"Generally, barter is a cumbersome and inefficient means of organizing exchanges in an economy, ..." (thefreedictionary.com)

Comment:

Of course in that 'cumbersome and inefficient' process, what happens is that people introduce and meet each other, get to know each other and build up something of a trading community.

Also, deals that could not otherwise happen because of a 'shortage' of cash can still happen - many times in spite of that fact.

So while it may not be as easy or 'efficient' as using cards, cash, or 1s and 0s or even cheques/checks - it can have some definite upside.

Barter is dead. Long live barter.