Bartering has long since been a highly effective means to trade out goods and services for other needed products and services, and although cash has made commerce much easier, when money is tight, smart business owners revert back to the age-old method of bartering. Throughout history there are many stories of doctors trading with other local merchants for things they need. Merchants Barter Exchange (MBE), as the only national company that insists on 100%-barter at the same cash price, is helping many medical establishments around the US save thousands of dollars during these tough economic times. Below are some examples of how a doctor’s practice can shave many hundreds of dollars each month from their bottom line expenses.

Often people overlook the hundreds of thousands of dollars a doctor has invested in their education, their equipment, and their offices before they even start to reap the rewards of all their hard work. A doctor’s office starts in the red and has to build into a profitable establishment over many years. The benefits of using MBE-barter for doctors are obvious, since they carry their standard overhead (rent, utilities, salaries, phone, etc., on top of their education bill!) anyway, no matter how many patients they have, the only variable to revenue and expense is the number of patients that they can see. For MBE to bring just one new patient that spends $2500 on medical fees a year, what does it actually cost the doctor? Their only additional cash outlay is the cost of the treatment (which, if it’s just an examination, is practically zero, and certainly less than 10%.) If there are additional cash expenses for procedures, in order to cover the large overhead, it is definitely less than 50% of the fees, and probably isn’t noticeable on the P&L.

On the other hand, if a doctor has three hours of empty appointments, how much revenue are they losing? In addition to that, unlike accepting health insurance, there are no delays or discounts in payment for services. What if, instead of paying cash for office cleaning, they used MBE-barter? If they traditionally paid $100 for the service, they could now get the very same quality service via MBE for $100 barter dollars (costing them only 10 – 50 cents on the dollar – their core cost – plus a 10% purchasing fee – another $10.) In this scenario they have saved a total of $80 – $40 in cash on one service that month.

Now let’s imagine they need their lab coats dry cleaned, and the cost is usually $200 per month. By bartering the service out, they would save $160 – $80. Perhaps they need new carpet, let’s add that to our scenario, say previously a $2500 cash outlay. Now they save another $1000 – $2000. Perhaps they need to do some advertising and would usually spend $4000, now they have saved $1600 – $3200. As you can see, it is easy to make quite considerable savings each and every month by joining and utilizing the easy barter payment system of Merchants Barter Exchange. Just on these few items alone, the doctor’s office saves thousands in cash by trading instead.

On top of the cash savings, which are important, let’s not forget the other major benefit: more patients. Since MBE ensures that they only bring new business to their members, this example could have introduced upwards of 5 – 10 new patients to that practice. Just imagine what additional cash customers that can create via word-of-mouth advertising. All in all, bartering is a very effective method for any doctor’s office of any size to make significant savings across the board and grow their practice. The best thing of all, MBE takes care of all the paperwork and tax reporting needed for the end of year. With MBE-barter already in place helping thousands of business owners, perhaps the government needs to slow down on their proposed next round of spending and actually look at all options available to improve the fantastic healthcare coverage we already have in America?

How can a trade exchange be a marketing agency? All the members of a trade exchange represent their particular business specialty. When an exchange member looks for a plumber for instance, they turn first to the trade exchange. The plumber has a built in confidence with other trade exchange members simply because they are members of the same trade exchange. They feel comfortable bartering with other business owners who also have the same mindset in succeeding in the business by utilizing barter.

Merchants Barter Exchange also keeps in regular contact with their members and have marking tools to get the word out to its members about new members and specials. No extra fees are involved to have your business highlighted. What a great way to barter for marketing.

Don’t lose out on adding new customers to your business. Join Merchants Barter Exchange today.]]> http://merchantsbarter.com/blog/merchants-barter-exchange-marketing-agency/feed 0 http://merchantsbarter.com/1/reason-1-business-barter http://merchantsbarter.com/1/reason-1-business-barter#comments Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:00:53 +0000 barterforcashflow http://barterforcashflow.wordpress.com/?p=15 Your ability to leverage your buying power is the most important (in my humble opinion) reason for you to understand how to use barter in your daily business practice.

