Barter... The new Buzzword!

Even though barter has been around for eons and remains the most tested and stable form of commerce to date, the recent economic decline has perked up people’s interest. Is it just me, because I’m in the industry, or are others seeing this huge resurgence of the B-word?

All I seem to hear about these days are new-fangled, web-based barter clubs trying to vie for some of the barter “action”. I’ve done a little bit of research (and out of professional integrity I won’t name any names directly) and all they seem to be are shabby, online yard sales offering yesterday’s garbage: old CDs and DVDs, obsolete computer equipment, used furniture, old clothing, stuff nobody wants.

Ever since American Express blew a budget of $800m trying to get BigVine.com off the ground back in 2000, smart business folks have been trying to make online barter work. Strange that the year 2000 sounds familiar…? Oh yes, that’s when Merchants Barter Exchange began. Where is BigVine now? Amazing. With all the power and clout of AmEx, their business client list, and an Obama-like budget, they failed and MBE succeeded. Why?

MBE launched with a tiny fraction of their budget, less resources, less manpower - basically less everything. We decided to do barter right, and not try to cut corners and do things online. MBE uses a highly trained team of brokers to interact with their members, and an elite sales force to continue to build and grow their nationwide economy. To date, MBE is the ONLY national barter company that has achieved ‘pure’ bartering (no cash-barter blends, no inflated pricing, no black-out dates, etc.) Why is that so important, you may ask?

1. Why only eat half a meal?

2. Would you only clean half your car?

3. Would you only take half a vacation?

Exactly, why would you only get part of the benefit of bartering? Additionally - and this is much more important - how can you control trading, if part of it does not go via the exchange and is paid ‘under the table’ in cash? This is how the price is inflated. This is how businesses don’t always get a fair deal.

None of this can happen with the perfected MBE-barter system. We are proud that we have done what AmEx could not. We are excited that we have set the lead and the pace for the industry. We are not much liked by all the other lowly barter folk out there (barter companies from last century, and the new kids on the internet-block), BECAUSE we can do what we do and they cannot, and some folks try to dog us when they can, but we stick to what we are best at: being the best barter company there is.

We love barter, it’s our life. We love the fact that barter is booming right now, but we also know that there are far too many ‘me-too’ folks out there that are just in it for a quick buck and will be gone no sooner than Obama can sign his next bail-out bill.

Thanks for reading, until the next entry. God bless!