Local companies turning to trade, rather than cash to make their purchases.

Building off the success of Burning Man and Craigslist, a new organization to hit the local scene, Merchant’s Barter, is set to help businesses grow through a new kind of monetary system, Barter Dollars.

Already in existence for 8 years in the rest of the country, Merchant’s Barter Exchange has rolled into town and is helping local businesses to conserve cash, decrease their excess inventory, and generate new sales.

Already, local businesses are starting to take notice.

Eric Wood, of local web design service MoonViper Web Services says that since he began working with Merchant’s Barter Exchange, his business has more than doubled, and he’s having to turn away projects because of too much demand. He’s looking into hiring more designers to help handle the workload.

According to the Los Angeles Times (August 11th “Local currencies cash in on recession”), communities all over the country are starting to generate their own local currencies based on the federal government and major banks inability to provide enough currency to the marketplace.

“This currency could be used to pay for goods and services in the marketplace, such as carpet cleaning, dentist appointments, and clothing, but because of the banks lack of funds in the mortgage fallout of last year, businesses are having a hard time getting loans” says Wood.

“Businesses today are not suffering from a lack of demand, they are suffering from a lack of money to pay for their services” he continues. “By providing those goods and services to the economy, businesses stand to generate valuable trade currency, which they can then use in exchange for other goods and services which they need.”

Merchant’s Barter Exchange works by allowing members to trade their goods and services for other things that they need. For instance, a web designer may create a website for one client, and in exchange, they are able to trade the value of that service for other items they need. With Merchant’s Barter’s nationwide network, and over 10,000 member businesses, the list of items and services available is huge.

Member businesses provide everything from hotel rooms and spa visits, to expensive luxury condos. As long as the goods and services are traded at the same value, everyone receives a fair deal, and the economy continues chugging along.

Unlike the local scrip described in the Los Angeles Times article, Barter Dollars earned through the exchange are good nationwide, at any participating business, and are spent just like cash. When asked how he spent his Barter Dollars, Wood said that he has used them for sign printing to promote his business, hotel stays for out of town guests, and even financed his entire wedding using Barter Dollars. “Though the exchange, I was able to find a wedding planner, a florist, limos, cakes, a tremendous catering service, even the diamond rings that are now our wedding bands.”

Long time Burning Man participants know that, on the playa, cash is not only not needed, it’s not welcome. Everything at the Burning Man festival is traded, and that’s part of the allure for those who attend the festival. Some even feel that allowing cash trades would completely destroy the feeling of the event.

Even Craigslist has noticed the uptick in trades across the county, and has a great graph on their blog showing a huge increase in the number of barter postings nationwide. “As we’ve seen during down economies in the past, growth in usage of the “barter” section of Craigslist is accelerating, up more than 100% in the last year alone .”

Wood plans to continue to accept Barter Dollars to grow his business. “By allowing me so many options,” he says, “I’m free to grow my business the way I want, and at the same time, meet some great people.”

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