# Why a trading post might work



## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

First a very secure location 

I'm trying to gather up stuff that people are going to need. ---------Hummmmm cloth diaper<-thought 

If you treated them right you would do well but they must under stand that trading post
Must make a profit. And for currency you can bring Can foods, uncanned food or garden tools
or bullets. If you have two bags of flour I will trade you 1 bag of sugar. 

If you trading 1sugar I will pay you 1 bag of flower. Or if you wish I accept silver or gold.

The town would need a place like this. where they can get what they need by getting rid 
of extra stuff they don't want or need right then. 
You can buy this stuff or use it for currency on the other stuff. 
Eggs 
bacon
bread
knifes
coffee
batteries 
solar lights
liquor 
flash lights.
car batteries charged*
refills on propane camping lantern bottles * 
THE LIST GOES ON AND ON 

Once you got it built up like a Walmart (red neck style)
You could start running it as as no profit. And you could trad even up with folks. 

After TSHTF There will be no currency,,, Currency will be anything that has worth at that time. --1 food 2--ammo 
I will accept almost anything that has value as payment--It's called trading.


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## Notsoyoung (Dec 2, 2013)

Not a bad idea. I tend to look back to the 1800's allot when trying to get some idea of how things might work once things start to settle down a little after the SHTF. A trading post seems to be one of the things that usually pops up. Be security conscious though, it will be a tempting target.


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## jimLE (Feb 8, 2014)

*great ideas when it comes to both of you..with in 1 year.no gas much less transportaion that depends on it.to me that includes wagons and buggys of the 1800's..to me that means a mill for lumber to build wargons and buggys.and a blacksmith shop for the metal rims for the wheels and other metal parts as well.

but yet as for the tradeing post goes.id wait for things to settle down before starting one..to me that means waiting 5 to 10 years for that.this way there'll be less of a chance on things going wrong when it comes to getting robed or killed and/or what ever...*


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## Prepadoodle (May 28, 2013)

Trading will be 100% necessary for long term survival, but "barter only," has never worked on any meaningful scale. Some form of currency will eventually be needed as a "transaction lubricant" to make the process less awkward and more fair.

The inherent awkwardness of a barter system can be illustrated by looking at pricing in general. We can easily say $1 = 3 apples. It's far more awkward to say 3 apples = 4 potatoes or 3 pears or 12 strawberries or 1/2 pound of flour or 2 .22 caliber bullets or 1 quart of gasoline or... or, or etc etc etc. 

Furthermore, barter systems are cumbersome because you have to match your excess goods to someone who not only can provide what you want, but who also wants what you have to offer. If, for example, I have 2 bushels of wheat and need some dental work done, I would not only be faced with locating a dentist, but also finding a dentist who happens to need wheat. 

Barter systems are also basically unfair. For example, if the guy with apples happens to like big boobed blonde women, the big boobed blonde woman will get a better deal on her apples. If the lady who sells chickens happens to hate big boobed blondes, the blonde won't get a good price. This same basic inequality will also manifest itself in terms of religions, skin color, ancestry, or any of a thousand other things. Setting fixed prices based on currency can eliminate these inequalities.

Gold and silver will have little value in a post-SHTF world. Any value they maintain will be based more on tradition than on any intrinsic value. Yes, gold is useful in the manufacturing of electronic components and jewelry, but really, how important will this be? I know I won't be accepting gold or silver as payment for anything if the SHTF.

So then, the question becomes, "What will be used as currency?"

In a word... ammunition. Specifically (in order of utility, at least in the USA) .223/5.56 mm, .22 LR, 9mm, .45 cal, 12 ga, .40 cal, and .308/7.62 mm NATO. One could argue for the inclusion of other ammo types such as .300 win mag, 7.62mm X 39, and so on. One could also argue the "ranking" I am suggesting. For example, one could argue that .40 cal will be more valuable than .45 cal, but the basic idea remains the same: if you are serious about prepping for a SHTF scenario, ammo is better than gold.

So yes, there will be trading centers, and yes, at least some of them will barter with you. You might even get lucky and find someone willing to take your gold and silver as payment. But if you want to virtually guarantee that you can trade for what you need, set aside a good supply of the more common ammunition types because that ammunition will be the official currency of Armageddon.


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## tango (Apr 12, 2013)

A Dentist, especially post SHTF, would accept gold and maybe silver, because he could use it to repair teeth.
Someone else who needs wheat may have some gold or silver to trade.
PM's will always have value.


