I've tried it, but it never worked, I used to suggest to my supervisor that she didn't have to pay me a salary and I was willing to work it off in trade instead. She's joined the Me Too movement. (Sigh.)
I bartered marketing services for dental services once. Unfortunately, our agreement wasn't set in a way that had a real ending or milestone at which point he should have started the work, so he just kept throwing more work at me and asking me to do more and more. After several months of this, I finally wrote him a letter that said I was done and I felt like he was taking advantage. I admitted that I had set up the contract wrong and that I probably should have come to him sooner and said, "Hey, how about you fulfilling your end of this," but I also didn't want him doing the work if he felt like he was being expected to do it under duress or under unfair circumstances, so I was just going to bow out. He wrote me back and apologized and told me to come in for the work he promised, but I no longer trusted him at that point and just let it go.
I once went to a yard sale and found a really wacky looking gizmo, so I paid two bux just to take it home and stare at it. Some time later I needed a second motorcycle helmet and the owner offered to swap. I agreed, but only if he told me what he thought it was. It was an antique electric scalp stimulator, similar to this: