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We use money to solve our everyday problems, and it generally works well. Despite its economic benefits, however, money has a psychological downside: it trains us to think about negotiations narrow-mindedly, leading us to negotiate badly. Suggesting that we need a non-monetary mindset to negotiate better, The Bartering Mindset shows us how to look outside the monetary economy – to the bartering economies of the past, where people traded what they had for what they needed. The book argues that, because of the economic difficulties associated with bartering, barterers had to use a more sophisticated form of negotiation – a strategic approach that can make us master negotiators today. Now available in paperback, this book immerses readers in the assumptions made by barterers, collectively referred to as the'bartering mindset,'and then demonstrates how to apply this mindset to modern, monetary negotiations. The Bartering Mindset concludes that our individual, organizational, and social problems fester for a predictable reason: we apply a monetary mindset to our negotiations, leading to suboptimal thinking, counterproductive behaviors, and disappointing outcomes. By offering the bartering mindset as an alternative, this book will help people negotiate better and thrive.

Just because you don't have cash doesn't mean you don't want and need things. According to authors and business gurus Karen Hoffman and Shera Dalin, it's time to get a little creative. Most people have a skill they can use—it's just a matter of figuring out what that is and how to use it to get something else. From piano lessons in exchange for haircuts to an engine tune-up in exchange for house painting, The Art of Barter offers step-by-step instructions in: Determining your “tradable” skills Initiating a trade Figuring out a fair exchange How to close a deal Incorporating barter into everyday life In addition, the book is peppered with inspirational ideas on how to use barter in today's tough economic world.