Before the development of digital technology, ads were published in newspapers or posted on special boards. Like this one. It could be anything: buying, selling, exchanging. You paid in cash, of course. And, of course, it was out of the question to get something that someone decided to sell in Vladivostok to Moscow in a matter of days.
Previously, the fare was collected by conductors. Later, passengers would drop coins into ticket machines and tear off their own tickets. At the same time composters make an appearance. You could buy a roll or a booklet of tickets for 10 trips from the driver or at a kiosk of SoyuzPrint, and during the journey tear off one of them and compost (validate) it, i.e. punch it through on the composter. Each machine punched out a different combination of dots. The conductor punched his ticket for clarity and then compared the position and number of dots on the tickets of all passengers.
You could also get your ticket from the conductor.
People travelled home with their shiny new things via public transport. Let's see how the fare payments have changed in the meantime. Let’s get on the bus.