Barter
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 Barter is a type of trade that doesn't use any medium of exchange, in which goods or services are exchanged for other goods and/or services. It can be bilateral or multilateral as trade. Barter and money are different means of balancing an economic exchange. Barter is recognized as trade in societies without monetary systems. Although it can be argued that barter exists in most societies parallel to monetary systems. Barter crosses over to the spheres of trade with money when economies are suffering from a very unstable currency (as when hyperinflation hits). Barter is also used as a concept in regard of intercultural exchange between craftsmen or artists of different countries, especially when the exchange is passing the gap between "the rich world" and "the poor world".
Transaction issuesWhy is it done?
History of barterIn the past, goods were to be exchanged in the goods of another without considering of its money value. To organize production and to distribute goods and services among their populations, many pre-capitalist or pre-market economies relied on tradition, top-down command, or community democracy instead of market exchange organised using barter. Relations of reciprocity and/or redistribution substituted for market exchange. Trade and barter were primarily reserved for trade between communities or countries. It is also used when the monetary system failed to measure the economic value of goods. Barter becomes more and more difficult as people become dispossessed of the means of production of widely-needed goods. For example, if money were to be severely devalued in the United States, most people would have little of value to trade for food (since the farmer can only use so many cars, etc.) It is used on important transactions between firms or countries to exchange commodities, when monetary constraints are too expensive for the economic actors. A well-known example of multilateral trade is the triangular trade. Money used to be considered as simpler for small trades; but use of the Web has changed that perception, especially for Swapping. In finance"Barter" is used when trade among corporations using non-money or "near-money" finance. Corporate Barter Corporate Barter 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). Trade-credits are redeemed with cash much as a consume can be used to provide full value for asset(s) with an impairmen. Barter can also be done through a barter exchange, which have existed since the 1950's with an estimated 1400 exchanges of differing sizes and scope currently operating in the US. A barter exchange steps into the one-to-one relationship that is normal with traditional bartering, allowing businesses to trade with other businesses they have nothing in common with (or where no duality of needs exists). If a restaurant wanted $1500.00 worth of landscaping, but the landscaper did not want to eat at the restuarant (or could not eat $1500.00 worth of food!), a reputable barter exchange would issue trade dollars to the landscaper which he could use to purchase tires, advertising, mulch or other materials or something equally useful to his business. There are multiple reasons to use a good barter exchange: Increased purchasing power Increased revenue More clients (both from the barter exchange and from cash-business referrals from barter clients) Better cash flow Greater marketing opportunities Improved efficiency 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, workers' comp, machinery, etc.) whether it has two hundred customers or five hundred, if a business can take down time or inventory that is costing money and turn it into new revenue, it’s a slam dunk. 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.
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. One such company that fits the above criteria is Merchants Barter Exchange. Barter as cultural exchangeBarter is often rendered a less sophisticated form of market than the moneymarkets, but must be understood as a highly sophisticated way of trading/cultural exchange of knowledge, skills, craftsmanship and so on between parties of uneven economic strength, within a globalised market economy. Barter is used as a concept among non-institutional artist groups or collectives. The concept was used by the Denmarkbased reknown theatre group Odin teatret and has been used by others in that sense. Odin teatret/Eugenio Barba used the concept of barter in their early period, while touring and exchanging theory-practices in a variety of countries mostly in so-called third world and rural traditional societies/Communities. It can be argued that Barter is a more nomadic form of trade, and is less sophisticated because it is a generally less developed form of trade. That may be because the nomadic has generally been subordinated to the governance of the settler, at least in societies of more imperial governance. For the nomadic the economical intermediary (e.g. money ) is blocking the flow of the barter situations since the currency/current value will not easily be fixed. The Barter tour-journeys of Odin theatre was crucial for the International School of Theatre Anthropology (ISTA)
(from the home pages of Odin Theatre) SwappingSwapping is the increasingly prevalent informal bartering system in which participants in Internet communities trade items of comparable value on a trust basis. While swapping is an excellent way to find and obtain items that are inexpensive, it relies upon honesty. A dishonest participant might arrange a swap, and then never complete their end of the transaction, thus getting something for nothing. This practice is called swaplifting,[citation needed] a pun on shoplifting. The victim's recourse is often limited to shunning the swaplifter, or taking him to small claims court. Complex business models based on the concept of barter is today possible since the advent of Web 2.0 technologies. In the other word Barter means: The act of trading goods and services between two or more parties without the use of money. Bartering benefits companies and countries that see a mutual benefit in exchanging goods and services rather than cash, and it also enables those who are lacking "hard currency" to obtain goods and services. Tax implicationsIn the United States, it is generally not possible to avoid income taxes by bartering one's services. According to the IRS, "The fair market value of goods and services exchanged must be included in the income of both parties."[1] The barter in many cases must be reported on Form 1099-B and Schedule C.[2] See also
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cs:Barterový obchod da:Byttehandel de:Tauschhandel et:Bartertehing el:Ανταλλακτική οικονομία es:Trueque eo:Natura interŝanĝo fr:Troc ia:Troco it:Baratto he:סחר חליפין lt:Natūriniai mainai ms:Sistem barter nl:Ruilhandel ja:物々交換 pl:Barter pt:Escambo ru:Договор мены simple:Barter sv:Byteshandel tr:Barter uk:Бартер |
