I don’t get it! How does all this work?
How does the trade shack work, but more so, how can I benefit from it?
Good question. The Trade Shack is fluent, with at its core SELF-SUFFICIENCY and COMMUNITIES. Self-sufficiency can have many forms and meanings. Some want to save money by doing stuff themselves, some want to “leave the system”, and others want to leave it all behind and disappear. As we find our footing in the funny world of self-sufficiency, prepping, leaving the system, trading and finding like-minded, we change our way of doing things. We keep doing this until we get it right.
MEMBERSHIP
When you become a member, we ask you for your Name, Email and Postcode. Your name and email are for you so you can log in and the postcode we use to map you to like-minded by geographical area.
Are you the first member of the Postcode Community?,
We do a few things if you are the first person for that postcode.
- We create the Postcode Community website for your postcode.
- We create a Postcode Forum and Group.
- We create a Telegram group for your postcode.
- Give you access to list items for sale.
- Give you access to add your business to the directory if you are a paying member.
If you are the first member of that postcode group, you will be the administrator of everything we create for your postcode. This can be temporary. If you are uncomfortable with it, we can hand it over to the next member of that postcode group. We are there with you all the way. It is not that you are alone. We need help with keeping an eye on things. Also, people “on the ground know best”, and that be you.
Postcode Community Website
This is a page for your postcode community. You can always go there to see what members have posted for sale and what new local providers have listed.
It also lists your postcode community forum details, you do not have to use it, but you can. It is only accessible to members of your postcode community. You do not have to do anything. We do all the work.
On this page, you will find postcode community-specific information.
- Backyard product, food grown in your community by local backyard growers.
- Local Exchange is based on the concept of edible exchange.
- Growers, commercial growers in your community. Like paddock-to-plate type businesses.
- Directory, a list of businesses that provide products and services in your area. They MUST source all their material locally.
- Seed Exchange, trading and sharing seeds for growing food and plants. Local seeds are climatised, giving them a better chance to grow in your area.
- Community Announcements are taken from the forum.
Classifieds
Classifieds are for buying/selling/trading of food and services. After you log in you can see the section where you can enter the classifieds.
Discussions
Trade Shack Forum
This is the private area where you can discuss and upload documents and photos related to your postcode community. ONLY members in your Postcode Community can join, participate and see the forum.
Each forum has its own level of detail:
- General forums. All members can see that.
- State-related forums, all postcode community members for that state can see the discussions.
- In Postcode Community Forums, only members of their postcode community can see the discussions.
So if you want to discuss something with ALL members of the Trade Shack, start a discussion in the general forums (General, prepping etc).
If you only want your Postcode Community to see and participate in the discussion, then start the discussion in your postcode community forum.
When to use the Forum.
If you want a “postcode private” discussion.
Trade Shack Telegram
We can see the need for it. After all, it is all about connecting and talking to like-minded.
When you subscribe, you get access to your Postcode Community forum, in there you will find the invite link to the Telegram Group for your postcode.
When to use Telegram
Telegram is a messaging application it is designed to be on a mobile and quickly communicate snippets of information. For this reason, we recommend NOT using Telegram for a discussion. Your own forum is a better place for that.
Telegram has come a long way to replicate forums, but it still has a bit to go. A non-social media-dependent discussion is better in our view.