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Barter is Booming
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Article 6: National Barter Exchanges
As you conduct research into local
exchanges, you’ll come across some trade groups
with worldwide reach. The biggest benefit of
national and international exchanges is the
sheer variety of goods and services available
for barter.
For example, The International Trade Exchange (ITEX)
represents more than 100,000 trading partners
worldwide and generates more than $200 million
in trade transactions per year. Tradaq boasts
more than 10,000 member businesses and operates
offices worldwide, including in the United
States, Canada, Europe and South America. It’s
also expanding its presence in the Asia-Pacific
region. Tradaq generates trading volumes in
excess $130 million annually and employs more
than 250 workers internationally. Its membership
base includes such giants as Sheraton Hotels,
Holiday Inn and TGI Fridays.
You don’t have to be a corporate behemoth to
become a member of these large trading groups.
And you don’t have to make barter deals worth
millions to participate. For instance, in 2000,
the average business bartered $4,760 worth of
goods and services through BarterNet, a network
with about 48,500 active members.
But, there are also several drawbacks to joining
a national barter exchange. The quality of each
local branch can differ drastically, even though
it’s a part of a national exchange. Some
branches may be more successful than others,
depending on the knowledge and commitment of the
local staff. And the fees charged by national
exchanges are generally higher than the fees
charged by local exchanges.
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