IT was the recognised form of payment under Brehon Law during the Iron Age. Now bartering is making a comeback thanks to the economic downturn.

Growing numbers of thrifty internet users are saving money by swapping goods and services on online listings services such as Gumtree and craigslist.

Susan Bevan has set up her own barter club in Dublin for people who are “time-rich and cash-poor”. Founded earlier this year, it has 50 members who are willing to swap more than 100 skills including cookery, accountancy, language tutoring and electrical work.

Bevan got the idea when she was broke but needed a haircut. “I have lots of useful skills, so I thought that there should be some way to swap them in exchange for a haircut,” she said.

The Dublin Barter Club’s first swap involved a man offering tax and accounting services who needed someone to do his secretarial work. “We had a lady on our books who was looking for someone to help her with her tax returns,” said Bevan.

Rachel Fox, a photographer from Dublin, recently swapped her BMW for a Mercedes plus cash on the Gumtree site. She is now offering to take portraits or wedding photographs in exchange for goods or services of an equivalent value.

“I’m starting a business as a photographer and I need to build up a portfolio but I would rather swap something instead of working for free,” she said.

Her business website is being designed by someone she plans to pay by taking photographs. “It’s a win-win situation,” she said.

Others are following suit. Listings in the “swap shop” section of Gumtree, where Fox advertises, have shown a 390% growth year-on-year, the company says.

International sites with Irish members such as Bartercard, SwapThing and U-Exchange have all also seen an increase in business in recent months.

JumbleTown and DublinWaste, sites where users give away unwanted goods, are also more popular than ever. Hugh Coughlan of DublinWaste.ie said over 8,000 items had already been placed on the site this year, up from 6,000 in 2007. “This year people have given away everything from a boat to horse manure,” he said.

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