Let me give you some examples:

A massage therapist has at least 20:1 buying power with trade  (their only cost in the trade is approx. $2 per massage, which is the cost of their massage oil and some laundry soap for washing the sheets).

A restaurant averages 4:1 buying power (their only cost in the trade is approx. 25% food cost).

Hair Dressers average 10:1 buying power  (their only cost in the trade will average 10%).

Carpet Cleaners are about the same as a hair dresser.

Radio Stations and other advertising media are at about 20:1.

Printing businesses are approximately at 10:1 buying power.

…and the list goes on and on…

Any down-time in your business is a prime barter opportunity. If you have expenditures you should be thinking of ways to utilize barter instead of your already earned cash to pay for them.

A simple question I would recommend you get use to asking yourself;

If I could pay $10 for this service instead of $50, would it be worth bartering for?

Barter isn’t going to work every time, BUT, it will work enough of the time to save you thousand’s of dollars per year! All you have to do is”make it so”.

All of this while adding new customers to your business. Join Merchants Barter Exchange today. It's a great way to leverage your costs as a business.]]> http://merchantsbarter.com/1/reason-1-business-barter/feed 0 http://merchantsbarter.com/blog/stories-parents-bartering-christmas http://merchantsbarter.com/blog/stories-parents-bartering-christmas#comments Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:45:10 +0000 admin http://www.barternewsweekly.com/?p=1036 Many people who are trying to save some cash this holiday season, are turning to bartering web sites.

Some families here and across the country who are down on their luck, are finding help on Craigslist this holiday season in the form of bartering. It's actually paying off for this one couple.

The Lavalle family used to live a comfortable life. But now, they're going through a tough time. Richard got laid off and the family lost its house in New Mexico. They were forced to move and Richard works two jobs. They've sold many of their belongings, including Gina's wedding band, and the kids toys in order to pay the bills and buy food.

The couple refuses to take handouts. So Gina turned to Craigslist, where her ad joined dozens of other ads from people wanting to barter services or other items for Christmas presents.

"I'll split wood. I'll babysit. I'll clean house. My husband's a mechanic. He'll work on cars," said Gina. "Last year they didn't get a Christmas. So this year I'm trying my hardest to get them a Christmas."

This is happening locally too. One parent wants a Playstation, Xbox, or Wii for his three children. Saying, he's willing to barter a jetski, computer stuff, just about anything so that his kids can have a nice gift.

One person in Corfu wants to barter her portable electric keyboard for Smackdown 2010 for Playstation 2, the only thing her disabled son wants for Christmas.

One father in Niagara Falls says he has a lot of stuff to barter, to get his two kids something nice for Christmas. He's offering up a Garmin GPS, 10,000 baseball and football cards his dad gave him, and even his work as a handyman. He says, he doesn't want handouts as some are worse off than him.

Through Merchants Barter, the family wouldn't have a need to go out seeking one on one trades, but would have an entire network of people to trade with. We've got over 10,000 members nationwide ready and willing to trade. Contact Us today to learn how we are able to help you get your Christmas by barter. It's a lot easier than you'd think.]]> http://merchantsbarter.com/blog/stories-parents-bartering-christmas/feed 0 http://merchantsbarter.com/mbe-in-the-news/lean-times-restaurants-barter-trade-services http://merchantsbarter.com/mbe-in-the-news/lean-times-restaurants-barter-trade-services#comments Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:00:44 +0000 admin http://merchantsbarter.com/?p=527 Independent restaurants are turning to an old-fashioned method to fill tables—barter.

As they struggle to keep customers and pay the monthly bills, restaurants are swapping food for services like oven-hood cleaning and pest control.

Bartering helps restaurants fill seats, reassuring prospective customers who might be turned off by the sight of a vacant eatery. It also attracts new customers when tradespeople bring friends along, reduces some costs, and helps retain employees who can’t scoop tips off empty tables.

It’s hardly a permanent fix for ailing restaurants, which still need cash to cover such expenses as rent, mortgages, taxes and utilities. But bartering is an especially useful tool for independent restaurants that, unlike some chains, lack access to corporate credit lines or cash.

