BRTR in brief
- How a job is priced
- (skill + rigor) ÷ 2 × hours × 10
- When points move
- Held on accept, released when the job is confirmed
- Recommendations
- Cannot be edited once posted
- New members
- Start with 100 points
How it works
No money changes hands. Every trade is paid in points.
Offer a skill
List what you can do, from editing a résumé to putting a bookshelf together. Or post a job you need done. Pick a category and say how long it takes.
Earn points
Agree on points in the trade chat. When the trade is accepted, the points are held. When the neighbor you helped confirms the job is done, they are yours.
Spend them on help you need
Use your points with anyone in the exchange. New members start with 100, so you can ask for help before you have given any.
Points are worked out the same way for everyone
An hour of your time counts, and so do your skill and how demanding the job is. The formula dates from BRTR's first point system, written in 2018.
- Skill
- The helper's rating for this kind of work, from 1 to 5. New members start at 3.
- Rigor
- How demanding the task is, from 1 to 5. BRTR sets it for each task in the catalog.
- Hours
- How long the job takes, in quarter hours.
A worked example
A new member cleans a neighbor's oven. Oven cleaning has a rigor of 2.5, and the job takes 2 hours.
- (3 + 2.5) ÷ 22.75
- 2.75 × 2 hours5.5
- 5.5 × 1055 points
What neighbors trade
41 categories, taken from BRTR's first task list.
- Cleaning
- Academic
- Accounting
- Arts / Crafts
- Automotive
- Carpentry & Construction
- Computer Help
- Cooking / Baking
- Data Entry
- Decoration
- Delivery
- Electrician
- Errands
- Event Planning
- Event Staffing
- Entertainment
- Furniture Assembly
- Graphic Design
- Heavy Lifting
- Marketing
- Minor Home Repairs
- Mounting
- Moving
- Office Administration
- Packing & Shipping
- Painting
- Personal Assistant
- Pet Sitting
- Photography
- Plumbing
- Research
- Selling Online
- Sewing
- Shopping
- Usability Testing
- Videography
- Wait In Line
- Web Design & Development
- Window Cleaning
- Writing & Editing
- Yard Work & Removal
Safety and fairness
The rules that protect a trade are built into the app. Read the community guidelines for what we ask of members.
- Points held until the job is done
- Points are set aside when a trade is accepted and released only when the person who asked for help confirms the work. If there is a dispute, they stay frozen until a person reviews it.
- Ratings and recommendations
- After a trade, members rate each other on communication, quality and reliability. A recommendation cannot be edited once it is posted.
- Block and report
- If something feels wrong, you can block a member or report them in the app.
- Verified members
- Verified members carry a badge on their profile. Who will check identity when the app opens to the public is still being decided.
- Delete your account
- You can delete your account from inside the app. Your past trades stay on record so other members' balances still add up.
Where the app is today
BRTR is an early prototype in private testing. There are no public members yet, and the app is not in the app stores. If you would like to take part in a test, or talk about the project, write to us.