Barter for a Better Bottom Line

Business-to-business (B2B) bartering is alive and well. Having moved away from peer-to-peer trading, barter has become big business. According to the International Reciprocal Trade Association, more than 470,000 U.S. companies barter over $12 billion worth of goods and services annually. Sixty-five percent of New York Stock Exchange corporations use barter; the U.S. Department of commerce estimates that 20 to 25% of world trade is now barter.

Small businesses, too, barter to keep their inventories lean, conserve cash and tap into new markets. Spectrum Business Insights illustrates why barter is popular:

“For many years, the general manager of a small hotel in Milwaukee has been trading expensive services such as carpet steam-cleaning and air-conditioning