Many restaurants are using barter exchanges that track and manage the transactions, which count as taxable income and must be recorded for tax purposes. Rather than traditional bartering, in which services are swapped directly between vendors, most barter exchanges use a “round robin” approach that offers flexibility for both restaurants and service people. For example, a plumber uses trade credits accumulated at an exchange to pay for a restaurant meal. The restaurant owner can use the credits spent by the plumber to “purchase” a variety of services offered by appliance repairmen, electricians and other exchange clients. The exchange acts as a bank, keeping track of credits and collecting fees on each transaction.

Tony Romano, owner of Marcello’s Pasta Grill in Tempe, Ariz., where business is off 40% from three years ago, joined the Trade Exchange in October. Since joining the exchange, he says he’s been averaging $2,000 per week in trade credits from tradespeople, which has allowed him to pay for almost all of his monthly expenses—from laundry to fire-extinguisher maintenance—without writing a check.

Although the restaurant doesn’t receive cash for the food, the tradespeople usually tip well, Mr. Romano says, which keeps his wait staff happy.

He says his traffic has increased 10% in the last month. New exchange clients also have led to catering jobs. “A lot of small businesses can’t afford to take their employees out for a Christmas party, but they can barter it,” he says. “I’ve booked two lawyers’ offices and three dentists’ holiday parties.”

Restaurants like the Iberian Pig in Atlanta are swapping food for services.

Independent restaurants have fared slightly better in the last year than chain restaurants, though it’s hard to say how much bartering has helped. Same-store sales at independent restaurants declined 9% for the year ended Sept. 30, while same-store sales at chains declined 9.7% during that time, according to restaurant consulting firm Technomic Inc.

Sean Miller says he now has more than 30 restaurants involved in his exchange, up 20% from a year ago. The exchange charges a one-time $795 membership fee as well as a $15 monthly fee, and takes a 10% cut of each transaction from the person making the trade purchase.

Tradespeople also appear to be spending more when they go out to eat. A trade credit is worth a dollar; Mr. Miller says he used to see tradespeople buy restaurant credits in batches of 100 or 200; lately, he says people are buying restaurant trade credits worth $300 to $500 at a time.

Cody Smith, owner of Dynamic Pest Control in Mesa, Ariz., has been cashing in his trade credits at restaurants more frequently in the past six months. “It’s a great way to take the family out, enjoy a meal and walk away with very little cash out of your pocket.”

Trading his pest control services for restaurant meals and other services has brought in new clients and boosted his sales by 15% in the last year, due partly to new cash-paying clients who aren’t part of the exchange, Mr. Smith says.

Atlanta restaurateur Nancy Castellucci recently opened a fourth eatery called the Iberian Pig in an historic building that needed to be brought up to code. She used barter credits to cover 60% of the refurbishment costs.

“We would have had to go to the bank otherwise and we didn’t want to go to the bank. When you have barter dollars, it’s a much cheaper way to borrow money because you’re not actually borrowing money, you’re borrowing goods and services and not paying interest.”

Mr. Zampatti of the Atlanta exchange says he’s seeing restaurants increasingly use barter for routine maintenance costs. “In the past, restaurant owners would use barter to upgrade their lifestyle, like to go on vacation or buy jewelry, but because of the economy, now they’re using it to pay for their business expenses.”

Unlike other barter companies who display a member directory to the public, Merchants Barter protects the identity of the members until a trade is in the works, for the customer’s best interest. Firstly, MBE does not want to take away any cash paying customers from members. Imagine John from John’s Dry Cleaning has been a customer of Jack’s Hardware for years, always spending money when he walks into the hardware store. John is a member of MBE and sees Jack’s name on a member directory. Next time John uses Jack’s services, he hands him a barter check instead of cash as a form of payment. Now Jack has lost a cash-paying customer. MBE is designed to bring new clientele into a business by using barter and does not intend to turn cash paying customers into barter users.

