Proprietary Technology Recognized with Issuance of Company’s First Patent

NEW YORK, May 24, 2011 – BarterQuest (www.barterquest.com), a platform that supports the cashless exchange of goods, services and real estate, today announced that it has been issued the first patent related to its proprietary technology. While several patents remain pending, a patent for the process of forming and managing barter transactions, referred to as the site’s “trading engine,” was issued on April 12, 2011. The trading engine is intended to provide users with a systematic way to initiate and complete trades, avoiding the endless communication that can render trading problematic.

“Issuance of this patent establishes BarterQuest as a leader in Internet barter technology and further differentiates BarterQuest from all other trading sites,” stated Dr. Paul Bocheck, President & CEO of BarterQuest. “BarterQuest is designed to fully answer the problems historically associated with barter, making trading easy. Our trading engine is complimented by our matching engine, which instantly finds your reciprocal trades in the form of both two party and multi-party transactions. We believe that our unique combination of technology and features is necessary for BarterQuest to support large scale trading activity.”

About BarterQuest

BarterQuest supports the cashless exchange of all types of goods, services, and real estate. BarterQuest provides a trading platform based on proprietary technology (patents issued and filed) that instantly matches the haves and wants of users for two party and multi-party trades. Barter is facilitated by a user friendly Web design that is unique in its combination of features that support trading.  The site serves as a bridge between the consumer and business markets (C2C, B2C and B2B). BarterQuest is headquartered in New York, NY and is owned and operated by JPM Global, Inc., a Delaware corporation. For more information, visit www.BarterQuest.com.

Except for historical information contained herein, this news release may contain forward looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties.

Vendors seeking further information, please email: vendors@barterquest.com

Bianca Han, Executive Vice President
BarterQuest
231 West 29th Street
Suite 906
New York, NY 10001
212-279-0070
bhan@barterquest.com

Media
Gutenberg Communications
Kerri Hazama
212-810-4168
kerri@gutenbergpr.com

originally on http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/local_news/Bartering-Sees-Comeback-with-Businesses-20110511-am-sd by Tacoma Perry

Small business owners are getting creative during these tough economic times and sometimes that means conserving their cash.

And now, an old currency system is seeing new life and it’s helping small businesses survive and thrive.

Remember back in the day, in school, when you used to trade your cookies for a juice box or chips? Well it’s that same concept that’s allowing small businesses to keep their doors open in otherwise tough times.

It’s not a new concept, but among small businesses with tight budgets and dwindling customer prospects, it’s seeing a comeback – it’s bartering.

“Bartering essentially has been around since the beginning of time, even before your most common forms of currency being coins and then bills. People were essentially trading what they had for what they needed,” said Todd Gerry of Tradebank.

And while traditionally bartering has been done on a one-on-one basis, the concept has gotten much more sophisticated with the rise of bartering networks like Tradebank. Small business owners can offer their service or skill to hundreds of other businesses and get needed services or products in return.

“I get all my landscaping done, painting at my shop, gutters, dental care, I get all my basic necessities – prescription glasses,” said Joe Cox of Georgia Electric Service.

And he’s gotten those necessities without using cash. Joe cox is the owner of georgia electric service – and in exchange for his services, he says he’s able to get about 80% of what he uses on a daily basis. At a time when most businesses are cutting advertising budgets, cox has expanded his.

“I’ve got a billboard downtown, two blocks from the capital that I’ve got 100 percent on trade as well,” said Cox.

According to the folks at Tradebank, you don’t have to barter a lot in order for it to help your business. In fact, they say if you just barter 5 percent of the time, you can increase your bottom line by more than 30 percent.

“You normally have to spend time and money getting cash business, with barter, I actually have to turn away business. I’ve got more than I can do,” said Cox.

Tradebank is just one of dozens of bartering networks out there. They charge a one time retainer fee and a quarterly accounting fee – but both Cox and Gerry say your most important commodity is your service, skill or product.

“Everybody needs electrical work at one time or another. So it’s been a very positive experience for me,” said Cox.

“I think that business owners now more than ever realize that they’re going to have to be innovative in terms of how they bring new business through their doors,” said Gerry.

Experts say the key to bartering is finding the right network for you.

originally on http://onedotadvice.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/5-tips-for-bartering/

Bartering for goods and services has been around for centuries and often involves some form of negotiation. Societies lost interest as the monetary system developed but with technological advances, bartering has seen a comeback. While it is definitely a good option in some circumstances, there are things to consider when entering into this type of exchange.

