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Have fun trading!

Barter is the exchange of goods or services without the use of money. Haggling is negotiating a price for a good or service. How are they different? Here’s an example: When you go to a car dealership all ready to purchase a new vehicle, you probably dread dickering over the price with the salesperson. (If you love that, please let us know because we’re taking YOU with us the next time we have to buy a car.) All that back and forth makes most people nervous and uneasy; after all, you’re never sure you got the best possible price for the vehicle. In a nutshell, that negotiation is haggling.

If you were to walk into that same car lot with the intention to barter, you would have a very different experience. Before you went in you would have an idea of what sorts of goods and services you posses that might be useful to a car dealership. You would then ask to speak to the manager and explain that you’d like to trade your goods/services for a new ride. If you’re a mechanic, you could trade your skill in the repair shop. If you sell promotional products, you could trade coffee mugs, T-shirts or key chains with the dealership’s logo for your new wheels. That’s barter.

You may still end up haggling over the price of the vehicle because, let’s face it, rarely is the sticker price what the car is actually worth. Haggling is an integral part of the car purchase transaction. But you won’t haggle over the value of your mechanical skills or all those key chains. They have a set price and dickering isn’t part of that purchase. If the price you settle on for the car is $X, then the value of services/products you trade for your new wheels will be $X. That might mean you have to provide 1,000 hours of repair work or a few million little plastic key chains, but the value of those items will equal the price of the car.

Haggling can be part of barter. But barter doesn’t require haggling. So take a deep breath and relax. Bartering is way more fun than haggling and often the two won’t meet–not even for a blind date. Go ahead and give bartering a try. And leave that old haggle at home.

When Pilgrims landed at America’s shores, they bartered pelts for corn they needed to survive their first winter.Some business owners are now returning to this non-cash system of exchange in an attempt to soldier through an economic winter. Sophisticated electronic trade exchanges and business-to-business — or B2B — barter networks serve as the centerpiece of modern-day bartering.

Publicly traded International Monetary Systems, which claims nearly 450 Chattanooga members, operates the largest barter exchange in the U.S., according to CEO Don Mardak.

“It doesn’t often happen that two parties have the exact need at the exact same time, so we’ve created a virtual currency called trade dollars,” said Mr. Mardak. “We’ve created a secondary economy within the economy.”

Membership continues growing at the rate of about four a month, said Donna Burlingham, one of two brokers at the local IMS office.

“We have some manufacturers, we have some distributors, we have people who provide service and people who provide product,” she said. Wisconsin-based IMS processed $110 million in barter transactions and earned $14 million in revenue last year, according to SEC filings.

But IMS isn’t the only barter broker in town. Tradebank, a Lawrenceville, Ga.-based private company operating primarily in the Southeast, claims 500 Chattanooga businesses as network members. The list, which includes AJ’s Plumbing and the Pickle Barrel, counts members in every category of business, from duct cleaning to wedding services.

“We have a thing called trade university where we actually teach you how to barter,” said Jurgen Mootz, regional owner of Tradebank’s Chattanooga office. “As far as adding members, it has doubled from what it used to be; In the last six months it has taken off.”

Darla Blose, owner of Aqua Pool Service in Cleveland, Tenn., said when the going gets tough, the tough learn to barter.

“I was a little skeptical at first, but I’ve had no problems with it,” she said. “The incentive is that people nowadays are looking for ways to get things done without having to spend money, because everybody’s having a hard time with their money right now.”

Ken Grimes barters his limo service during off-peak hours in exchange for legal services, jewelry, travel, pest control, home improvement, office furniture and restaurant meals.

“It puts cars out on the road working as well as drivers out on the road working where otherwise they may be sitting still,” said Mr. Grimes. Landscaping company owner Glenn Wilser believes that the barter network has helped boost his business.

“The way I usually look at it is: It’s business I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise, so the fees that you pay are sort of like advertising, so you just kind of have to write it off as that,” Mr. Wilser said. While fees vary, participants typically pay a quarterly membership fee, as well a 10 to 12 percent transaction fee to be part of the network. “You have to limit yourself; you have to bring in enough real cash to pay the bills,” Mr. Wilser said. “If I took on every (barter) job that somebody wanted, I would go bankrupt, so you just have to say ‘No, I’m not taking any more trade right now.’”

