Tried a local time bank for 3 months and got a nasty surprise

I swapped 10 hours of computer help for 5 hours of plumbing work through our town's time bank, but then the guy ghosted me and the coordinator said there's no way to enforce trades. Nobody keeps track of who owes what and people just stop showing up when they get what they want. Has anyone managed to make a time bank actually work without it falling apart?

3 comments

3 Comments

jadej5020d ago

Man that's rough. The whole problem with time banks is they rely on people being honest and reliable, and we all know that's a gamble. I've seen a few work but only when they have a strict system like requiring everyone to log hours in a shared spreadsheet or app before they can request help. The ones that fall apart are always the ones with no tracking at all, just a coordinator trying to remember who owes what. Either you need a digital record that everyone can see, or you need to pair up trades right then and there like a swap meet. Otherwise people will take advantage every time.

owens.anthony20d ago

Wait, is that why I'm banned from my building's whiteboard?

the_terry20d ago

But what about making them hyper local? I'm talking like a single apartment building or a small block of houses where everyone already knows each other. In a setup like that, the social pressure alone keeps people honest because you're gonna run into that person at the mailbox tomorrow. I've seen it work wonders in my mom's retirement community, they just use a whiteboard in the common room and nobody stiffs anyone because they'd have to look their neighbor in the eye during bingo night. The bigger the circle gets, the more anonymity people have to slack off.