A clever system is used in order for members to receive information on what is available within Merchants Barter. Each member is designed to a personal broker who, from day one, gets to know all about what the member offers and what that member is looking for. Each client will be given a list which itemizes the resources that MBE offers. The list gives members the opportunity to check off what interests them. From there, the broker will compare what the member wants to the clients that offer those specific items around the general area. Before any contact information is given, the broker will verify, with each party, what is intended to be traded and get the OK from both. If a member has specific wants that are not readily available within the company, the MBE sales team, which works directly with the brokers, will personally work to recruit companies that would serve these desires.
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Brokers also work on advertising each member, without using specific names, by what they are offering through the barter system through daily emails and monthly brochures. These methods will publicize the products and services offered to keep other members updated on what is available to them within the exchange without directly stating names.

One of the most common fears a business owner may have about joining a barter exchange is the chance of trade price inflation. Other barter companies accept members inflating prices, to gain more barter credit than cash, or they allow members to trade using part barter credits and part cash. At MBE, there are strict rules when in comes to spending cash — it does not happen! MBE works with 100% trade 100% of the time with no inflation involved. Clients treat barter members the same as cash customers, this way cleints are actually reaping the benefits of not having to spend cash to purchase those necessary itmes.

MBE understands what members of the barter industry are looking for and the team dedicates its time to make sure the customer is satisfied.

Some folks wrongly believe barter to mean ‘haggling’ or negotiating for things. Others ignorantly believe bartering to be inferior is some strange way. Therefore, I thought I’d pen a few simple, ease-to-find words about what barter REALLY is. Additionally, just like words are easier to understand when used in a sentence, I thought I’d offer a few actually examples of bartering both in a business setting and for individuals.

According to The Free Dictionary definition, “Barter” is “To trade goods or services without the exchange of money.”Pretty simple enough. A cashless exchange of goods or services. Following are a few examples of cashless exchanges:

Mary is a vet, and she needs some dental work. Bill is a dentist with a very large dog. If Bill does some dentistry work for Mary, and she takes care of his dog in exchange, that would be an example of two business owners bartering.

Jonny and Jane are two school children. At lunchtime Jonny swaps (or trades) his apple for Jane’s yoghurt. This is a simple example of what children commonly do all the time: exchanging what they don’t want for what they do want.

Debbie needs some small landscaping done at her house, she doesn’t have much money, but she has a very nice sofa she doesn’t need. Coincidentally, Michael is a landscaper that needs a new couch. In this example, Debbie gives Michael her sofa in exchange for the landscaping.

In all three examples above it is a complete win-win scenario. Everybody gets what they want without using any money, instead they trade something they already have, but don’t really need. Barter is very simple, very effective, and unlike modern monetary systems has been proven to be highly successful over many thousands of years. For more information about bartering, check out the Business Barter Blog from Merchants Barter Exchange.

There’s nothing like a heart-attack to give you a wake up call that you have some ‘health issues’. The recent economic wake up call has come as a business heart attack for many.

I’ve been in business the whole ten years I’ve lived in the US (give or take a few months waiting for visas, etc.) and one common thread I noticed: most business owners know next to nothing about ‘business’! Yeah, you’re probably as astonished as I was. Now, understand what I mean by that, though. Most business owners are extremely good at what they do – they make good food, mow lawns well, etc. – but when it comes to actually UNDERSTANDING THEIR BUSINESS, they haven’t got a clue. This is all fine and dandy when the economy is booming and people are throwing around money, because they have it to freely spend. Any idiot can set up a business and make money in the good times! But what about right now?

So, what can these “flabby” firms do about their bad colesterol… weak hearts… and high blood pressure…?

1. Since you’re being squeezed by your customers, squeeze your vendors more. Ask for better terms from your suppliers.

2. Don’t just cut your prices to compete. This can be like a self-induced heart-attack. Dropping prices should be a total last resort, even if you have your margins sorted out. Instead, study the market, your competition, what are they doing and why? Don’t just copy them to compete. If you do discount, do it on the second half of the purchase – i.e., make them buy “more for less”; buy one, get 20% off the second, that sort of thing.

