An age-old idea is getting a local boost from the faltering economy — bartering goods and services.

In Auburn, the Barter Club, which has been around for 15 years, has a membership that traditionally has hovered around 250. But that number has soared during the past six months, according to Jay Ross, who organized and runs the group.

“We’ve seen probably 40 to 50 new accounts that have come in strictly because they’ve been searching us out,” Ross said recently. “Right now we’re at about 330 businesses.”

Membership includes restaurants, building contractors, florists, dentists, clothing stores, auto repair — even vacation rentals. In fact, Ross got the idea for the club because he and his wife have a cabin in Tahoe City they wanted to rent.

“We decided to start trading and found it was a good place to barter,” he said.

Only businesses offering goods and services are eligible to join.

“If you offer something on an ongoing basis, you can be a member,” Ross said. “You can get whatever you need through the club. You can go to the dentist, get your nails done, get a massage, go shopping or get an oil change.”

The system works on a dollar-for-dollar basis, he explained. In exchange for $100 worth of merchandise or services, members can get $100 of goods or services. For example, a restaurant would print cards good for $25 or $50 in dining credits, in return for credit in the barter bank for the amount of the dining cards.

“They can get T-shirts from one of the stores. They might get the fridge fixed,” Ross said. “I have a guy who repairs restaurant equipment and a guy who steam cleans restaurant hoods.”

In fact, dining accounts for about 20 to 25 percent of all barter sales, he said.

Ross handles the club’s administrative tasks — keeping track of membership and barter sales. He also puts out a newsletter and maintains a Web site listing all of the participants. He charges a one-time enrollment fee of $395, or $199 for a one-year trial. Monthly dues are $10 monthly and the club gets 10 percent cash fee for the barter purchases, he said.

“Most of the members do between $300 and $500 worth of bartering a month,” he said. “It gives them a little extra business and they are dealing more with other business owners.”

Lora LaPorte, owner of Dancing Dog Productions in Downtown Auburn who joined the Barter Club soon after it was organized, says it has been “a terrific experience.”

“We just thought it would be a good way of increasing business,” LaPorte said. “Just the thought of bartering with people kind of appealed to us — to be able to trade goods and services.”

The LaPortes have used their barter credits mainly for supplemental health services.

“Because we are self-employed, some things aren’t covered by our medical,” she said. “(We see) the eye doctor, chiropractor and the dentist through the Barter Club. My husband was even able to get lasik surgery because he bartered for part of it. There’s no way we would go to the dentist without the Barter Club. It has enabled us to do certain things we wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.”

In return, many of the club members call on Dancing Dog Productions for printed T-shirts and other items.

“The nice thing about the Barter Club is you don’t have to trade directly — it goes into a big pool,” LaPorte said. “So the eye doctor doesn’t necessarily have to come to me. A lot of restaurants come to us for aprons and T-shirts.”

Ross, who also owns a limousine service, uses scrip and gift certificates to put a limit on the amount of barter purchases. That’s to protect the more popular services from being overwhelmed. And one thing he cautions is that participants only put in the amount of bartering dollars they intend to take out in goods and services each month.

If you save enough barter credits, you can even rent a time-share condo in Hawaii, Mexico or Lake Tahoe, he said.

The Journal’s Gloria Young can be reached at gloriay @goldcountrymedia.com or comment at Auburnjournal. com.