
Barter exchange or barter trade is a very simple concept: I trade something I have more of than I need for something you have more of than you need. But this simplicity leads many businesses that haven’t joined a barter trade group like iTrade Colorado to underestimate the benefits of this powerful form of business interaction.
And you can look outside the business world for other examples of barter trade’s value. For example, individuals engage in barter every day—even if they don’t think of their actions as barter or label them as such.
John has an abundance of tomatoes from his garden and doesn’t want the unused vegetables to go to waste while he’s traveling on business. Maria provides dog walking services in her neighborhood and would love to find some fresh tomatoes for the salsa she makes and jars as gifts for her family members. A barter agreement is then made very naturally and organically, with John paying in tomatoes for Maria to check on his dog while he’s away, and both parties are better off than they were before.
The same is true on a much larger scale with countries. The exchange of goods can be very beneficial and can even help them address debt and trade deficits.
So, clearly, there are many advantages of barter exchange. But what are the benefits of business barter trade specifically? We list them below.
Companies that engage in business barter exchange enjoy some or all of these 10 benefits:
The “barter universe” continues to expand as more types of businesses recognize the value of this kind of interaction. For example, a growing number of lodging providers are willing to engage in barter as a way for a company to pay for its business travel.
As a result, getting involved in business barter exchange has tremendous benefits today but also teaches companies to engage productively in this way with other organizations—and that skill has virtually unlimited potential going forward.