3. Use BARTER more. If you’re an idiot business owner that thinks you “only do business on a cash-basis”, then you are (actually, it’s true) a total idiot, and understand NOTHING about how business works (you’ve been warned, and I pray you have deep pockets, because you probably won’t last this recession!) Barter is not discounting, it’s not haggling, it is in fact as simple as moving stuff you already have but DON’T WANT or need in exchange for stuff you DO want. The best thing is, when you trade, it never costs you as much as paying with cash. If you still don’t understand how it works, do some online research.

4. Make improvements. Start with things that will have the most impact on your business and that will be free to do, or cost very little. If your shop front looks drab and nasty, invest $40 in a tin of paint and a brush, and while business is slow, repaint it. Encourage customer loyalty… bring a friend, get a bonus… that sort of thing! Ask your regulars to help you. You’ll be surprised how many of your customers are used to you always being there, let them know you appreciate them by asking for their help. 

5. Save Money Wherever You Can. I’ll start with the biggy first, if you have to let a member of staff go, you have to look to the long term goal of survival, perhaps they can go part time initially, or cope with a slight pay cut? Talk to your landlord, will he be flexible on your payments? If things are really tight, you should have cut out all luxuries a long time ago (this is everything that doesn’t bring in business as a direct result.) Basically, if it doesn’t have an ROI, is it necessary? And these cost savings apply equally to your personal/ home expenses as well as your businesses.

6. QUIT WHILE YOU’RE AHEAD. As harsh as this may sound, is it smarter to get out three months before you should have, or face the opposite problem of wishing you’d gotten out three months beforehand? As great a business person as you may think you are, if you realistically cannot see your company turning around, you may very likely be better off, salvaging what you can, closing the doors, taking the hit, regrouping, and making new plans for the next venture.

These are definately tough times for many – both in and out of business. It isn’t a time for despair, nor is it a time to lean on the government. We want less involvement from government, and an overall downsizing of beaurocracy (now that’s a fat whale that needs a serious Jenny Craig overhaul! and probably topic for another blog post!!) The strong will survive, the fit and healthy will remain, but the apathetic, the lazy, and the ill-prepared will unfortunately fall prey to the inevitable jaws of failure.

Perhaps some reading this are now eager to get a quick check up… I’ll let you go and dust off that corporate treadmill…!

It is a very simple concept – quite likely the major reason for its longevity and continued success. Barter is the exchange of goods and services for other goods and services. In essence a cashless transaction. An example is a restaurant that needs landscaping. The landscaping company does some work for the restaurant in exchange for some gift certificates. But what happens when the job is quite large and the landscape company does not want that many restaurant gift certificates, or none at all? Enter the barter exchange.

Barter companies have been around since the mid-50s in America and it is estimated that there are probably over 1400 exchanges of differing sizes and scope now in the US. Just type “barter exchange” into any Internet search engine and you will be inundated with a myriad of companies to chose from. A barter exchange steps into the one-on-one relationship that exists with traditional bartering, basically allowing businesses to trade with other businesses they have nothing in common with (or where no duality of needs exists). Take the earlier example of the landscape company. If they belonged to a reputable barter exchange they would get barter credits (usually known as barter dollars) for doing the work for the restaurant, but they could then spend that barter revenue on renting a backhoe, or getting tires for their trucks, or something equally useful to their business.

There are multiple reasons to belong to a good barter exchange, below are a few key benefits:

1. Increased revenue
2. More clients
3. Better cash flow
4. Improved efficiency
5. Greater marketing opportunities
6. Increased purchasing power

Unless a business has more work than it can handle, barter is a ‘no-brainer’ for any company. A business has all its fixed costs (rent, salaries, insurance, vehicles, machinery, etc.) whether it has one hundred customers or three hundred, if a business can take dead time or inventory that in effect is costing money and turn it into new revenue, it’s a home run. The major benefit to companies is that they get to leverage their cost of goods. Back to the landscape company, what does it really cost them to do $1000 worth of work for the restaurant? Obviously less that $1000 or they wouldn’t be in business long (usually a company’s cost of goods is 50% or less). Since barter work is absorbing their surplus time, inventory or capacity, when they barter their services they are only incurring their actual cost of goods, this means they can make purchases via the exchange for pennies on the dollar – another home run.

