According to the International Reciprocal Trade Association (IRTA) estimates just in the U.S., over 470,000 companies actively participate in barter for a total of over $12 billion in annual sales. Over 65% of the corporations listed in the New York Stock Exchange are presently using Barter to reduce surplus inventory and bolster sales and to ensure that production facilities run at near capacity. The U.S. Department of Commerce estimates that 20 to 25% of world trade is now barter, and corporate barter is now a 20 billion dollar industry. Barter continues to carve out an important place in the U.S. and world economy.

HOW DOES BARTER WORK WITH A TRADE EXCHANGE?

A Trade Network, Inc. Consultant works with you to bring your company new sales and increased market share, to move available inventory and to minimize cash outlay for everyday business expenses.
Clients of an exchange use trade dollars, instead of cash, to handle their transactions. Trade Network, Inc. provides you with an alternate distribution network. You can charge retail value for goods and services in trade dollars, instead of selling them for reduced rates in cash or having them go unsold.
An exchange acts as a third-party record keeper, providing clients with monthly statements that reflect all trade purchases and sales and show the current trade-dollar balance.

How Barter Works: 

WHAT ARE SOME BENEFITS OF TRADING?

1. Barter Generates New Customers,
   allowing you to expand your market and maintain your cash paying customers. This is incremental business – customers who bypass competing businesses to do business with you.
2. Barter Conserves Cash and Increases Profits:
   Barter creates new customers because buyers are motivated to pay with their products or services and save cash. Simply put – if you had to purchase a copier for $1000 – what would you rather do? Write a check or pay with an equal amount of your product/service at its normal selling price to a new customer? Most businesses prefer to trade and conserve cash.
3. Barter Moves Excess Inventory:
   Retailers: Retailers must keep their inventory moving. Each season, customers shop for the most current merchandise. Trade Network, Inc. will bring you buyers to move excess inventory, eliminating the advertising costs and heavy discounting otherwise needed to accomplish this.
4. Manufacturers/Wholesalers: We can coordinate the selling of your surplus inventory, while helping you obtain the best possible prices for your products. We negotiate for you to receive either the going price in the marketplace or at least your full normal selling price to distributors. This allows you to maintain your current pricing integrity as well as upgrading your return on investment.
5. Increase Productivity by Filling Downtime and Unused Capacity:
   Service Business: Increase billable hours! If you are not at 100% capacity twelve months a year and can handle new customers, we can help you fill your idle time with new business opportunities. And now you will have trade dollars to purchase what you need. 
   Hotels: Suppose you have 10 vacant rooms at $100 a night and you need a new brochure for $1000. Barter provides a way for you to buy your brochure, fill your rooms (at your cost on the rooms) and maintain your cash.
   Manufacturers: If you are currently operating at 90% capacity, going to 93% changes very little in the cost of production. Wouldn’t it make sense to take on a new barter customer to cover the cost of next year’s product catalog?
6. Networking Expands Your Customer Base:
   Barter customers will bring you all of the cash referrals that your present clients bring. You will gain new cash paying customers too - as long as you give your barter customers the same great services and pricing as you offer everyone else. 

HOW DOES TRADE NETWORK, INC. MARKET YOUR BUSINESS?

1. Our trade brokers phone member businesses that regularly purchase your products or services and facilitate an introduction. Our brokers become part of your sales force. 
2. We place your ads in our monthly newsletters. Newsletters are direct mailed to our client base. 
3. We send frequent emails where we sell your products and promote your services.
4. We provide a free listing in our membership directory. 
5. We provide regional and national exposure to businesses looking to expand their horizons. We do this through the "Barter Banc” which is nationwide. 

Much of the content in this section has been graciously provided to us by Debbie at Barter Business Unlimited, Newington, CT. Thanks to BBU for their permission to share ideas.