1. The emotional value. People often trade products or services that don’t necessarily have an equal monetary value. It comes down to how badly you need or want something that the other person can provide and how willing you are to give up something you have. Remember Kyle MacDonald? You may not recognize his name but if I said, One Red Paperclip, you probably have seen his story about how he took one red paperclip and began a year-long trading project. After fourteen trades, he ended up with a small house. People traded for some very interesting items along the way. I encourage you to read his story if you haven’t already.
2. The monetary value. It is much easier to trade products than services. When a person’s time is involved, both parties need to be clear as to how much or how often their service is provided in the trade. With so many people outsourcing today, it is easy to get excited if you find someone who is willing to trade services. However, if you don’t have a dollar value associated with your time or service, it may cause one or both sides to feel they are not getting an even trade. This typically happens later on as one side completes their service before the other.
3. The contract. Just because there is no money changing hands, treat the trade like any other business deal. In the old days, the barter system relied a lot on trust. We have all seen old movies where two guys shook hands to make a deal. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen anymore. We need contracts so both parties are protected. I can hear some of you saying, “But I know he’ll keep his end of the bargain.” Or, “I feel awkward asking for a contract.” Let’s just say, getting at least an informal agreement is the first rule in Business 101.
4. The third-party barter system. If you have read up to this point, you probably have either bartered before or are considering it or just enjoy my articles. While many people make trades one-to-one, there are many barter companies online where you list your HAVES and WANTS. If you haven’t looked at one of these sites before, it’s amazing what people list. It is a combination between Craigslist and E-Bay. BarterQuest is just one of many.

5. The taxes. Even though no money is changing hands, you know the IRS gets involved in bartering. They want their piece of the pie. Since I cannot give tax or legal advice, if you barter, exchange, or trade services or products, make sure you understand the tax rules involved.

originally on http://www.travelagentcentral.com/home-based/running-your-business/more-than-just-beans-27816 by Michael Browne

Remember the story of Jack and the Beanstalk? Jack’s deal—the family’s cow for a few magic beans—turned out all right for him and his mom, despite having to slay a giant. Not all deals between two interested parties turn out so well, but with the current economy, bartering has becoming an accepted business tool.

It’s a cash preservation tool basically, something that’s especially useful in a tough economy. Increasing numbers of small businesses are joining barter exchanges that make it possible to arrange trades within a large online network. U.S. exchanges now boast about 250,000 small-business members, up from 200,000 five years ago, according to the International Reciprocal Trade Association (IRTA), based in Rochester, NY.

For home-based travel agents, barter can take a number of forms. Most commonly, agents work with local businesses where they can hold events—bookstores, restaurants, coffeehouses—for less than the going rate, or no rate at all, just for bringing in a guaranteed group of so many people. It’s free advertising for them, a venue for you.

Informal barter has its drawbacks. Would-be traders must locate a counterpart for each transaction. And some swaps simply don’t make sense. One solution is joining an online barter exchange, which can expand your network of trading partners and provide access to a much larger selection of goods and services.
Thanks mostly to the Internet, the U.S. currently boasts some 500 barter exchanges, up from about 40 in 1980.

Most barter exchanges charge a one-time membership fee (typically around $250) plus a monthly fee ($30 is standard). You also pay the exchange a commission of 5 percent to 8 percent on each barter transaction. The fees buy access to a broader range of barter transactions than you could structure for yourself. You also get to join an online community consisting mostly of small-business owners.

Another benefit to barter exchanges is that they provide useful record-keeping services. All transactions are reported to the IRS, and the exchange usually furnishes members with monthly and year-end statements of their trading activity.

It’s a lot more buttoned down than Jack and the Beanstalk.

originally from http://www.einnews.com/pr-news/355999-barter-trading-bucks-today-s-business-trends-

Glendale, AZ, March 21, 2011 – Barter trading for goods and services has moved from the Dark Ages into today’s light-speed ages.

About 400,000 businesses are involved in organized barter through the 600 or so commercial and corporate barter companies serving all parts of the world. The top 100 professional trade exchanges are members of the International Reciprocal Trade Association, which estimates that 400,000 businesses transacted $12 billion globally in 2009/2010 — and it is anticipated that the trade volume will grow another 5%-10% in 2011.

Barter has its roots not in post-recession America, but in times long ago, according to Brian Beal, Partner of the fast-growing Value Card Alliance (VCA), based in Glendale, AZ. Barter started, says Beal, “…as the primary source for currency exchange to obtain goods and services. In fact, business exchange all began with barter as the only method of exchanging goods and services.”

For centuries, a horseshoe maker might barter shoes for quilts, and perhaps a woodsman would barter building services for a horse with a horse trader. Each transaction required a high degree negotiation between vendors. But as society grew and businesses and services evolved, the advent of monetary increments arrived on the scene. Straight barter deals soon became impractical and far too complex for the variety of different levels of value and needs required.

The use of a common tool like money made life easier for both sides. Once a price was arrived at between the two vendors, the vendor who had the “money instrument” would simply dole out the agreed upon price in coins or cash and both would be on their merry way. And since then, money has been an effective tool for exchange. However, barter never fully disappeared and has reinvented itself in a commercial manner. And today, many entrepreneurs and businesses are now finding that trading goods and services for barter instead of dollars resonates more with other business owners.

