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Barter is Booming
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Article 5: Local Barter Exchanges
Local barter exchanges pave the way for
three-way barter deals. A barter exchange is a
business organization engaged in the exchange of
products and services without the use of cash.
Basically, the barter exchange arranges for a
whole bunch of three-way barter deals. The
exchange finds businesses with goods or services
to barter, arranges for different businesses to
trade for different services, and keeps track of
everything for all the members of the exchange.
The barter exchange acts as a fiduciary agent in
any barter arrangement. Typically, trades on
local barter exchanges range from $10 to
$10,000. The fees that the exchanges charge
usually consist of membership dues ($300 - $600)
and a small percentage of the transaction cost
(10percent to 15 percent).
The easiest way to select a local exchange is to
look in the yellow pages under “barter services”
or “trade services.” The International
Reciprocal Trade Association (IRTA), the
industry’s main interest group, estimates that
there are more than 400 barter organizations in
the United States and that more than half of
these barter exchanges are independent,
locally-owned businesses. The rest are local
branches of national exchanges.
Well-established, locally-owned barter exchanges
may have between 500 and 1,000 members, although
a high number of members is not the only
indicator of an exchange’s stability or
effectiveness.
The benefits to joining a local barter exchange
include:
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