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## BagLady (Feb 3, 2014)

jimLE said:


> *great ideas when it comes to both of you..with in 1 year.no gas much less transportaion that depends on it.to me that includes wagons and buggys of the 1800's..to me that means a mill for lumber to build wargons and buggys.and a blacksmith shop for the metal rims for the wheels and other metal parts as well.
> 
> but yet as for the tradeing post goes.id wait for things to settle down before starting one..to me that means waiting 5 to 10 years for that.this way there'll be less of a chance on things going wrong when it comes to getting robed or killed and/or what ever...*


Wagons and Buggys can be made much more easily now. Yes you need lumber, and a way to weld metal. We are building our 4th wagon. We use car axels (rear axels) from front wheel drive cars. 
The hardest part will be to train a horse/mule or a team to drive. That takes know how, and time. There will be trained animals for sale, but the price will be very high. There will (probably) be some horse thieving going on. ::rambo::


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## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

I will take silver in trade


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## Conundrum99 (Feb 16, 2014)

Look at any third world country and you will see how they reuse everything. They make carts and wagons from old truck beds a sorts. There is always a market, there is always some form of law and security. Usually local militia, gangs or coop. There is always some form of trade and batter. The market place has been around since to dawn of man and will be here at the end.


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## Reptilicus (Jan 4, 2014)

Hmmm.... I think that instead of a trading post I would be more inclined to open a Brothel and Saloon. All through history there has always been a demand for sex and booze and generally the people providing them are the most powerful and influential. The more powerful and influential I am means the better I can provide for and protect my group. It would not be without risk but neither is the trading post and in an after SHTF scenario there will always be risk!


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## shotlady (Aug 30, 2012)

when watching little house on the prairie growing up i paid particular attention to the merchant. the wimmin types where shit asses. but i paid attention to what people bought and why. always in old western shows i perked up at the merchant scenes. i too will be having a trading post.


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## Notsoyoung (Dec 2, 2013)

Just a thought.... You can still find old pedal driven sowing machines. We have a couple of them. As clothes start wearing out, having the means to make/repair clothing could come in pretty handy. You can make new clothes using worn out clothes for their material, drapes, sheets, where ever you can scrounge the cloth that you can use.


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## pheniox17 (Dec 12, 2013)

yea trading posts (both setting up or even being a frequent visitor) don't float my boat at all...

for at least 5-10 years you will need security... security costs supplies, your trading post has to fund all that, and go check out a welfare line or go volunteer for a opp shop (thrift store??) for a few weeks or months, if you're serious about been successful, have a good assessment of a good chunk of the population demographics... 

when ever I see trading posts talked about by us fokes I think about star wars or the faringi of star trek, you can operate without been safe....


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## jimb1972 (Nov 12, 2012)

Depends on the level of societal breakdown, but people who trade successfully have always become rich.


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## pheniox17 (Dec 12, 2013)

jimb1972 said:


> but people who trade successfully have always become rich.


or dead


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## jimb1972 (Nov 12, 2012)

pheniox17 said:


> or dead


I would not classify dead as successful.


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## pheniox17 (Dec 12, 2013)

jimb1972 said:


> I would not classify dead as successful.


depends on how you measure success, but that goes too deep and meaningful for my likings tonight....


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## jimLE (Feb 8, 2014)

* if i was to start a trading post after tshtf..id want to have a well established community started first..that includes folks that i can trust to have my back when needed.plus,id never trade any thing that could get someone within my community or my self injured or killed.which means.we wouldn't be trading knifes guns or ammo.for example.if i traded a knife for 20LB'S of sugar.that same knife could get me killed.if i traded ammo for food and/or clothes.1 round could get me shot in the back..besides.one round can put meat onto the table.and i wont do without meat..*


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

In total society break down operating a trading post/market could be a very risky venture. However in my experience I have been to a lot of 3rd world countries where folks are dirt poor and the currency about as weak as it gets and still have any value at all. They all have markets and everyone uses them to one extent or another...you pretty much have to. While there are occasionally some violence must are not that bad except for minor thefts and pick pockets. Why because like I said everyone depends on them and you don't normally bite the hand that feeds you! The shops I seen that did the most business were the ones that had clothes, food and medicine! Yes there were others that sold jewelry and tools and such but those three were the big mover and shakers on a day in and day out basis. I will admit that even out on some of the remote provinces that alcohol and sex were also commonly for sale too as well if you knew who to talk to and who to ask. It just wasn't always advertised but it was available.

Unless society has totally broken down beyond all hope, markets and trading post will be a much needed commodity in a surviving society and those that can produce will always have the means to provide well for themselves and their families although they may not be rich. I think Markets are the best option as they allow for a lot of vendors to peddle their wares yet maintain a reasonable asemblance of security in numbers. Robbing a single store is much easier than robbing one vendor in a 20-50 vendor market and making a clean get away.

That's just my opinion off what I have seen in many of the third world crap holes I have had the priviledge of "vacationing" in, courtesy of Uncle Sam.


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## Will2 (Mar 20, 2013)

IMO if you want to run a trading post start a business now, then increase your needs in an anarchy based situation. If you can't do sales in good times, you are going to get robbed in bad times. 

People will likely ransack any location available WROL.

Sure go into business but sitting on a stockpile of goods is an investment in the future.

Personally I think you should only stockpile what you will use or need.

I'm not sure what type of scenario you are prepping for natural disaster might work but who says the government doesn't just come and take it, you may get reimbursed later. But if looters come, and it is uninsured you are SOL.


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