Take the Barter off the Streets and into Mainstream Internet!
Take the Barter off the Streets and into Mainstream Internet!
The process to barter online has existed for approximately 10 years. Many high profile websites feature the services of bartering for about 5 years and by doing some web surfing, you will see quite a few sites are going through a rehab.
Options exist for a model of a barter system online. There are sites that have substantial fees for a member to advertise and join. The costs can range in to the thousands. Sites out there also exist that give people free access to the merchants that want to barter. Every site has their own way of establishing a value for a member's goods or services and each member has an account number or login with the site depending on what was bought and sold. The main host site charges a percentage based on the selling rate, generally just five percent.
There is an international exchange that can cost its members approximately $590 and has their percentage rate of commission at 7.5%. In addition to this there is a $12 monthly rate. One site alone claims to have members in the tens of thousands. With the high cost of membership they include advertisements and account sources. Sites such as this are for the varsity barterer. It is nice to make that much money in commissions however, it is not necessary to start out at this level.
Another site was initially established by a web hosting company to assists its customers to expand their transactions. The host says they advertise their bartering services through the purchase of keywords on Google and Yahoo. If you choose to be a member of a site like this, there is a $199 membership fee, monthly maintenance fee and 5% commission fee.
Another awesome option is to barter travel. There are over 40,000 members and they have a detailed index of categoriesfrom books to jewelry, cosmetic items and even surgery! Their pages feature products that cost the merchant for product placement as well as a fee for featuring your products on the main page. Did you know there are operators of the barter sites that fell in to it? They created their own site and it evolved in to a revolutionary entrepreneur opportunity.
Simpler sites offer items such as books. You can earn barter points by listing your books to barter. For instance, one point for a paperback book and two points for a hardbound book. Sites like this usually offer their services for free and are usually well organized. The process and addiction to barter online is gaining popularity as we speak!