But that’s nothing compared with having to tell your would-be accountant that he or she needs to work for three hours at their rate of $85 per hour as a trade for one hour of your time at $275 per hour.

I’d have to suggest that if you’re having a hard time convincing any customer, barter or cash, that your time is worth $275/hour perhaps it isn’t. On the other hand, if you’re selling out your time with none to spare at $275/hour cash, then she’s right - barter isn’t for you or at least not at the apparently undervalued price of $275/hour.

Barter is great for a number of reasons, including selling excess inventory (whether it’s a product or your own time and labor). If there is no excess inventory and for whatever reason you are satisfied charging a less than market clearing price, barter probably isn’t for you. On the other hand, if you can’t sell your time for $275/hr cash at least a good percentage of the time, barter isn’t the magic bullet that will allow you to get a more than market price. What it can do is create a win-win situation where another business that will need your product/service will get it from you rather than another similarly priced provider.

And then there are products, another complicating factor. If you seek to exchange your products for someone else’s services or your services for someone else’s products, should the product price be at retail or wholesale or cost?

This is a little tougher, but again no reason to avoid bartering altogether. Gnerally speaking, if one party wants to price at retail, both should probably price at retail. But there are certainly situations where that isn’t appropriate. If, for example, you are in the wholesale business and are bartering a large lot of fairly low unit cost items (say 1,000 boxes of candy that retail for $2) and trying to purchase something where you are the retail consumer (say a new car), it may be appropriate to barter on a wholesale-to-retail basis. The points to consider are each parties end use and each parties business model. In other words, will your barter counterpart eat 1,000 boxes of candy himself or will he distribute them one at a time to consumers as giveaways at his car lot. If you want to dump 5,000 boxes of candy that are a month from their sell-by date, you may even barter below cost. In that situation, any return will beat throwing them away, especially if your car dealer’s giveaway puts your name in front of the public, too.

Whether it’s a service or product, barter is more complex than simply calling a toll free number and giving them your credit card number. Indeed, that’s why most transactions aren’t barter. Currency is one of the great inventions of modern humans and a giant leap forward over having to barter in every single transaction. That’s one reason most barter experts recommend limiting barter to a fraction, usually around 10-20%, of total sales. Barter can’t and shouldn’t be expected to replace cash transactions, but it’s still a great way to turn excess inventory into cost savings. Handling the, relatively minor, complexities of pricing and negotiation and the somewhat more complicated problem of matching needs is just one way that the smarter business owner will compete with those who avoid barter. The question is whether the business owner who’s afraid or unwilling to compete in this playing field will do much better in others.

Technorati Tags: contra deals, barter, FlyingSolo

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Yes, It Is Good to Barter

Trashbank: “”Don’t Trash it, bank it!” - Barter, Swap, Trade, Buy or Sell Online Absolutely Free (No Fees & Charges)” This is not a strict bartering site, since cash offers are acceptable, but bartering is central to the theme. Free signup.

Swap@Home: “Collect coupons by swapping items you don’t want anymore, or services you are offering. Then use these coupons to get items / services offered by other members. ” They are currently offering 10 free coupons on your first ten trades; these are bonus coupons in addition to the coupons you charge the other member for your items. Free signup.

SwapSimple: Barter textbooks, DVDs and video games. You get trade credits based on your items market value at the time you list your items. Free registration.

Care To Trade: They have “an insurance system that allows you to safely trade items with others across long distances by using escrow” and they feature a real estate section. There are “no listing fees, no transaction fees, and no commission.” Free signup.

SwapTreasures: “SwapTreasures is an online swap community where members can swap, barter, buy, and sell their items and services. Save money by swapping your unwanted stuff with other members.” They have a feedback system, similar to eBay, so you can check a users reputation before negotiating. Free signup.

Surkle: Surkle is in beta. The front page has little information about the site; instead, it’s full of items offered. Currently has “63 items listed 18 offers made 7 trades made.” Free to list. Free signup.

BarterBart: Barter auction site. “The idea here is: No money, just barter and trade in an auction style format!” Offers a local barter option to help avoid scams. Free signup.

