AS a form of business, it has been around since the Stone Age.
But Wendy Baird feels bartering could now have future among traders in Nottingham.
The 50-year-old, who runs The Picnic Basket coffee shop in Carrington Street, Nottingham city centre, wants members of a new trade directory she has developed to exchange goods or services without any money changing hands.
She said: "I think as the economic climate gets harder, it's important that independent shops look after each other.
"I think to go back to the way things used to be, where it was a more relaxed way of dealing when times are harder, means traders are not having to pull money out of the business. It makes sense to me."
Ms Baird, of Sherwood, has spent the last year creating www.localsuppliersdirectory.co.uk.
Around 300 food and drink businesses in Nottingham have so far signed up to the site, which is aimed at connecting businesses in the hospitality trade.
Mother-of-two Ms Baird said many members of the new directory have been positive about the idea of bartering for goods and services among the group.
She said: "The directory came about as it is often difficult to find local supplies.
"I wanted to support local businesses, and if I'm spending money locally that money might end up back in my till.
"I use 34 different suppliers, with the furthest away being in Lincoln."
She added: "Bartering has to be balanced transactions and invoiced properly, and purely business to business.
"I would encourage anyone to try it.
"People are doing it all over the world, with some even setting up their own currency.
"It think it's a growing trend and if we can make it work we may set up our own online currency, too."
Jim Lee, owner of Old Basford-based coffee and drinks supplier Lee and Fletcher, has signed up to www.localsuppliersdirectory.co.uk.
He said if he was to start bartering with other members, it would be the first time he had done so in more than 20 years running the business.
Mr Lee said: "I think it's an exciting opportunity.
"Potentially we could supply coffee to other soft drink suppliers, and exchange soft drinks with them.
"I don't see why it shouldn't catch on."
He added: "I signed up to the directory and it is local and purely for the trade.
"Bartering has got to be to my benefit, but if I'm buying something and I can get an equal sale to match it and it's cost-neutral, then great."
Andrew Leyshon, Professor of Economic Geography at the University of Nottingham, said the plan mirrored that of the Local Exchange and Trading Systems scheme, which has been in existence in the UK since the 1980s.
"It helps those people who are time rich and cash poor, and as a way of keeping value in a local community," he said.
But he added that Ms Baird's venture could be helpful to its members.
"It relies on mutual convenience and want," he said.
"Both have to have something they each want, and they have to agree they are equivalent in exchange. That's where money is so effective.
"Bartering can work, but it's not easy. Alternative currencies have also existed for a long time.
"They do work for a bit, but it's usually in times of crisis. The advantage of money is that it's taken for granted."
