BarterBarter is a medium in which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods and/or services without a common unit of exchange (without the use of money).
A trade or barter exchange is a commercial organization that provides a trading platform and bookkeeping system for its members or clients. The member companies buy and sell products and services to each other using an internal currency known as barter or trade Rupees. Modern barter and trade has evolved considerably to become an effective method of increasing sales, conserving cash, moving inventory, and making use of excess production capacity for businesses around the world. Businesses in a barter earn trade credits (instead of cash) that are deposited into their account. They then have the ability to purchase goods and services from other members utilizing their trade credits – they are not obligated to purchase from who they sold to, and vice versa. The exchange plays an important role because they provide the record-keeping, brokering expertise and monthly statements to each member. Commercial exchanges make money by charging a commission on each transaction either all on the buy side, all on the sell side, or a combination of both.
It is estimated that over 350,000 businesses in the United States are involved in barter exchange activities. There are approximately 400 commercial and corporate barter companies serving all parts of the world and the % volume is as high as 40%. In India still the percentage of barter business is around 15 to 20%.
Exchange systems provide new sales and higher volumes of business, conserving cash for essential expenditures, exchange of unproductive assets for valuable products or services, reduction of unit costs, and opening new outlets for excess inventory and unused capacity. Reciprocal trade finance enables a firm to buy using its incremental cost of production. So long as incremental revenue exceeds incremental cost, it is worth it for a firm to trade using a barter exchange.
Corporate barter focuses on larger transactions, which is different from a traditional, retail oriented barter exchange. Corporate barter exchanges typically use media and advertising as leverage for their larger transactions. It entails the use of a currency unit called a "trade-credit". The trade-credit must be known and guaranteed (contract to eliminate ambiguity and risk).