Posted on: November 12th, 2009
http://www.bristolpress.com/articles/2009/11/12/new/doc4afcd6be662eb328925272.txt#blogcomments

BRISTOL – Offering everything from wine to windows, gourmet cheese to handmade soaps, and jewelry to dentistry, a Business and Holiday Barter Show Thursday at the Clarion Hotel drew lots of vendors and even more shoppers.

But not very much money changed hands – it was all done through trade.
Debbie Lombardi, founder and president of Barter Business Unlimited which put on the show, said it included more than 100 vendors.
“I lost count,” said Lombardi. “They just kept showing up.”

Deborah Collins of Norwalk, who owns American Angus Beef, explained how the bartering system works.
Goods are traded for barter money, not cash, said Collins. She said buyers pay cash for the sales tax, but use barter for the rest of the purchase.

Everyone who takes part sells something – a professional service or a product.
They all pay the barter company a percentage – Collins said it’s typically 10 to 15 percent – of what they sell and what they buy.
Collins said about 35 percent of her business comes through bartering. She said they could do more, but need to make regular cash as well.

The benefit of barter, said Collins and others, is that it offers businesses a chance to meet new people and get customers they wouldn’t otherwise reach.
Ted Rahaim, owner of DBK Family Jewelers in Plainville, said he does about 20 percent of his business through barter.
“I live by it, 100 percent,” said Rahaim. He said he gets new customers when friends or family members of people who bought his jewelry through barter pass his name along.
“There’s no recession in barter,” said Girl, who said people don’t hesitate to spend through barter. “It feels like free money.”

Sam Jenkins of Canton, who runs Corporate Connections, an office furniture dealership, said he does $70,000 to $100,000 in barter business each year.
Jenkins, who said he can spend the barter money freely because most of the time, all it costs is his own labor, stopped at a booth for Dalice Elizabeth Winery in Preston and was excited to learn that he could have his own label of wine.

“It’s for all the fun stuff in life,” said Jenkins. “It makes it so you can be a big shot.”