The Swedish economy hasn’t suffered the series of financial hits (yet) of the U.S. market, but high interest rates and shaky confidence have been two factors precipitating a steep decline in Swede’s shopping habits predicted this fall, and growth of online bartering or swapping (In Sweden it’s called ’swopping’).
Apartment swaps popular, followed by clothes and electronics
Especially in big cities such as Stockholm, where housing is increasingly tight, swapping of apartments – usually trades are say from one to two bedrooms – is already a huge barter business advertised in mainstream papers. Now, however, one of the three biggest barter sites, Bytessajten, is taking a piece of that apartment-swap action, with clothes and electronics two other popular trade categories. One woman in Northern Sweden traded 100 freshly baked cinnamon rolls (a national favorite) for a newer used PC when her older computer crashed and couldn’t be revived.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/09/100-cinnamon-rolls-swapped-for-a-pc.php (site loads slow)
