January/February 1985 . RAIN Page 17 I I ------'- -. :_____._;..__. I Local Exchange Trading System (LETS) by Kris Nelson In the July/August issue (page 18), we reported on the Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS) taking root in economically crippled communities on Vancouver Island. Now LETS is starting a commercial version among retailers in one neighborhood of Vancouver. LETS is a modified barter system. It is unique in that computer-tallied debits and credits enable one-way trading, whereas conventional barter systems can only exchange one item or service for another. The credits, or "green dollars"-equivalent to Canadian dollars-act as promissory notes, and in cpmmunities short on paid jobs, people use LETS to meet needs without cash. · Monthly newsletters inform members of offers to sell or requests to buy. Members also receive monthly statements of their transactions and balance. In Courtenay, operational costs are financed from a $15 cash membership fee, and 45¢ green is charged buyers or employers for each transaction. Indiv;idualLETSystems set their own fees. Now that LETS is operating in 12 communities on Vancouver Island, and the bugs are worked out of its accounting software (available for $100 Canadian), Landsman Community Services, Ltd., creator of LETS, is conducting a major publicity campaign among a group of Vancouver merchants. "They can join for 100 green dollars and $100 Canadian, all of which is tax deductible-a free membership," explains Mary Pittman of Landsman. Michael Linton, creator of LETS, expects retail~rs using LETS to attract new customers who wartt to' trade in green dollars and thereby improve the neighbor-. hood's economy ... from 'the inside out. He'expects merchants to accept green dollars on a product's.per- .centage of mark-up apove wholesale cost. Linton chose to start among retailers first .and take in.dividual mem- , berships later, so that the project would have adequate capital to meet start-up costs. Since the system functions best among traders who know one another, the goal is to seed up to 10 selfcontained LETSystems fo Vancouver neighborhoods. Once knowledgeable r~lationships exist among retailers and individuals, the system will expand to trading across neighborhoods using the LETS "superdollar." At this stage, no trading is done between LETS systems, but once communities maintain sufficient volume of ·trading to be recognized by others, green dollars will be transferrable as superdollars. LETS is unique in that computertallied debits and credits enable one~way trading, while conventional barter systems can only exchange pne item or service for another. By the rate of requests for the 40-page start-up manual ($12) and the software-over 150 requests by the end of October 1984 from the U.S. and Canada-it appears that LETS may get started in hundreds of North American communities. For details, contact Landsman Community Services, Ltd., 479 4th Street, Courtenay, BC V9N 1G9, Canada; 604 / 3~8-0213 . Kris Nelson was formerly a member of the RAIN staff, and ·is now living on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.
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