Money Killed Barter; Can a Platform Bring It Back?

Send us Fan Mail

We explore why money became the default middleman and how a modern platform can make barter practical by slashing the costs of search, matching, and trust. Founder Jassim Baqer shares the story behind Tbadel, what people actually trade, and how reputation, bundling, and scale (might) make swaps work.

• Adam Smith’s "double coincidence of wants" problem and transaction costs
• Platforms as connection engines that lower search and matching costs
• Tbadel’s origin, goals and name meaning exchange in Arabic
• How offers, counteroffers and bundles enable fair value without prices
• Building trust with profiles, ratings, in‑app messaging and reporting
• Local meetups versus future delivery options to cut transfer costs
• Why density and subcommunities unlock multi‑party and chain trades
• What trades dominate now: books, electronics, kids’ gear and services
• AI matching, alerts and global exchange as the growth roadmap
• Two‑sided market dynamics and the path to scale

Tbadel Web Site

Jassim Baqer on LinkedIn

From JJ's letter: Photos of "Parklet" in San Francisco.

If you have questions or comments, or want to suggest a future topic, email the show at [email protected] !

You can follow Mike Munger on Twitter at @mungowitz