BrisLETS – The Local Energy Trading System in Brisbane

LETS stands for Local Energy Trading System. LETS is an exchange system that operates on a community-issued interest-free complementary currency. 

Copied from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
“A local exchange trading system (also local employment and trading system or local energy transfer system; abbreviated LETS) is a locally initiated, democratically organised, not-for-profit community enterprise that provides a community information service and records transactions of members exchanging goods and services by using locally created currency.
LETS networks facilitate exchange between members by providing a directory of offers and needs and by allowing a line of interest-free credit to each. Members’ IOUs are logged in a centralised accounting system which publishes a directory as well as balances visible to all members. In case of a default, the loss of value or units is absorbed equally by all members, which makes it a mutual credit exchange. For instance, a member may earn credit by doing childcare for one person and spend it later on carpentry with another person in the same network, or they may spend first and earn later.”

Instead of using bank-issued credit or dollars, a LETS system empowers people to issue credit for the goods or services they sell, by recording the value of the goods and services in the local currency – called Units (in the case of BrisLETS).

As a guide to working out how much to charge for goods and services, each Unit is equal to one dollar.

 

 

At trading days, members can record transactions that have taken place on these days by completing a paper transaction slip which are then transferred to the online CES (Community Exchange System) website or they are entered directly into the CES website. Attending a trading day is a great way to get started and to get to know the friendly and supporting community that BrisLETS is.

Of course, members can also trade with each other outside of these trading days at any other time they choose and record transactions between them in the CES system.

In this way, just like a regular bank account, you can keep a track of your credits and debits online.

What LETS is Not

LETS is not barter, because barter involves one one-to-one exchanges.

Like ‘bank money’, the credits and debits in LETS exist simply as a record.