Organized barter companies (usually those with national scope) also have many more benefits over conventional advertising methods since they are much more proactive. Barter members call into the exchange brokerage with things they need and the brokers match those needs with other members that can fill them. There are usually fees to join, but compared to a print advertisement for example, you only pay to join once and then most exchanges are ‘pay per use’. If at all possible, when choosing a good barter company, go with one that does not encourage cash-barter blends (i.e., a portion of the transaction is cash – not strictly all barter) and join a company that insists on ‘100% trade, 100% of the time’. Any barter company that allows blends to happen usually has inflation in their economy and not too many hard goods as a consequence.

One final tip when choosing a good barter exchange, make sure they allow you to spend first – this ensures you that their barter dollars actually have tangible worth and you’ll be able to continue spending them on a long term basis. Extra revenue is fine, but if you cannot spend it, it’s as good as worthless – unfortunately some businesses have been badly hurt by less reputable barter companies this way. Most quality barter companies will actually offer a guarantee to new members that they will let you spend a barter credit balance first and get you new business. Barter is a lot of fun and with the right company can be one of the most useful business tools you ever employ.

As far as tax goes, the IRS considers all barter transactions whether directly or via an exchange exactly the same as cash revenue. Consult your tax adviser for more detailed information on how to report barter income.

Although it would appear the world is currently filled with a majority of paper currency, electronic and non-paper transactions massively outweigh this figure. Without contemplating the vast daily transactions that happen via the globalised stock markets, just consider how frequently you use your ‘plastic’. Everything from soda machines to McDonalds accepts cards, and for good reason.

Take out the obvious motivation of nations wishing to track the flow of currency for taxation purposes – and it is reasonable to accept the theory that currency was created to facilitate improved taxation – and the move towards a cashless world has many more benefits. Blood money, illegal funding of the drugs trade or terrorist activity are just three good reasons to accelerate the process.

Obviously the total abolition of ‘cash’ will be extensively slowed by the less developed countries (and not surprisingly these are areas most open to abuse by illegal money laundering), however they will be increasingly forced to transition to the pace set by The West.

When you also factor in the explosive revival of barter around the world and the pioneering efforts of such companies as Merchants Barter Exchange (MBE), who have perfected the system of ‘retail barter’ on a massive scale (almost acting as efficiently as cash) the move to a cashless world becomes even more realistic. MBE, acting as a third party record keeper, allows American businesses to trade anything from a bouquet of flowers to forklifts, and $100,000 printing jobs all 100% on barter and without the traditional need for reciprocal trades. MBE has already been approached by countries like India who are keen to implement their system as their global interface for bartering with the rest of the world.

Technology has been the key to the increasing move towards a cash free world. The benefits to the consumer are also apparent: increased protection. VISA backs up most purchases with its guarantee, and many of the others are following suit. What protection does cash afford you? Take the example of a contractor doing a cash job for a home owner. If the work is shoddy, what recourse does the resident have? Even if they win in the small claims court, they are still responsible for collection (over 90% are unsuccessful!) MBE, since it acts like a bank, covers member clients in a similar manner to VISA.

As with all ground-breaking advancements this world has seen, they are only limited by Man’s capacity to accept and implement them. We currently live in a society where you are in the complete minority, if you don’t have ‘plastic’. The scope of this article hasn’t even dipped its toe into the Internet explosion, the amount of cashless traffic that occurs via Ebay, Amazon, PayPal, et al. Let’s face it, apart from being used to having a wallet with paper money in it, do you really need it, and would you really miss it?

Let’s future-scope on that thought just a little, and I’m sorry that it potentially means the loss of many jobs, do we really have the need any more to go to banks? In one fell swoop of stepping fully into the cashless world, we would eliminate the need for the treasury mints, eliminate fraud and laundering, reduce drug trafficking and terrorist funding – perhaps some political funding too! I say, “Roll on the future!”