We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Barter Up. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Barter below.

Barter, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

Here at Barter Up, we aim to be a voice for the people who are voiceless. We strive to hold safe spaces where everyone can be included while also trying to give everyone the things they need. By serving the disabled, houseless, and disproportionality oppressed communities we are able to carry out our overall mission of helping those in Memphis, TN. This matters to us because we know what it feels like to not be able to get the things your need the most. We want to make sure we are not contributing to the problem by doing our part in solving it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Barter Up started as three friends in Memphis, TN conversing about the disadvantages of capitalism. We discussed how there should be a world where you should not have to pay for the things you need to survive. While brainstorming of what that would look like, we had the idea of simply creating it ourselves. Since then, we get together as a community and hold monthly marketplaces where people are able to barter and trade for the things they need and want. Our marketplaces are a space where everyone is welcomed. As a Black Queer and Trans owned organization, we know the importance of safety and try our best to uphold those values. As we have expanded, we have began holding more community based events while also giving back. A portion of our monetary donations goes right back to the people who need it most. Hosting donation drives and partnering up with other community based organizations if how we continue to serve our community.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Barter Up gets funding through mutual aid donations. We rely on the concept of sharing because we are a community based organization. Starting out we had zero dollars. We would use our own individual pay checks to buy the things we needed. After more people heard about what we were trying to accomplish, the donations started coming. With those initial donations, we were able to sustain ourselves and our community for almost half a year. Now, as we are growing bigger and bigger everyday, we still rely on outside donations to truly fund our goal of helping the underprivileged communities.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

We built our following by simply sharing our goal. Because we are young adults living in the digital age, we utilized Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook to get Barter Up into the online space. We started off making videos that introduced who we are as an organization and what we were trying to start in our community. Because bartering is such a niche topic, we were easily able to find the people on social media who shared the same feelings as we did. We soon became a voice for people all around the United States who shared their want for a society that did not revolve around money.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.barterup.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barterup901/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Barter-Up-100092386720492/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/barterup901

Image Credits
Barter Up