Bartering down the ages

Dictionary defines bartering as the ‘exchange of goods and services without monetary transaction'. It is simply an exchange of goods between two parties, who need something from each other. This mutual give and take has been practiced since antiquity, but has had its share of problems too. Picture this, a fishmonger wanting a new fishing net goes to a net maker with a handsome catch of fish. But the net maker isn't interested in his fish. So, the fishmonger has either to remain without a net or make one on his own. And he can't do either. So, he exchanges his fish with someone else for an item that the net maker would be interested in, and exchanges it to get his fishing net. This is what happened till money made its appearance.

But bartering continued to be practiced on a low key. Remember, you have done it too as kids, when you exchanged the center spreads of your favorite beauties for CDs of some really cool music. Well, this was bartering in its most basic form. Only recently has the world woken up to the immense business potential of this form of trade.

Resurgence of bartering

Bartering would have remained on the fringes had it not been for the invasion of the wonder chip called computer and the Internet. With its introduction, it became possible to barter in an easy and inexpensive way. This is because of computer's ability of tracking barter transactions and maintaining huge inventories conveniently and economically.

To facilitate the burgeoning barter trade, many online facilities were introduced. The most important being the barter exchange, whose spread has fueled an explosive growth of bartering by creating markets for traders and bringing the interested parties together.

Benefits of bartering

But how is bartering better than normal business transactions? There are a number of benefits that has made bartering a force to reckon with in the business world. Let us see what they are:

Conserves cash: Cash, the lifeblood of business, is always in short supply, whether for a corporate giant or a small-scale industry. Since bartering generally doesn't require financial transaction, such a deal becomes mutually advantageous, as neither party has to part with cash to obtain the desired goods or services.

Generates sales and profits: Not only does bartering conserve cash, it can actually generate sales and profits. This is because inventory turns over more quickly and service providers sell more of their time than they would otherwise, had they insisted on cash.

Creates new customers: Bartering brings together unlikely parties, which would never have met in the normal course of business. If satisfied with the deal, these parties can refer many more customers to each other, including the ones who pay cash. Even the original barter customer m
Holiday Season Sales Predictions For 2006
With the recent drop in gas prices, should online retailers expect a cheery holiday sales forecast? According to the National Federation of Retailers (NRF) one-fifth of all retail sales in the United States occur during the holiday season. With the critical holiday shopping season upon us, many companies are gearing up for a busy and eventful holiday season.Although they expect holiday sales to be "subdued" this holiday season, the NRF still expects a gain of 5 percent to $457.4 billion, which is short of last years 6.1 percent increase. But, online holiday sales will continue their fast-paced trend, with sales expected to reach 27 billion (Forrester Research, Inc.), which would represent a 23 percent increase over last year.Another holiday season forecast by eMarketer, predicts that during November and December, online retailers will have sales figures of 24.3 billion; which is a 22.1 percent increase over last year.However, Jupiter Research, Inc., paints an even rosier sales forecast calling for 2006 online sales to be 32 billion, which would be an increase of 18 percent over last year
r. This mutual give and take has been practiced since antiquity, but has had its share of problems too. Picture this, a fishmonger wanting a new fishing net goes to a net maker with a handsome catch of fish. But the net maker isn't interested in his fish. So, the fishmonger has either to remain without a net or make one on his own. And he can't do either. So, he exchanges his fish with someone else for an item that the net maker would be interested in, and exchanges it to get his fishing net. This is what happened till money made its appearance.

But bartering continued to be practiced on a low key. Remember, you have done it too as kids, when you exchanged the center spreads of your favorite beauties for CDs of some really cool music. Well, this was bartering in its most basic form. Only recently has the world woken up to the immense business potential of this form of trade.

Resurgence of bartering

Bartering would have remained on the fringes had it not been for the invasion of the wonder chip called computer and the Internet. With its introduction, it became possible to barter in an easy and inexpensive way. This is because of computer's ability of tracking barter transactions and maintaining huge inventories conveniently and economically.

To facilitate the burgeoning barter trade, many online facilities were introduced. The most important being the barter exchange, whose spread has fueled an explosive growth of bartering by creating markets for traders and bringing the interested parties together.

Benefits of bartering

But how is bartering better than normal business transactions? There are a number of benefits that has made bartering a force to reckon with in the business world. Let us see what they are:

Conserves cash: Cash, the lifeblood of business, is always in short supply, whether for a corporate giant or a small-scale industry. Since bartering generally doesn't require financial transaction, such a deal becomes mutually advantageous, as neither party has to part with cash to obtain the desired goods or services.
Generates sales and profits: Not only does bartering conserve cash, it can actually generate sales and profits. This is because inventory turns over more quickly and service providers sell more of their time than they would otherwise, had they insisted on cash.
Creates new customers: Bartering brings together unlikely parties, which would never have met in the normal course of business. If satisfied with the deal, these parties can refer many more customers to each other, including the ones who pay cash. Even the original barter customer
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The buying and selling of privately owned businesses in Australia has often been referred to as the hidden market. This is due to the fact that historically businesses have been very reluctant to reveal that they are for sale, which has kept a $Trillion market be hidden from view. But this is starting to change.With a growing number of businesses coming onto the market as the baby boomer generation heads toward retirement, businesses are taking a far more open approach to selling. In particular, they are providing things like turnover, EBIT, and Asking Price to the market. The reasons for this are two fold. First online markets like BizExchange require this information. Secondly there is a growing awareness that buyers need to be enticed and a key way of doing this is providing more information. Quite simply providing more information generates a greater number of genuine enquiries.While there are still concerns among businesses that customers may be deterred or competitors may take advantage if the business is known to be for sale, this can be managed by the appropriate use of a busines
enter spreads of your favorite beauties for CDs of some really cool music. Well, this was bartering in its most basic form. Only recently has the world woken up to the immense business potential of this form of trade.