“Money is a lot like a barter credit”, says VCA’s Brian Beal. “At the end of the day, we all want and need things. We need to fix our cars, get our kids in daycare, pick up our dry cleaning, get our haircuts, and occasionally have a bite to eat at a restaurant. The list is endless. And that list of items is available between our members on our barter site.”

Value Card Alliance members prefer to purchase goods and services using VCA trading dollars within its system, as opposed to non-member suppliers who only deal in cash. Using the VCA system results in increased sales opportunities for members and new customers outside their normal geographic market because VCA members go out of their way to buy from another VCA member. VCA business owners work in the network for others’ goods and services, or to turn products into cash. And that cash is very, very real.

“We continue to make it our goal to provide virtually anything you can buy for cash to be available in Barter through Value Card. It’s like having an edge over your competitor,” says Christine Acevedo, Beal’s partner at Value Card Alliance. “One of the first things small businesses do when money gets tight is cut their ad budget. It’s our belief that this is the worst thing a small business owner can do when things get slow. With barter trading, the small businessman no longer has to scale back his marketing efforts, but rather can step it up instead. That’s the edge.”

Value Card Alliance recently acquired 70 new restaurants in a single week to their membership based barter company. Using the Value Card Alliance, entrepreneurs and businesses join a network of over 50,000 to create added value in doing business. Mr. Beal states “The world of barter is a way to open the doors to a number of new opportunities that weren’t previously on the table.”

As business trends stay cyclical, barter is no exception to this rule. And as the U.S entrepreneur reinvents the way to do business, barter has become an attractive option indeed.

originally from http://www.survivalinsight.com/art-of-bartering.html

The art of bartering is as ancient as human civilization and is rapidly gaining in popularity once again; ordinary people are now learning how to barter items to save lots of money.

By creating their own barter systems based on goods and services, these people are able to get around money entirely: securing what their families need most without spending a cent. The amount of money you can save by learning the art of bartering is limited only by your imagination and your ambition.

Here we explain how to barter successfully with the following bartering tips and tricks:

1. Be Specific About What You Have and What You Want

Don’t say you are looking for a dog walker in exchange for legal services. That’s too vague. Say you will prepare a simple will in exchange for 10 hours of dog walking instead. The more specific you are about exactly what you want to get and exactly what you are willing to give in exchange for it, the less likely you are to encounter problems or be dissatisfied with the result.

2. Work Out the Details in Advance

Leave as little room for negotiation as possible in order to seal a quick deal. If you are exchanging goods, decide on who pays for postage and packaging and include that in your ad. If you exchanging services, nail down the dates, the time (if applicable), and precisely what you are going to do and for how long. Don’t say, “I’ll help you plant your garden if you help me fix my sink.” Say, “I’ll weed your garden from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM this Saturday if you’ll help me install a sink from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM this Sunday, and we’ll each bring our own tools and gloves.”

3. Assign Fair Value

Many people who have ‘barter parties’ at their homes create a system of points for assigning value. So, for instance, if it’s a barter party for kid’s clothes, a designer jacket worn by a single child once gets assigned more points than a pair of discount jeans on its sixth round of swaps. This comes down to creating your own money system. Instead of trading the items directly, each person gets an amount of ‘points’ to spend on items that are priced according to points assigned.

4. Learn Your Tax Liability

Right or wrong, the plain fact is that most barter systems stay well under the government radar, but if you are bartering professional services for products (or for other professional services) and your barter items turn a profit (even if it it’s only a profit on paper) you can end up with a tax liability. Talk with your accountant in advance to avoid any problems. The more you barter and the less actual income you have, the greater the likelihood that you’ll face a tax audit, so know what to document.

5. Look for Ways to Use Barter to Save Money

Instead of buying new video games, DVD movies, CDs or software, hold monthly swap parties for these items or barter online.

A number of websites now deal in all-bartered goods, making it possible to trade what you don’t need for what you do need without ever leaving the house. So many items have a short shelf life and are better traded than purchased.

6. Be Creative

The Art of Bartering can be whatever you make it. With money scarce, many people are swapping homes as a way of visiting other cities without paying for hotels. Some people who are having trouble selling their home in this difficult real estate market have found ways to trade them instead. Professional services is another area where bartering is rapidly gaining ground. Use your imagination. If you need a service and can’t afford it, make an offer. The worst that can happen is you’ll get a ‘no’ answer.

