bartering communities share and swap personal items — from used baby clothing to second-hand stoves — to help ease each other's economic burden during the pandemic.
As the economy takes a downturn, some are seeking alternative ways to get by through online bartering. These groups can mostly be found on Facebook, which is easily accessible to anyone with an internet connection. The largest groups see a lot of traffic, with tens to hundreds of daily new posts from people all across the country.
Fatma Azizu, a 31-year-old lecturer from Makassar, South Sulawesi, joined one of these groups to help jumpstart her new cause.
"At first, I joined the group because I [wanted to give my stuff away as I] adopted a minimalist lifestyle," said the mother of three.
"But it's difficult to find people [who would want to take my second-hand goods] in Makassar, so I tried to look for a charity group of some sorts on Facebook, and I found [my current group]."
The group Fatma joined is relatively new, having been established on just Nov. 25, 2020. On the other hand, Jihan Aprilia moderates a group that dates back to Nov. 11, 2019 — a few weeks before the pandemic kicked in.
"I've been a member of [many groups] for more than a year. I've joined more than 10," said the 19-year-old.
