Imagine swapping your old treadmill doubling as a clothes rack for a ukulele — and then trading a pair of jeans that no longer fit for the lessons to play it, all without spending a dollar.
That’s the idea behind a new platform created by Kelly Dempsey, a Massachusetts woman known for her time on “Project Runway” and as a voice actor featured on Disney’s “Phineas and Ferb.”
“Our skills, secondhand items and services become the currency so people are able to free up their cash so they could potentially work less hours at those jobs that they don’t like or invest in a hobby that they’ve been wanting to invest in and maybe take a trip,” Dempsey said.
The platform, named Barterloo, connects people looking to trade all types of goods or services without the exchange of money. Hundreds of people have registered for the prelaunch but it is expected to officially launch at the end of February. It was created by Dempsey, her co-founder Stefan Krajczar, a digital entrepreneur, and through a partnership with Boston University students. But the idea began forming years ago.
“After Project Runway, I was all excited to be this big fashion designer,” Dempsey said. “And after the show, I got a real look into the fashion industry and quickly realized that many of the environmental and ethical practices I definitely wasn’t aligned with.”
In 2023, the fashion industry produced between an estimated 2.5 billion and 5 billion items of excess stock, according to Business of Fashion. Even with thrifting on the rise, 85% of used clothes and other textiles in the United States are sent to the landfill or incinerator.
“We have enough clothing on this planet to last the next six generations,” Dempsey said.
But she envisioned more than a clothing exchange — she wanted a tool that could help strengthen community connections.
When she told Krajczar about her idea, he laughed. He had drafted a similar platform focused on sales, development and coaching, though it never moved forward.
Together, they felt they could make it much bigger than either of their specific interest areas.
“We connect people,” Dempsey said.
Historically, bartering becomes more common when inflation spikes and unemployment climbs. It was seen during the Great Depression and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Buy Nothing groups on Facebook are popular, giving people a place to give away items in their communities. The app Kindred lets people swap apartments. And Somerville Bike Kitchen, a Massachusetts nonprofit, holds clothing swaps.
“The economic hardships people are coping with are driving the rediscovery of bartering,” Shera Dalin, co-author of “The Art of Barter,” told the BBC in 2020. “The same thing happened during the Great Recession. When times get harder, people turn to barter.”
Unlike Facebook Marketplace, Facebook groups or eBay, everyone on the Barterloo platform is verified through a third party and IDs.
“So if you’re, for example, looking for someone who walks your dog or teaches your kid math, you know this person is identified,” Krajczar said. “It’s a secure space.”
It also prohibits drop shippers, fake businesses or selling large amounts of mass-produced items — a problem Etsy has been facing in recent years. And it features small businesses, promoting users to go to their websites if they are interested in spending money without any transaction fees.
A free version to join Barterloo is available but it has a limited number of daily barters. Monthly subscriptions start for as low as about $2, while a lifetime subscription is $180.
Plus, the entire platform is designed to feel like the user is scrolling on social media.
“People are going to scroll anyway. So why don’t we create a meaningful scrolling feed exchange that brings barter into the modern world while using technology to reconnect us rather than disconnect us,” Dempsey said.
As a fashion designer, upcycler and content creator, she shows her nearly 200,000 followers on social media how she takes thrifted items and turns them into unique bags, jackets and shirts. Some of those items might end up on Barterloo. But she could also offer sewing lessons. Krajczar, however, is looking to barter to get some Spanish lessons.
Other barters might include help video editing, a knitted sweater or simply a listening ear.
Another goal for Dempsey is more personal: she hopes the platform helps people understand their value. She knows firsthand that a bank account doesn’t always reflect the impact of work — even for someone with “Project Runway” experience.
“I’m not the problem. I’m very valuable. My work is really cool, and I’m just not in a system that supports that,” she said, adding that a lot of artists feel this way.
“And it’s exciting to make people see things in a different way … You were never the issue. You’re creating magic.”