Resurgence of bartering

Bartering would have remained on the fringes had it not been for the invasion of the wonder chip called computer and the Internet. With its introduction, it became possible to barter in an easy and inexpensive way. This is because of computer's ability of tracking barter transactions and maintaining huge inventories conveniently and economically.

To facilitate the burgeoning barter trade, many online facilities were introduced. The most important being the barter exchange, whose spread has fueled an explosive growth of bartering by creating markets for traders and bringing the interested parties together.

Benefits of bartering

But how is bartering better than normal business transactions? There are a number of benefits that has made bartering a force to reckon with in the business world. Let us see what they are:

Conserves cash: Cash, the lifeblood of business, is always in short supply, whether for a corporate giant or a small-scale industry. Since bartering generally doesn't require financial transaction, such a deal becomes mutually advantageous, as neither party has to part with cash to obtain the desired goods or services.
Generates sales and profits: Not only does bartering conserve cash, it can actually generate sales and profits. This is because inventory turns over more quickly and service providers sell more of their time than they would otherwise, had they insisted on cash.
Creates new customers: Bartering brings together unlikely parties, which would never have met in the normal course of business. If satisfied with the deal, these parties can refer many more customers to each other, including the ones who pay cash. Even the original barter customer
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ties were introduced. The most important being the barter exchange, whose spread has fueled an explosive growth of bartering by creating markets for traders and bringing the interested parties together.

Benefits of bartering

But how is bartering better than normal business transactions? There are a number of benefits that has made bartering a force to reckon with in the business world. Let us see what they are:

Conserves cash: Cash, the lifeblood of business, is always in short supply, whether for a corporate giant or a small-scale industry. Since bartering generally doesn't require financial transaction, such a deal becomes mutually advantageous, as neither party has to part with cash to obtain the desired goods or services.
Generates sales and profits: Not only does bartering conserve cash, it can actually generate sales and profits. This is because inventory turns over more quickly and service providers sell more of their time than they would otherwise, had they insisted on cash.
Creates new customers: Bartering brings together unlikely parties, which would never have met in the normal course of business. If satisfied with the deal, these parties can refer many more customers to each other, including the ones who pay cash. Even the original barter customer
How To Beat Competition In Mobile Handset Retail Business
The competition in the handset business in Nigeria, Africa like other countries of the world, is enormous especially in the major cities. Only entrepreneurs who go the extra mile will always make it. Though the market for GSM handsets is very large, most people find it difficult to break even in the business; an idea is what you will need to differentiate yourself from the crowd and competition no matter where you are located.The secret to this success is the Nokia handset retail business- this simply means branding your shop with Nokia and selling of only Nokia phones. The Nokia brand is the secret.Nokia as you know is unarguably the leading phone manufacturer in the world today, It is also the fastest selling brand in the world today with over 40 percent of worldwide market sales. And here in Nigeria, the Nokia brand controls over 46 percent of the market share. It is the biggest brand in handset business and it also commands one of the strongest consumer loyalties all over the world with great support. this can be seen in some of its fastest selling models like 3310,2100,1100 in Nigeria, the Nokia 110
y advantageous, as neither party has to part with cash to obtain the desired goods or services.
Generates sales and profits: Not only does bartering conserve cash, it can actually generate sales and profits. This is because inventory turns over more quickly and service providers sell more of their time than they would otherwise, had they insisted on cash.
Creates new customers: Bartering brings together unlikely parties, which would never have met in the normal course of business. If satisfied with the deal, these parties can refer many more customers to each other, including the ones who pay cash. Even the original barter customer may start paying cash in future transactions.
Moves surplus stock: Barter moves surplus stock, which otherwise would have remained in the storehouse. It also saves money that would have been lost in advertising and weighty discounts.
Utilizes downtime and unused capacity: If you are not utilizing the full capacity of your plant or service all the year round and can handle new customers, then bartering may pave the way for new business opportunities.
Lowers prices: With bartering the goods and services procured always turn out to be cheaper than they would have been with cash, since there are no overheads. This can give you an edge over competitors.

Types of bartering

The most common type of bartering online is one-on-one or direct bartering that you can indulge in quite successfully. Its shortcoming is the difficulty in searching for the right deal. For example, you may sell soft toys and may want printing services, but you may be hard put to find a printer who may want soft toys in return. The other type of bartering is called the third party bartering. It uses some form of currency to allow more dynamic exchange between the parties. Businesses generally use both types for best results.

Modern-day bartering

If you do business on the Internet, then bartering may be a golden opportunity knocking at your door. For those serious on bartering, the first step is to enroll in a barter exchange. This exchange will readily help you find what you need by actively searching for the product or service you desire. The advantage of a barter exchange is that it networks with other exchanges across the country and even overseas, thereby extending your area of influence.

How to find barter deals online?

There are various ways to find barter deals online. They are:

Message boards: You can set up a barter message board or chat room on your website to get barter offers.
Notices: You can place notices on your website that you are willing to barter for goods and services.
Newsgroups: You can join newsgroups or e-mail discussion groups that are about bartering.
Online barter club: Joining an online barter club may help you meet other businesses that barter.
Search engines: By looking up the keywords like ‘barter', ‘trade', ‘swap' and the like in search engines, you can get a wide choice of bartering portals to choose from.

Is bartering suited for your business?

Before you take another step forward, remember some businesses don't lend themselves to barteri