7. Set Up a Service Bank With Like-Minded Friends and Neighbors

Why hire expensive contractors for projects that are mostly simple labor? Painting, putting up pole barns, gardening, quilting, canning, sewing, accounting, bookkeeping, web design, tutoring, essay writing, babysitting: all of these services can be more easily traded or bartered than bought, and you can save enormous amounts of money this way. Check with your insurance company before bartering construction services to make certain whoever is helping you will be covered in the event of an accident in your home. Everyone has a skill that other people don’t have to the same degree. By bartering your special skill, you can get things done you might not otherwise have been able to afford.

Conclusion and further Resources

The Art of Bartering is a great way to get what you need in hard times and make friends while doing it. In addition to the new bartering sites that are springing up online every day, you can also find great resources and tips for arranging regular barter events in your own home.

You can organize a home party barter system for everything from kid’s clothing, to office wear, to electronic equipment, to small appliances; saving yourself and your friends thousands of dollars of unnecessary expenses in the process.

Home barter parties can also be good fun. Many people enjoy swapping books and DVDs informally. You can even simply hold an open ‘swap meet’ that rotates among the homes of a group of friends and neighbors. Everyone brings a box or items and browses; kind of like ‘white elephant day’ at the office. It’s amazing what you can find this way, and if you also include snacks and drinks it’s a great way to keep in touch with friends and network in other helpful ways.

BarterQuest Will Giveaway Apple iPad
January 18th, 2011

NEW YORK, January 15, 2011 – BarterQuest (www.barterquest.com), a platform that supports the cashless exchange of goods, services and real estate, today announced that it has initiated a contest for a new Apple iPad. The giveaway is open to anyone who enters between January 14th and April 3rd. Winners will be chosen from all eligible entries.

To win a 16GB iPad with WiFi you must complete at least five trades on BarterQuest’s site (www.barterquest.com) during the term of the contest. The person who completes the most trades wins. While you must register and, as a matter of site security, verify your account to trade (a verification fee is charged as part of the verification process), there are no fees or charges for trading. Contest rules can be found on http://barterquest.com/.

“This giveaway is intended to encourage users to come to BarterQuest and discover the advantages of trading: to save money, to obtain real value for things that may be of marginal value to you, and to be green by recycling,” stated Bianca Han, Executive Vice President of BarterQuest. “Interest in BarterQuest is growing rapidly, measured both by the number of page views and registered users. Mothers, students, travelers, service providers…diverse groups are seeking barter as the better way to get what they want. As the large and established barter market migrates to the Internet, our site continues to stand alone in providing a full solution to the problems associated with barter and, in so doing, making trading easy.”

About BarterQuest

BarterQuest supports the cashless exchange of all types of goods, services, and real estate. BarterQuest provides a trading platform based on proprietary technology (patents filed) that instantly matches the haves and wants of users for two party and multi-party trades. Barter is facilitated by a user friendly Web design that is unique in its combination of features that support trading. BarterQuest is headquartered in New York, NY and is owned and operated by JPM Global, Inc., a Delaware corporation. For more information, visit www.BarterQuest.com.

Except for historical information contained herein, this news release may contain forward looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties.

Vendors seeking further information, please email: vendors@barterquest.com

Bianca Han, Executive Vice President
BarterQuest
231 West 29th Street
Suite 906
New York, NY 10001
212-279-0070
bhan@barterquest.com

Media
Gutenberg Communications
Kerri Hazama
212-810-4168
kerri@gutenbergpr.com

Part One Of Our New Daily Series About Mothers And The Challenge Of Raising a Child

A new life’s challenge: having a baby! Within the next 9 months there are a lot of things to do and many things to consider, especially if it’s your first child. You have to get clothes, toys and furniture for your newborn. But it’s not necessary to spend all of your hard earned money on things that are brand new. The baby will grow so fast that you have to get new things almost every month.

To avoid stress, the soon-to-be mother should get all the important things for the baby step-by-step. A changing unit, the stroller and a car seat could be obtained during the pregnancy. Thereby, the mother should consider bartering as an option to save money, time and stay green.

But not only material things count to make a baby happy. Especially during the pregnancy, the mother should take care of herself. She should avoid everything which could harm the baby. Drinking a lot of water, vitamins and eating a balanced diet will help the baby to stay healthy.

Win a $50 Amazon Gift Certificate

Thanks to our users, our community has experienced an immense growth in the past months. Numerous new users joined, a lot of items were offered and many services were swapped. To thank everybody we are announcing a sweepstakes starting on September 1^st 2010 to give you the chance to win a $50 AMAZON Gift Certificate.

It only takes a few seconds to participate:

- retweet the following message on TWITTER:

“Win a free Amazon Certificate on #Barterquest. Find Information on http://tinyurl.com/29n44jp“

or

– Become a fan of BarterQuest on FACEBOOK and post on our wall what you like about BarterQuest or bartering in general.

or

– Register on BarterQuest and invite your friends.

By tweeting on Twitter AND posting on Facebook AND inviting friends you increase your chances to win. Do your best and have fun!

The winner will be announced on October 11^th, 2010.