Give away / barter items

We are making our first trip to Jamaica and I want to bring a bag of stuff to give away and barter with. I'm looking for ideas. ??
Oh yeah...hello everyone! (my first post)

Hi and welcome, You won't find bartering in Negril, people need the money from selling their wares to live and feed their families.

I was thinking trading fishing tackle for fish or lobster type bartering...no?

No. I think Money is the best bartering tool!

Ditto

Good on you for thinking of the give aways! Welcome. An Alaskan perspective is always welcome!!

OK, money, I got it...so what about things to give away? (besides cash!)
I see things like kids shoes and reading glasses mentioned on the forum. Anything else??

I sometimes bring T shirts and when I bring checked luggage I'll include little multi tools or flashlights and give them away before returning.

reading glasses and makeup are easy to carry, and both go over well.

any school supplies are nice, everyone knows a kid that can use them...size medium anything will also work :).........gone I'm afraid, are the days when a new bic lighter would get you a ride from roundabout to 3 dives.........sad..(where is a "Way Back Machine" when you need one...lol)

Glasses, gently worn clothing, tshirts, hats, anything Mon, anything you can carry is always appreciated

The ladies that walk up and down the beach all day love the travel size bottles of body wash and lotions. I pack a few extra to give away.

We always bring guitar strings & banjo strings for the beach musicians...

Jamacians love bath products and tooth brushes and that sort of thing. Famous Vincent loves bathing suit shorts. Bic lighters are a big hit, too.

couple of years back i went to the local flea market and bought six pairs of bright yellow oakley style sunglasses for a group of us coming down to help keep track of our gruop...easy to spot in a crowd and cheaper then losing the real thinggs on the beach and i could wear them swimming....anyway.....a vendor on the beach was a little upset because he wore the same color and said it was what he was known for.....left him a pair, the gaurds at the coco, bartender at for real. and sammy the guy who sold wares next to for real......come back the next year and was remembered for and asked if i was leaving more.....since then i always bring a dozen pair that i order on line very cheap and hand them out on the beach.......and the kids love them as well.......have fun on your trip......peace

Lots of great ideas!

This entire forum is such a wealth of information.
I don't know how I stumbled across you people, but thanks for being here.

I always bring stuff,but I don't barter,I give it away.For what I pay compared to what they pay&make !!! It's huge. I just found a dollar store where I get reading glasses for only Three bucks,thats what I'm bringing next time. Ten pair.

I usually being stuff to give away as well. One year to Puerto Vallarta I brought a bunch of flip flops...they were a hit. I also brought Tim Hortons muffins one year to some of the bar staff I've gotten to know.

I never thought about reading glasses, I can get them for $1 at the Dollar Tree. I was going there to pick up several pair of one dollar sunglasses since I always lose a pair or 2 when I'm done there.....

Bartering is fine...it takes two people to decide if they both got a great deal=you are not ripping them off or taking food off of any table by bringing goods that they can trade/barter/sell for a profit. Worse case = you buy+ bring stuff that you can't barter for a profit. Best case= you buy something for $10 and trade it for something selling for $20.....both you and the vendor leave with a smile....

An example....bought a $35 mask/fin/snorkel set at Target, made a deal with a vendor that on my last day I would trade it with him for this and that. I ended up with several wood carvings and he got the snorkel stuff that he could sell or rent. There is no way he could get such fine Target quality in JA at that price....and start a snorkel renting empire...(kidding somewhat). Point is that in some cases bartering works out well for both parties as it has since 2 hours before the concept of time was invented.

Barter on...or make it rain cash...the beat goes on either way....

Yeah, my first trip in the 70's, I brought jeans and shoe polish, traded for various things including a carving.

Ok ...
for little dudes ... hot wheels die cast cars
little gals... hair stuff ..from the dollar store
for the bigger dudes ... baseball caps ... budwiser giveaways.. NHL /NFL etc..
I usually make a game of it .. Seattle or New York ??? ..usually purchased from a thrift store
Music ... 4 gig USB's loaded with tunes .. bars love 'em
bigger gals ... I leave that up to Mi Lady

Electronics are da best barter items..........
portable DVD players, cameras, mp3 players, etc etc..........good used condition is okay.

Cool Runnings, Marko

At the end of my trip I start to give away my clothes,good stuff. If you see the young guy who sells the juice at CoCo,,,let me know if he is wearing a multi colored visor I gave him.I liked that visor but??????