NEW YORK, March 02, 2010 – BarterQuest (www.barterquest.com), a platform that supports the cashless exchange of goods, services and real estate, today announced that it has formed an Advisory Committee to provide expertise and guidance to senior management. The areas in which the Committee will compliment senior management include B2B e-barter, marketing, and business development. The members of the Committee are the following:

Ray Bastarache is a pioneer in B2B e-barter. He founded Barter Network in 1985, which was a clearinghouse for businesses that traded the goods and services which they produced for the goods and services they needed. The company was one of the largest and most successful trading networks in the United States. After its sale, he remained active in the e-barter industry in various capacities. Mr. Bastarache has served as Treasurer, Vice President, and President of the International Reciprocal Trade Association (IRTA). He received two Distinguished Service Awards from the Association and its first Mentorship Award. In 2009, the barter industry awarded him the “Legends of Barter” Award.

Harjiv Singh is the co-founder and Co-CEO of Gutenberg Communications, a global strategic communications firm. A serial entrepreneur, he has more than 15 years experience in the communications, technology and financial services industries. Mr. Singh frequently speaks and writes on a range of public relations issues, including the impact of globalization. In 2007, he was recognized as one of the leading PR professionals in the Asia Pacific region.

Dr. Sheldon Weinig founded Materials Research Corporation, a multinational semiconductor company listed on the American Stock Exchange that was thereafter acquired by Sony. In 1996, he retired as Vice Chairman of Engineering and Manufacturing of Sony America. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University and SUNY at Stony Brook. Dr. Weinig was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 1984 and in 1988 was awarded the rank of Chevalier dans l’Ordre National de la Legion d’Honneur by the French government.

“We are excited about the value that the Advisory Committee can bring to the future development of BarterQuest,” stated Paul Bocheck, President. “We are gratified that people of the caliber of Ray, Harjiv, and Shelly have been willing to lend their experience and insight to our company. Not only should this make BarterQuest a more successful business, but it should help us better serve our users.”

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.

Posted On: February 28, 2010

Capital is the crucial ingredient for any business to grow. This holds true whether you are a one-person firm with minimal revenue or a 100-person company with significant sales. Yet so many entrepreneurs and business owners complain about how difficult it is to attain. Here are just five of the numerous ways to access capital taken from the informative new book, Solving the Capital Equation.

Form strategic partnerships. Consider the following: Who is already reaching your client or customer base? Who offers products or services that may be a great fit for your client or customer base? Who has a skill set or functional expertise that your firm lacks? All of these entities would make great prospective partners. Identify them, then craft a win/win partnership. Why spend money you do not have when you have something else of value to offer them – your firm’s product and services! You can use partners to access the sales force, marketing, IT, accounting, management expertise – to name just a few – of the services you would otherwise have to pay for.

Barter. As a business owner, you have a product or service that someone wants. Otherwise you wouldn’t be in business. You can barter these products or services for those products and services you need to grow your business or service your customer. Or you could barter for personal items that you would typically have to withdraw funds from the company to pay yourself then pay for directly. You can barter for advertising, travel, legal or accounting services, televisions, landscaping, cleaning services. There are a lot of free barter websites, try it you can save a lot of money!

Find a strategic investor. Is there a larger company that would benefit directly from your service or product offering? If so, contact them. If you can convince them that your company can directly or indirectly positively impact their bottom line either through a sales increase or a cost reduction, you are likely to garner financing in the form of direct equity, a loan, use of their credit, prepaid contracts, or payment of development costs. Look around. Potential strategic investors abound.

Tap your suppliers. Are you trying to rapidly expand your business and need money to pay your suppliers? Why not ask your supplier to advance you the money? If your expansion will contribute a sizable portion of your supplier’s annual receipts, you can induce the vendor to provide a 12-18 month loan by promoting how he/she stands to benefit. At the least, negotiate a 90-day payment arrangement.

Seller finance. Who knows the business or asset better than the person or entity selling it? If you are growing your business through acquiring other businesses, seek seller financing. Give them a lien against the business so they get the business back if you default. Suggest it as a way for you to know you are getting what you paid for. Added benefit: reduces risks that the company has hidden problems which greatly decrease its value and that the owner would start another competing business.

Use these ideas to spark your creative thought process and get the money you need to elevate your business. You will see it works!

Throughout the history of mankind, when the availability of currency goes down, the practice of barter exchange goes up. Barter is a method of trade, where goods and services are exchanged, that are equal in value. Whether for work or for personal gain, anyone who has something of value to trade can be included in the bartering system.

Different kinds of barter groups are becoming more and more popular today. Some kinds act as intermediaries, like online barter clubs, which have developed a system of units of value that are equivalent to a monetary system. This system of units is known as trade dollars or barter dollars. Trade dollars can be accrued and redeemed for services offered through the barter club.

