Based on personal experience and anecdotal evidence gathered from media websites, more and more people seem to turn to barter to fulfill various needs and wants. I myself have helped a professional baker with her website, in turn I received a cake for my daughter's birthday party. Other friends have bartered hairstyling services for bookkeeping and cleaning services.

Barter has been a long-standing concept in human society. It is a form of balanced reciprocity. Balanced reciprocity, generalized reciprocity, and negative reciprocity are anthropological concepts that help us understand how some economic aspects of modern and traditional societies work. The three types of reciprocity are complemented by the concept of redistribution. At the forefront of this research was anthropologist Marshall Sahlins, University of Chicago.

Balanced reciprocity or direct exchange comprises trade, barter, buying, and gift exchange. As we all know, in these situations the return is given immediately and equivalent in value to the goods received. The return is conducted in the form of handing over money or an equivalent such as check or credit card. Commercial products set a value through their prices. Almost everyone thinks about the value of a gift in order to make sure that it is not too much or too little. If the latter is the case, embarrassing situations may arise.

Generalized reciprocity is a feature of all human societies, no matter their economic or social preferences. It includes sharing, hospitality, token gifts, mutual aid, generosity, and obligatory gifts to kinsmen and chiefs in non-national societies. Generalized reciprocity differs from balanced reciprocity in that the goods move only in one direction. In addition, the receiver is not obliged to return the gift or to give anything in return. Food sharing within families is probably the most widespread form of generalized reciprocity.

Negative reciprocity includes all activities that attempt to get something for nothing. Familiar forms of reciprocity are theft, bargaining, haggling, gambling, and chicanery. Like generalized reciprocity, negative reciprocity presumes that goods move into one direction only. Unlike generalized reciprocity, however, negative reciprocity is not highly regarded by most people.

In addition to reciprocity, the concept of redistribution plays a major role in economies. Redistribution means that resources are collected from the members of a group and then redistributed within that group and sometimes outside that group. Taxes come to mind as a well-known form of redistribution. Redistribution fulfills certain practical functions such as taking care of those who cannot take care of themselves. In addition, redistribution helps sustain the societal structure itself.

Balanced, generalized, and negative reciprocity as well as redistribution are cornerstones of human societies. It is impossible to understand ourselves without understanding these concepts.