TradeAway: Barter auction site. Real estate section. $9.95 for 180 days of unlimited listings. Features “Trade Mail” internal email system to keep your own email private, help avoid spam. More expensive than using a “totally free” site, but sometimes you get what you pay for. Free signup.

barter,swap,trade

Advertisement: Trade Your Used Books Free Membership

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Quick Links

Australia,barter,business,OzoneCard

OzoneCard Australia announces that its upgraded barter platform now allows businesses to trade their spare capacity whenever they wish with no cash fees.

OzoneCard Australia announced today the unveiling of its new system to allow businesses to trade their excess capacity for advertising, business supplies and other needed goods and services.

OzoneCard is a promising online barter service with a twist. The company has launched its system with no cash fees and a “trade only when you want” attitude for transaction acceptance and posting.

“A typical barter exchange is limited in scope because it tries to pretend to be like money,” says Mr Leota. “Barter is about selling extra capacity for things that you need. A hotel does not want to sell its rooms during peak season and a retailer might not want to sell all of their stock on barter, preferring instead to sell only those items which have a high mark-up”.

The OzoneCard Australia service offers businesses the ability to join and trade free of charge. Once a member signs up they create an online directory listing and a detailed list of their products or services for sale.

Members typically also receive a credit limit in barter dollars which they can use immediately to spend with other merchants.

“Business owners can join OzoneCard and trade their spare capacity for things that they need,” says Rimoni Leota, Senior Account Executive of OzoneCard. “Without spending any cash they can buy advertising, graphic design, website hosting, business supplies or even accommodation.”

More than 10,000 businesses across the country barter and the World Trade Organization estimates that 15 percent of the $5.62 trillion made in international trade is conducted on a non-cash, barter, basis.

OzoneCard looks to differ itself from other barter exchanges by offering extra services such as 24 hour telephone brokering, mobile phone banking, telephone banking, swipe cards and online buying and selling.

The OzoneCard e-commerce system allows businesses to list all of their items for sale online and can provide online quotes to other members and accept only those sales it approves. Businesses can also choose to list only the items which they want to sell, and only for a fixed period.

“Barter is a low-cost way to sell buy goods. Businesses who have extra capacity which remains unsold (such as a hotel or radio station) can sell this for full retail value in barter dollars. The cost to sell this item is zero because it will be wasted if not sold. The business owner then uses these barter dollars to buy advertising or other things that they need,” says Rimoni.

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OzoneCard Australia Offers No Cash Fees

barter,Iran,Iranian Barter Market

Foreign, domestic companies apply for Iranian Barter Market
Foreign, domestic companies apply for Iranian Barter Market
TEHRAN, Sept. 11 (MNA) – Around 500 foreign and domestic companies have applied for joining the newly established Iranian Barter Market.

Launching the Iranian Barter Market has been made possible through making use of the expertise in the field from over 100 countries across the world, noted Alaeddin Khotaii, the managing director of Samin Ista Engineering and Trading Group (SIET). He said he predicted that the market would be capable of handling of up to 20 percent of the nation’s business affairs.

It is over a month since the market was set up, he said adding that, all companies, factories and even legal entities would be able to become a member to the Iranian Barter Market and carry out their business activities there.

Transactions in the barter market are carried out through the bank drafts that are safe and convenient means for deals, he said.

There will be no franchise fees for the applications received by April 20, 2007, he commented.

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Iranian Barter Market

How it works:

1. Create Your Trade List - Swap your books with other book lovers, list books you own you’d like to trade.

2. Create Your Wish List - Books you want to read now, select books you want to receive

3. Enjoy Your Membership - Free membership, unlimited trades -Mail your books when requested- automatically get books you select from others in return.

A couple of personal notes. I am a member and have used the service for a few trades. If you sign up with the link above, I won’t get paid money, but I will get trade points on the system. The fact that I’m interested in getting points on the system is an endorsement of the best kind - I use the system myself.