For others, barter occurs as a direct trade using similar goods in demand such as vacation houses or wedding services. Each person’s services can be mutually swapped for other services of equal value.

Bartering For Bridal Goods and Services

Bartering with local businesses has also seen a rise in the wedding market. People with professional skills or their own small businesses are targeting businesses in their area for wedding goods to barter. By planning wedding outside of the peak periods of May and June, potential barterers and vendors are more likely to trade because business may have slowed and there is extra inventory in stock. Also, getting married on a weekday rather than Friday, Saturday or Sunday will increase the chances of saving money.

Bartering Is Here To Stay

Overall, bartering has become an excellent way to exchange goods, services, and real estate in these days of low cash flow. People have begun to think out of the box in their endeavor to attain the things they need and want. The age old practice of bartering never really went away and as long as there are people with wants and needs, bartering in some form will continue indefinitely.

The possibilities of the World Wide Web open doors for unlimited trading all over the world. Bartering is becoming popular again.

Remember back in school when kids would swap juice boxes for chips, or cookies for Twinkies? Even children have an innate sense that the comparable value of cookies to Twinkies is in the eye of the beholder. To the kid who gets cookies every day, the elusive cream-filled cake treat is worth more than a few, and he realizes his friend might feel differently.

iStockPhoto/Lisa F. Young
Trading lunches is commonplace at grade schools because bartering comes so naturally to kids.

Trading goods and services without the use of money is called bartering. Early civilizations relied on this kind of exchange. Even cultures in modern society rely on it. Think of people in prsion who commonly trade cigarettes for protection or extra food. For the most part, they don’t have cash. So, like people in pre-currency economies, they work with what they have.

But, since the advent of money-based systems, bartering is an option that most of us dismiss as soon as we get that first paycheck or allowance. Not so for a guy named Kyle MacDonald. He drew a media frenzy when, in a matter of one year and 14 trades, he bartered his way from a paper clip to a house [source: NPR]. Although he had a lot of help from his local government and some people in show business, his story offers dramatic evidence of today’s existing market for bartering. MacDonald is one of many people who have taken advantage of the growing phenomenon of bartering on the Internet. This ancient practice is also alive and well in services that facilitate bartering and companies that swap favors.

A plethora of sites like BarterQuest.com, SwapTree.com, U-exchange.com make online swapping a cinch

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What’s a girl to do when she’s dying for that oversized, button-down boyfriend sweater – but can’t afford it? What’s a man to do when he covets that brand-new X-Box game - but simply does not have it in his budget?  They’re going to swap, that’s what!

Ladies and gentleman, the latest way to get what you want without breaking the bank is to swap: trade your unwanted stuff for someone else’s stuff, and viola, you’ve got what you want without spending a dime for it.

From DVDs to clothes, from electronics to books, you can swap almost anything.  Swapping is the new shopping – only better!  Because really, why shell out your hard-earned cash for something if you can just swap for it?

Here’s how to swap:

Work the Web: Some sites facilitate in-person trades and others will let you swap with someone from almost anywhere on earth (you may pay a shipping charge on these sites).  Either way, it’s a great way to get the things you want without spending a ton.

Sites like BarterQuest.com, SwapTree.com, U-exchange.com, SwapTreasures.com and TitleTrader.com let you swap almost anything online.  PaperBackSwap.com and BookMooch.com are great for trading books; SwapStyle.com, ClothingSwaps.com, DignSwap.com and RehashClothes.com are great for trading clothes.  Try Zwaggle.com and SwapBabyGoods.com for trading clean, safe children’s toys with other parents. Craigslist.com can also be a goldmine – just check out their barter section. And there are tons more swap sites, so do your homework to find the site that makes sense for your swapping needs.

A word of warning:  Proceed with caution when swapping online.  Use reputable swap sites.  If you can, meet to exchange the items in person in a public place.  If you aren’t able to do that, make sure the person has a good seller-rating (if the site offers that feature) and that you see photos of the items.  Finally, go with your gut about online swappers – if you don’t have a good feeling about a person, swap with someone else.

Host a swap party: If all this online swapping isn’t your thing, tap into your network of family and friends to arrange a “swap night.”  Have everyone bring over the items to swap, and then exchange with each other to your heart’s content.  You can also swap services like dog-walking or babysitting.  If you don’t have a large enough network for a swap, try Meetup.com or Craigslist.com to arrange one in your community.