Check out bartering site SIMBI

Earlier this month inside a Facebook group someone had shared a link to the site Simbi. This sounded interesting, so I clicked it on and have been visiting the site regularly ever since.

To start off with when you sign up through someone you each get Simbi (which is like points) and then when the person makes their first deal there are more Simbi for both of you. To join Simbi you connect and verify through a social media account, either LinkedIn or Facebook. To complete your profile you can connect Google as well to have all three shown as verified on your profile.

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The site uses the term "strength" when you are posting an offer and creating your profile. It will show you at 81% strength and the more information you provide the more strength percentage you get. As far as I know this is only available to the user - no one else can see this. It is just a way to get your page organized and completed and the same with the offers/requests/deals being proposed.

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This is what is listed at the home page if you are not yet a member. Once you are a member the home page is set up with Recent activity for all and then those that you follow. This is a scrolling through feature where you can see the latest offerings and deals being made plus who has clicked on a deal for their favorites.

Your ID is your first name and initial of your last name. I suggest once you have set up your profile that you have a look around and click on deals. The heart at the top is how you would favorite a deal. When you do this the member has a notification and they can check out your offerings.

You’ve been favorited! Click through to see your admirer’s services

My advice is to dedicate 15 minutes at the site once you have signed up, otherwise the chances of returning are slim and this gives you a head start by seeing what others offer and create your first offer.

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There are three categories - Services, Products and Requests.

For products you would add cost of postage and handling within the posting. There are many that post art work and hand made items.

Requests are a way for people to post what they are looking for rather than using the search function and reply to a service offered. The profiles have badges that you can earn and get on the leaderboard. I made it on the leaderboard before my first week was completed.

When looking at a profile or at a specific request or service, you will see the number of reviews they have, their percentage of completion, how many deals, their badges, the number of followers and a blue number that could be 5.0 or below. This is based on the review the person who got your service, made a deal with you or fulfilled your request.

When a deal is completed there is a process of filling out a quick box with stars to rate them on friendliness, reliability and service quality. There is an option to start a conversation before proposing a deal and the option is there to change the drop down menu to decide how long it will take to complete the deal, 7 days, 2 weeks, etc.

There is also a vacation mode so that members are aware that you are not open for business and it indicates how many days left before the vacation is over.

When you create your service there is a title, description, hashtags, photo and how many Simbi it is worth plus if you want a trade services thru Simbi. You indicate how many you can do in a month and what the amount it thru drop down menu.

Simbi also has groups where you can choose which product of yours will be listed inside the group plus products and requests.

Most of the postings are handled virtually online, but there is also a local section. Each profile shows their city and state or city and Country. CA is for Canada. The profile also indicates how long it takes you on average to respond to requests through the inbox. There is a comment wall for each service and request that you can reply to and the relevant reviews (feedback) gets posted there.

The process goes like this:

You favorite a service.

You find a match

You start a conversation

One of you clicks on the button within the inbox message for propose deal

The other person clicks on accept

When the deal is over one of you clicks on button in inbox

The other person is asked to confirm deal has been completed

The box comes up to give reviews/ratings

The ratings (star) are anonymous, but I was at 5.0 and got a rating and my number dropped to 4.9 - so it is quite easy to determine who did the rating.

You get notified when someone signed up under your referral link. There is an icon for your balance -this is broken down into your current balance and what is on hold based on the services, requests or products you have a deal with. It shows plus or minus on how the Simbi goes in or out of your account.

The request section fulfills the helper badge as you are helping someone out and these are fun to do and many people will be doing them at the same time. It could be to join a group, help someone name an item or product, give their social media a review, sew them a blanket.

The ideas are endless and Simbi has helped spark my creativity and given me an incentive to start offering tarot card readings. I have enjoyed earning badges and getting on the Leaderboard.

Simbi is also available in an app and there is a chat window on the app and on the website with a team of about 3 or 4 that will assist you. Each conversation I have started is still there to view.

I was able to extend the completion date on one that required me to send something through the mail and I wanted to make sure it was received before completing the deal. I also cancelled a deal before the due date because of confusion in communications, language barrier and being in another country and the time difference. Another deal I put in request through the chat window because the date had already passed and I submitted the seven page astrology report, but the man was difficult to please so I opted to not get the Simbi and move on.

My favorite experience thus far has been Learning the basics of Boxing. This was a local service that was an hour and loads of fun. We met at a local park and had the session in the parking lot as the grass was very wet.

I have referred nine people so far. If you have skills in any area you can post about it and offer it on Simbi. This includes sharing recipes, doing meal plans, virtual workout plans, Computer assistance, SEO, writing blog posts, gardening, astrology reading, oracle car readings, vegan advice, consultations on any thing you are good at and offering help on a number of things.

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