Amid announcements of hikes in bus and taxi fares, along with the effect of soaring inflation on the prices of food and other items, consumers' spending power seems to be rapidly dwindling.

But with a little creative surfing, I've discovered a little online space where the things on sale don't even have any price tags. Hold on, is that a misprint?

“A blue tin doll, runs on four A2 batteries – what'll you swap for it?”

This sounds like a 'swap shop' – just the place for someone like me, who these days only uses a wallet as somewhere to store my ID card.

Back to barter
Wararit Mangkalanont established http://www.CoolSwop.com three years ago after watching a documentary on barter. The program showed how in the past people used to trade by swapping goods rather than using money.

“People might have swapped a few fish for some of their neighbors' eggs, for example,” Wararit said.

Given the current economic climate, the swap shop concept seems increasingly alluring among many folks.

Wararit took quite a long time to research the subject before developing his website. He wanted to first plan just how he could develop the trading platform, as well as figure out who it might appeal to.

He found that while there were similar kinds of websites, most were located overseas. While some sites in Thailand were promoting the trading of secondhand goods through barter, it had yet to prove popular, Wararit discovered.

Fortunately for Wararit, a friend working at another trade-related website recommended a functional software program that would help Wararit develop his site. 'CoolSwop' launched on April 18, which Wararit publicized, mainly through radio stations.

Changing mindsets
“About 80% of people around me said they thought the idea wasn't very good. They didn't think many people would visit my site,” Wararit said.

Most people suggested he should just offload his unwanted items at secondhand shops in the city, he said. But if other people could see the logic, and see the potential savings this idea offered, they would surely pay a visit to the site, Wararit thought.

“Unfortunately, people put money ahead of everything these days, so I just want to change that ideology,” he said.

Waratit is a big fan of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej's sufficiency economy theory. He says that while there are many things he desires, he doesn't want to spend much money in order to acquire them.

With what also appears to be a growing environmental conscience among young people in general, Wararit says he is also concerned by the huge amount of waste produced in the world. The swap shop theory must represent one small way of reducing such waste, Wararit says.

Wararit explains that to take part in CoolSwop, people first need to register on the site. You can then post your items. By hitting the 'swop' button, the site simply gets the would be traders together via email, so they can start arranging to make the deal become reality.