Bartering, an age-old cashless exchange system where goods and services are traded directly, is finding its place in the modern world, specifically among Gen Z'ers. At the forefront of this cultural shift is Barter Up, an organization founded by three young friends from Tennessee: Jordan Dodson, August Brown, and Sabrina Lucas.
Drawing inspiration from their personal experiences and the struggles faced by low-income communities in their hometown of Memphis, Barter Up’s founders created a platform that empowers individuals to showcase their talents and passions. It’s captured the attention of those seeking an alternative to a consumerist lifestyle.
“We don’t believe that our worth is tethered to money,” Dodson tells Teen Vogue. “Through bartering, we can create communities where we can sustain each other based on the skills we have and what we can provide."
Barter Up, which exists across social media platforms and also hosts pop-ups and other in-person events in Memphis, is designed to be a safe and inclusive marketplace and community, enabling people to trade not only their physical possessions, but also knowledge and services.
Teen Vogue speaks with the founders of Barter Up and delves deeper into their vision, the impact of their organization, and the transformative potential of this movement.
This conversation has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
Teen Vogue: How did Barter Up come to be? Can you share the story behind its formation and the inspiration that drove its creation?
August Brown: It started as just a joke between us three. We were hanging out at the mall, talking about how much we hated spending money on stuff, and [Sabrina] was like, “Why don't we just bring bartering back?” We spent the rest of the time there in the mall talking about the idea of it.
Later that week, we spent the entire day just going through every single thing, and exactly how we wanted to look and things we wanted to do for the community. For our first event, [Jordan] goes to a Black-owned coffee shop and asks them if we could use their space. They said yes, simply because they believed in our mission. We had about 30 people come to the event, which was really, really good. We made a TikTok video, that TikTok blew up, and that's how we got to where we are now.
Now we have monthly events. We're also doing donation drives monthly, and we give mutual aid monthly. We have an online space on Discord, so those people who don't live in Memphis can also feel involved and contribute and do things as well.
TV: Barter Up prides itself on being an anticapitalist organization. What does that mean to you? How does Barter Up facilitate and promote these practices?
Jordan Dodson: Gen Z is the digital age in the sense that we get to see people that we've always wanted to be like. We get to see trans people, we get to see, you know, people that we don't really see in our communities because they are so marginalized. But we're like, This is who I've always wanted to be. I'm nonbinary, I'm trans, I can be a painter. I can be all these things. So I think creating this space where it's inclusive of all people aligns with our generation's values.
We model that anticapitalist lifestyle by being nonhierarchical. We are serious about being a co-op. And what we mean by that is that every worker owns a piece of it. By bartering their time and skills, participants not only have the chance to gain personal success within Barter Up, but also create opportunities outside of it.
We want to show that it’s possible to meet each other’s needs and survive outside of traditional monetary systems. Our model is to freely give so you can freely receive.
AB: Bartering opens up a whole new world of possibilities, allowing people to give away items, borrow things, and connect with others without relying on money. We want to do our best to abolish money — or get as close as we can with our generation. And even if that doesn’t mean reaching the entire world, as long as we can reach a few people and get them to realize that capitalism and money isn’t the only way, that’s amazing to us.
JD: We still want to be able to hold people accountable, [to hold] billionaires and millionaires accountable. With bartering, we emphasize the need for mutual aid and a redistribution of resources. We are expected to go on and swallow our tongue about the top 1%, or billionaires being able to hoard their wealth while the people they extract their resources from are struggling to make their ends meet. You owe it to communities to create a space where they can survive and gain the skills they need to have their own independent success. We know that they can’t just come from the community that is suffering; they have to come from people who have the privilege and the power and the access to give. And that’s why it is also a vital part of what we do.
TV: Why do you think bartering appeals to Gen Z? Are there values, ideologies, or aspirations that align with Barter Up’s mission?
AB: We’re all young, so we have a lot of ideas for what we can make the world become, and I think our generation is so determined to make sure this is a life that we actually want to live. So it catches the attention of a lot of young people, because we just want to make our own space where we are able to live our lives and do everything we need to do without suffering.
Gen Z really values community and connection. We don’t want to be isolated and alone. Bartering offers an opportunity to not only obtain the things we need, but also to build relationships and make friends with those we barter with. Instead of relying on impersonal transactions, we can engage in direct exchanges with our neighbors and community members.
JD: I think creating this space where it’s inclusive of all people aligns with our generation’s values. People in our community can say, “I’ve always been here, there just wasn’t always space for me, and now there is.” So we get to be the change that we want to see. We get to create that space for all different walks of life.
It’s beautiful when you come to the marketplace and see a rainbow of ideas, talent, entertainment, and just people who’ve never had that voice to speak for themselves be celebrated. So that's what Gen Z is all about.
We're here and we're not going anywhere. We wanna be able to celebrate the different voices no matter if you came from a poor, low-income background. Whatever you bring to the table is amazing.
TV: On TikTok, it seems like the most asked question you get is, “What do I do if I have no goods or services to offer?” What do you say to that?
JD: Come learn! You don’t need a good or service to learn how to make goods or learn a service. You by yourself matter. You never know what you have until you see what people are offering. And then you’ll come to realize that you actually do have a lot of skills.
AB: There isn’t a hierarchy when it comes to skills and goods. Even if you’re able to just write papers, that is a skill. You can write papers in turn for someone doing something artistic, you know?
So we would say, just come to the events and be present, and there you can realize what it is you have to offer. What you do or have right now could be something that can help someone else and you don’t even know it.
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