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Trade Your Used Books

An organization released a press release on the 27th of July claiming to have suspended the membership of a barter exchange for failing to respond to an investigation into unspecified “charges”. The organization itself had built a virtual reputation through over a year of press contacts and has been quoted by print and online news organizations like Business Week.

The organization in question had made a big deal of requiring its members to have a “brick-and-mortar” presence and not merely an online presence. In this day and age, customer service requires any serious business to have an online presence; in fact an online presence is more important than an unverifiable address in a distant city for most customers. The organization itself has no online presence and only the unverifiable address in a distant location.

Following the lead of Yahoo News, PRWeb and numerous other news outlets, I’m removing the original story. Without naming either the organization that released the story or the barter exchange involved, I’m going to replace that story with these words of caution:

• Insist on a web presence whether for a barter exchange or anyone claiming to rate or monitor them. In today’s world, no web presence means a lack of customer service. In a barter exchange, it also means a much more limited selection of available barter partners and reflects an exchange that is not making best use of available technology. In a nonprofit organization it signifies a lack of organization and commitment.
• Insist on a customer service phone number.
• Check for complaints with the company’s local Better Business Bureau.
• Look for companies that are members of the IRTA or NATE, where it makes sense to do so.
• Ask for references.
• Find a company by personal referral where possible.

Attention: This post has drawn a large number of comments clearly intended to draw me into an ongoing dispute, of which there is no public record, creating potential legal liability for the site owner. Comments are closed on this post. Any attempt to circumvent the closing of comments on this topic will be considered an attempt to “hack” the site and will be reported to appropriate authorities along with full server logs. Such attempts may also result in referral to an attorney for civil action.

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The Pros and Cons in Barter

Turn those lost BarterCard credits into found BarterBucks credits.

We will match Barter Card credits with Barter Bucks as follows.

The member must open two Barter Bucks accounts.

Barter Bucks account for new business. Cash fees 5% on the sale + 5% on the purchase

Barter Bucks-BarterCard This account will be used to place the BarterCard credits.
Cash fee 10% on the purchase. By keeping the BarterCard credits separate they are not

taxed as new income. IRS says you can trade credits for credits tax free.

When you spend all of your BarterCard credits we will close this account.

Barter Bucks will release BarterCard credits in equal amounts on the purchase.

Example- Member must spend ½ from Barter Bucks account & ½ from BarterCard account.

Fax a copy of your last statement from BarterCard.

www.barterbucks.us

BarterCard

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Turn those lost BarterCard credits into found BarterBucks credits

“It’s totally overwhelming; I’m not going to lie,” he said by phone from Montreal, where he and his girlfriend, Dominique Dupuis, live with two roommates. “But I’m still trading for that house. It’s this obsessive thing.”

FOXNews.com - Man Trades Red Paper Clip for Desert Abode - Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Arts And Entertainment

red paperclip,paperclip trader

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The Paper(clip) Chase

These shortsighted business owners maintain this aging, stale inventory without taking into consideration the fact that value of their obsolete inventory is diminishing over time, while the carrying cost associated with maintaining that inventory keep accruing. Therefore, at some point in time, the cost of maintaining obsolete inventory actually exceeds the sales value of that inventory, resulting in a negative impact on the company’s financial statements.

The best strategy according to Clark is to “dump stale inventory as quickly as possible” and one way of doing that is to barter away that inventory for things the company needs, either through a barter network or through direct barter. Clark also offers several nonbarter ideas for disposing of the aging inventory that you can’t barter away.
Washington Business Journal: Company Doctor

inventory,barter

Inventory Control with MerchantOS is easy. Use your web browser to manage your point of sale and inventory control. No more computer head aches.

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Why Barter Aging Inventory?

Before Trade USA had a Web site, clients visited a 1,200-square-foot showroom in Dallas filled with barter items. When the Wilbers joined with Do Barter, an international network of barter exchanges, their trade exchange went from the showroom, with about 300 local members, to an international network of 195,000 members.

Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Lakewood/M Streets News

international barter,Trade USA

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Dallas Barter Exchange Goes from Showroom to Clicks N Mortar