It’s not often we stop and think about the actual value of the things we purchase. The economy has grown so complex that it’s hard to think of any good or service in relation to another good or service in the way that, say, a fur trapper would know exactly how many ax heads and glass beads a beaver pelt was worth in 1670. Now New York-based organization OurGoods has brought the idea of bartering back, albeit with a slightly more modern twist.

The idea is simple. People list skills or resources under two sections: “Have” and “Need,” either online at OurGoods.org or at one of the organization’s periodic live barter and network parties. You can pretty much guess what happens next. Johnny Artist is a great painter (you would think so, with that name and all) who has no space to paint; Reginald Landowner has a big unused loft but is desperately craving some artwork to spruce up some of his properties. A connection that would normally be made through a chance meeting is efficiently orchestrated online and everybody is happy.

Although right now the site is geared towards artists and such, in the future, plumbers, farmers and just about anyone else will be able to barter their skills through OurGoods. Don’t worry if you can’t paint or don’ t have a spare studio. Your skills can be as simple as “I am a living human being who can perform basic tasks such as moving things from one place to another,” which was my major in college before switching to the far less lucrative print journalism.

Apparently we aren’t the only ones who think this is a great idea. Co-owners Jen Abrams, Louise Ma, Carl Tashian, Rich Watts and Caroline Woolard just received a fat $20,000 grant from The Field, a non-profit aimed at helping independent artists. What I love so much about OurGoods is that it enables people with skills that are undervalued by society to parlay them into something they can use, an extremely beneficial tool in an economy where many people don’t have that much cash to throw around.