business model

Whether you’re an individual or a business, sometimes the way that we have come to handle commerce can seem cumbersome.

We provide goods or services to raise money that we can exchange for goods and services.

Why can’t we just trade our goods and services for someone else’s goods and services and skip the middle-man?

Welcome to the age-old tradition of Bartering. Bartering was common in just about every culture before the paper-based currency that came largely from the industrial revolution in the nineteenth century.

Since the development of the internet, however, it has become much easier to share the goods and services that we want and ask for the services that we require. The E-Commerce segment has developed so much that older traditions such a as Bartering comes as part of a large and popular niche. Groups on Social Media, especially in Facebook, were the forebearer of this trend which has now give rise to standalone barter networks.

This article will discuss some of our favorite barter networks that you can use to save time and money by trading goods and services directly for goods and services. You can also check The Process Behind Online Bartering Systems.

Barter Network

Barter Network Inc. is a company targeted explicitly at businesses trying to move unsold or overstocked products without taking a cut on profits. It does this by giving its member businesses access to a platform where they can trade their goods for those offered by another company. These goods can then be resold at your company, or used to defer expenses. There is a membership fee and monthly and barter fees, but the site provides you with great resources like your own broker to help you navigate the site and manage your exchanges.

Biz Exchange

BizExchange is another bartering website specifically for business to business goods transactions. The site works by allowing your business to buy and sell goods to other member businesses in exchange for a digital currency called “BizX Dollars”. The site tracks your usage and creates forms and records of transactions. Because all BizX Dollars are spent on costs of doing business, they don’t change the way that you report your taxes, which is good for larger businesses. The site is free to join and has no monthly fee, but the site pays overhead with a percentage of the value of each transaction, between 6 and 7.5 percent.

CraigsList

Many people are aware of Craigslist.org, but may not know that the site is commonly used to barter goods and services. When you search for something that you need, select “barter” in the menu on the left-hand side of the screen. This will narrow the search to people who are willing to trade in exchange for goods and services.

Using Craigslist is nice because of the size of the site and because it automatically narrows search results to your area. Because it is not intended for bartering, however, the site lacks some affordances of other bartering sites, like the ability to search for people who want what you offer rather than just people who are offering what you want. This can make it difficult to find someone who wants what you offer and is offering what you want.

GoSwap

GoSwap is a platform aimed at individuals looking to swap their homes permanently. The website has lots of search filters to choose from but only lets you search for places, homes or plots that you want, or things that other people might want from you. It’s easy to navigate things that people have, and the platform even provide other exchange options apart from barter.

IMSbarter

International Monetary Systems has been a powerhouse in the finance and business world for over thirty years, and they move into bartering with IMSbarter. This site, specifically aimed at businesses, lets your business sell its unsold products or even spare time to other businesses on the network in exchange for their excess services or spare time. There’s a lot of information on the site about how it works, but it doesn’t tell you much about pricing until you contact the company.

Listia

Listia is meant for individuals rather than businesses and works for items but not for services. Users of the site post items that they want to be rid of, which other members bid on using “Ink” the site’s digital currency. Ink can also be earned, rather like the player points on popular video games, by using different aspects of the site. The site is very approachable, as it has both apple and android compatible apps, and it can be signed into using Facebook.

Rehash

Rehash Clothes is a website that allows you to register as an individual swap clothes that they are no longer using. The site is easy to navigate and lets you filter searches by variety of different clothes including men, women, shoes or accessories , as well as by whether you are looking for things you need or looking for people to supply. The major problem with this site is that it is too simple, so it is difficult to find the right items.

Shared Earth

Shared Earth is not for bartering goods or services exactly, it is essential for sharecropping. You can register on the site as a landowner, or as someone looking for land. As a land-owner, you let other gardens on your land in exchange for some of their produce. As a land-use, you get access to land in exchange for some of your produce.

Simbi

Simbi is for individuals looking to exchange services. You can perform services for someone else, who performs a service for you, but there’s another option. Suppose you give guitar lessons to someone who paints pottery. They want your lessons, but you don’t want their pottery. Instead of exchanging services, they can pay you for your service with the site’s digital currency which you can use on a service that you do want.

Swap

Swap.com isn’t a purely bargain-based site but instead markets itself as an online thrift store. You post items, which other people buy. You can then use that money to buy items from other users. The site still uses real money, so it’s not as fun as some of the other sites discussed, but it also doesn’t have any membership fees.

SwapRight

SwapRight.com is meant for individuals to trade goods and services. It doesn’t have a lot of fancy features or an associated app, but it is entirely free, you can sign in with your Facebook, and it’s easy to use.

TradeAway

TradeAway allows you to post items to barter, but you can also simply buy items. The site has no fees and has an associated Apple and Android compatible app, but also works entirely on the browser page.

TradeMade

TradeMade is an app-based bartering app that lets you exchange goods and services for other goods and services. One unique thing about this site is that it lets you trade multiple goods or a combination of goods and services, allowing you to make very custom deals. The only downside is that the app is not currently available on Android devices.

TradeStuff

TradeStuff is another site meant for individuals to trade goods. The site allows trading different numbers of items, but it also allows you to trade through other users. For example, if the pottery painter wants your guitar but you want a bathroom sink, but someone with a bathroom sink wants pottery, you can all get what you want in the same transaction. The TradeStuff app is available on Apple and Android.

U-Exchange

U-Exchange is an international website for exchanging goods and services. You can search by your area, or browse the whole site. Signing up is free and so are most trades, though trading larger items like real-estate or vehicles require a small fee.

How to Create a Barter Network?

Depending on your needs there are a lot of great bartering sites out there, each with its affordances and limitations. Hopefully, this article has started you off on your search for the right site for you. See an example of the online barter system.

If you are trying to create a barter network, you might want to consider iScripts eSwap – the opensource barter exchange software. You can clone the business model of most of these sites using eSwap and you can make customizations as you wish.  It is avaialbe in mobile devices as well and is build keeping in mind many of the online barter system’s challenges

iScripts eSwap is a barter exchange APP equipped with many built-in and comprehensive features This bartering app allows your users to buy, sell and swap items easily. This app contains all features and functionality necessary for you to launch a professional barter exchange network app similar to Swap.com or U-Exchange.com. If you are planning to build an online barter app, first you have to learn the basics of online selling.

Users of the App can add items for swap or sale in exchange for another thing anywhere quickly.

Ready to create your own barter or swap site?

Choose to use the software as-is, add on to your software using our team of programmers, or even select a white-labeled version for your added convenience. Technology has developed its way to swap the traditional bartering of an online system.

For more information or questions related to how you can take advantage of the platform, contact us at (312) 423-6728 or email to sales@iscripts.com

We can modify and tweak the script and add any additional features or site design changes. Just tell us your thoughts and any budget specifics or limitations. We will work with you to provide the best options!