History Main / ProBonoBarter

* In the ''VideoGame/NancyDrew'' series, this trope often justifies extraneous puzzles and minigames. It's especially prevalent in ''Secret of the Old Clock'', which is set during the Great Depression: mail recipients can't tip Nancy, so they offer things like nails or a glass of fresh milk.
* The Followers of the Apocalypse (don't let the name fool you, they're basically secular [[NiceGuy Nice Guys]]) in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' mention that they get their food by providing medical services to local farmers.
* After TheGreatFlood, quarantine and influx of {{Eldritch Abomination}}s that plague Oakmont in ''VideoGame/TheSinkingCity'', the American dollar is rendered useless by the citizens and have since gone to a barter system, bullets being used as the currency by the player.

* In ''VideoGame/SkateOrDie 2'', you trade anything from CDs to French Fries in exchange for new skateboards and tricks. Justified as the plot of the game has you saving money, and you can't do that if you're spending it on unlockables.

Compare WorkOffTheDebt, a much more specific trope in which a character must pay off a food bill by washing dishes or performing some other menial job around a restaurant, and HospitalityForHeroes, where someone noticing the good deed rewards the individual with whatever they can. Can also overlap with FoodAsBribe. Has nothing to do with [[Music/{{U2}} U2’s frontman]] or [[Music/{{Cher}} Sonny]].

Sometimes the character does this willingly, as he or she is good-hearted and likes helping out those in need and/or has a familiar connection to the client. Other times, the character does this grudgingly or may attempt to avoid doing this altogether, possibly because of greed, or possibly because he or she is foreseeing his or her own impending poverty from accepting too many gifts instead of money. In still other situations, the character may flat-out refuse the gift and deny the service, or the character may prefer the gift over money, or the character may accept it because the person making the offer is powerful, crazy, and/or potentially dangerous.

The one thing that distinguishes a Pro Bono Barter from a regular barter is the ''pro bono''; that is, the character accepting a gift instead of money is essentially providing a good or service for free, because he or she lives in a culture where bartering is uncommon or flat-out abnormal ("''pro bono''" is short for "''Pro bono publico''", Latin for "''For the public good''"). This is often the case even with items of high value, since the character may or may not have the ability (or the heart) to exchange the gift for money.

Compare WorkOffTheDebt, a much more specific trope in which a character must pay off a food bill by washing dishes or performing some other menial job around a restaurant, and HospitalityForHeroes, where someone noticing the good deed rewards the individual with whatever they can. Can also overlap with FoodAsBribe.

A character or business, often the protagonist, performs a service or supplies a good of reasonable demand, and expects a reasonable payment in return. In many cultures, particularly those that appear in works of fiction, "payment" means "money."

"But maybe... if your wife's got any old clothes, p'raps, I'm a size twelve, black for preference, or bakes the odd cake, no plums, they gives me wind, or got a bit of old mead put by, could be, or p'raps you'll be killing a hog about now, best back's my favorite, maybe some ham, a few pig knuckles... anything you can spare really. [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial No obligation."]]

* David Thomas: [[http://www.27bslash6.com/overdue.html "Dear Jane, I do not have any money so am sending you this drawing I did of a spider instead."]] It doesn't work.

->'''"Foggy" Nelson:''' Your client, Mr. Lee; he made his first payment.
->'''Matt Murdock:''' Oh, that's great. You should be very happy.
->'''"Foggy" Nelson:''' Yeah, it's fantastic. He paid in fluke. Fluke is a fish, Matt. Did you know that? Because I sure as hell didn't.
->'''Matt Murdock:''' Mr. Lee is a good man, and he... doesn't have a lot of money, and he goes fishing on the weekends, so I guess that's...
->'''"Foggy" Nelson:''' Yeah, well, I go salsa dancing on the weekends, but I don't shake my ass to pay my phone bill, you know what I'm sayin'?

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* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'':
** The Hunter’s Office (CyberPunk AdventureGuild) sometimes gives out points towards its FantasticRankSystem in place of money, such as when an operation turns into a complete boondoggle that breaks their budget.
** Carol, whose side job is TheOldestProfession, often accepts information this way from hunters who can’t pay her prices fully, making her a downplayed KnowledgeBroker.
* In ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'', Naofumi always demands payment for saving others but frequently accepts non-monetary payments such as information or goods. After saving a poor town from being ruled by Motoyasu who, on Malty's advice, would institute a heavy toll on entering or leaving, Naofumi took a cart as payment so he'd have a way to transport goods more easily.
[[/folder]]

* In the [[Film/{{Daredevil}} movie version]] of ''Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}'', Matt Murdock is a defense attorney whose personal morals often lead him to work with the impoverished. Consequently, his clients are sometimes unable to afford his fees and will pay with goods instead. Murdock's partner, Foggy Nelson, complains about receiving fish instead of money from a client during an early scene, and their law office is stacked full of goods instead of law books, which somewhat hurts their professional image.

* In the [[Film/{{Daredevil}} movie version]] of ''Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}'', Matt Murdock is a defense attorney whose personal morals often lead him to work with the impoverished. Consequently, his clients are sometimes unable to afford his fees and will pay with goods instead. Murdock's partner, Foggy Nelson, complains about receiving fish instead of money from a client during an early scene, and their law office is so stacked full of goods that Foggy complains that it looks like a supermarket.

* In the [[Film/{{Daredevil}} movie version]] of ''Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}'', Matt Murdock is a defense attorney whose personal morals often lead him to work with the impoverished. Consequently, his clients are sometimes unable to afford his fees and will pay with goods instead. Murdock's partner, Foggy Nelson, complains about receiving fish instead of money from a client during an early scene.

The one thing that distinguishes a Pro Bono Barter from a regular barter is the ''pro bono''; that is, the character accepting a gift instead of money is essentially providing a good or service for free, because he or she lives in a culture where bartering is uncommon or flat-out abnormal. This is often the case even with items of high value, since the character may or may not have the ability (or the heart) to exchange the gift for money.

** They also encourage this in others as well, since a major role of Witch is to be a community leader taking care of the impoverished or those who fall through the cracks. Their payment may be that you give ''someone else'' food, or check in on them once a week.

Doubly subverted in "Carter and Ferryman", a German children song (around 1900) featured e.g. in Series/DieSendungMitDerMaus. The Ferryman asks for a piece out of every box as payment, which the carter happily agrees. When they are over, the carter [[TheFerryman pays the ferryman with hot air]] - the boxes are all empty. (The double subversion being that the ferryman is good-natured and laughingly says that with all that wind his ferry will now go doubly fast.)

* Variations of this tend to pop up from time to time on ''Series/BurnNotice''. Michael Weston rarely accepts payment for his services, but has, on occasion, been known to accept gifts. Examples include covering a months rent on his apartment, a car (admittedly useful) and a bag full of cell phones (also useful).

"But maybe... if your wife's got any old clothes, p'raps, I'm a size twelve, black for preference, or bakes the odd cake, no plums, they gives me wind, or got a bit of old mead put by, could be, or p'raps you'll be killing a hog about now, best back's my favorite, maybe some ham, a few pig knuckles... anything you can spare really. No obligation."

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'': [[ItMakesSenseInContext "Can I pay with a pony ride?"]]

The one thing that distinguishes a Pro Bono Barter from a regular barter is the ''[[CaptainObvious pro bono]]''; that is, the character accepting a gift instead of money is essentially providing a good or service for free, because he or she lives in a culture where bartering is uncommon or flat-out abnormal. This is often the case even with items of high value, since the character may or may not have the ability (or the heart) to exchange the gift for money.