ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Local Exchange Trading Systems

Hi there! Do you know what money is? Money is what we use to buy things we want like toys, food, and clothes. But did you know that there are other ways to get things you want without using money? That's where local exchange trading systems, or LETS for short, come in!

LETS is a way for people in a community, like your neighborhood or school, to trade things they have or services they can do without using money. Let's say you make really yummy cupcakes but you need help with your math homework. You can offer to trade your cupcakes for someone to tutor you in math, that way both of you get what you need without using money!

LETS usually work by having a group of people come together and make a list of what they can offer to trade. They might get together to trade items once a week or once a month. A person can earn trading credits by offering their goods or services and then they can use those credits to get something they need from someone else.

Let's say you offered to paint someone's toy car and in return you earned one trading credit. Later on, you might need help with your gardening and you can ask someone who is good at gardening to help you in exchange for your one trading credit. It's like a big swap meet without using actual money!

LETS can be really helpful especially when people don't have a lot of money to spare or when they don't want to spend their money on something they could trade for instead. It also helps create a sense of community and togetherness because people have to work together to help each other out. So that's how local exchange trading systems work, pretty cool, right?