Current Trends in the Barter Industry and My Predictions for 2010
I’ve been milling over whether to write a piece on the current trends in the barter industry and my predictions for 2010 and the industry for a couple of weeks. It seems there is enough movement in the industry right now to write something not only coherent, but informative, and perhaps be a little prophetic in what will happen over the next 11 months of 2010.
Trends
Localization: Every week we are seeing local communities join the internet barter site foray. Sites like ThingHeap.com serve geographically limited areas. Community currency is a new buzz word and financial institutions are backing this kind of currency swap.
Specialization: Switchgames.com services gamers and gamers only, while swaptree.com only does barter with music, books, and video.
Exaggeration: Merchants Barter claims to be the top rated exchange because they got 8 votes on their own survey. MyTradeAmerica asserts they are the biggest, best, and boldest on Twitter, despite being a very new exchange.
Consolidation: IMS buys strong exchanges and incorporates them in to the IMS system. ITEX partners with SuperMedia to create SuperTradeExchange. Barter 21 has an open platform for independents to trade together, as does doBarter, IRTA, NATE and Virtual Barter.
Predictions
This is the hard part. It’s easy to say that the past has been significant and spot trends by looking backward, but looking in to the future requires a crystal ball that I just don’t have. That being said, I am going to make some bold and some not-so-bold predictions for the industry:
- Barter Will Continue to Become Mainstream - More and more news outlets will cover barter as a business strategy, more gurus will be talking about barter, and barter will continue the conquest of pop culture, american style. Not a bold prediction, but one worth mentioning.
- More Item Specific Sites Pop Up - Outside the circles of BarterQuest and U-Exchange, local and product centric sites like thingheap.com and switchgames.com become the norm, with other sites appearing for swapping vehicles, home cooked meals, computer equipment, furniture, electronics, and yard work taking center stage. Why? Because it’s easier to faciliate like-for-like barter transactions in a direct trade situation. Think swaptree.com. They do a great job with this.
- SuperMedia buys ITEX - Pending a successful first year result, SuperMedia announces plans to purchase ITEX in a stock and trade buy-out one year after emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
- Someone Gets the Independents Together - In order to compete with ITEX and then SuperTradeExchange, most of the independent barter exchanges band together in some kind of group, create a central brand, and do business as a whole new entity.
- Pirates Still Appear and Disappear - Just like any other year, 2010 has its share of new pirates in the industry (individuals that would rather rape a trade exchange than own a trade exchange). Notably, Tradia, one of the longest running pirate barter organizations, disappears amid lawsuits and franchisee revolts.
That’s it for my list. We’ll check in next year and see how I did. Hopefully I’ll get a couple right and I can claim to be omnicient.
Great article I agree with your trends. I think barter will explode along with localization of trading networks. The next few years will be exciting for this area of business.
Mark
i’M PAUL OROZCO A TRADEX ECHANGE PRODUCT OF THE TRADE INDUSTRY FOR OVER 30 YEARS! YES 30 YEARS.
I HAVE SEEN IT ALL! THE EARLY DAYS WHEN SMALL BUSINESS’S THOUGHT WE WERE FROM MARS. HAD TO PROVE OURSELVES OVER AND OVER AGAIN..AND STILL AGAIN.
IT’S OK THOUGH, WE’RE EXPIERENCED AND HAVE A DEEP PASSION FOR “CREATING SOMETHING FROM NOTHING” FOR SMALL BUSINESSE’S OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
I CHUCKLE WHEN “START-UPS” LIKE MYTRADE AMERICA AND OTHER START-UPS MAKE “OVER THIER HEAD” STATEMENTS LIKE THIER THE BIGGEST BADDEST..WHATEVER..
THERE ARE SOME OF US THAT HAVE PAST THE “TEST OF TIME” AND CAN FILTER THROUGH WHAT’S REAL AND WHAT’S NOT.
THE ESTABLISHED ASSOCIATIONS SUCH AS IRTA (I REMEMBER WHEN THEY WERE ITA) I WAS AT THE FORST MEETINGS IN 1979-80
WITNESSED THE POTENTIAL O FTHIS INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE.
I HAVE OWNED A COUPLE OF FRANCHISES ALSO, ONE NOW ITEX AND THE OTHER ON A BOAT BACK TO AUSTAILA.
AS AN INDEPENDENT I PREFER DOBARTER AND THE UPCOMING BARTER21, THEY ARE OPERATING WITH ETHICS IN MIND.
AS FOR THE RIP-OFFS (PIRATES) WE WILL BATTLE THEM AS AN “ENEMY WITHIN” AND THEY KNOW WHO THEY ARE…”TRADE WHORES’ HAVE TARNISHED THIS INDUSTRY AND IT ALWAYS HURTS TO SEE IT, THIS INDUSTRY HAS DONE THIER BEST TO ACT “BANK-LIKE” AND RESCUE THIER DESTRUCTION, BUT ARE NOT ALWAYS SUCCESSFUL, THERFORE LEAVING WELL INTENSIONED SMALL BUSINESS’S IN A BIG LURCH!
THEY ARE BASICALLY WHITE COLLAR CRIMMINALS IN MY BOOK AND SHOULD BE PROSECUTED.
I DON’T WANT TO HAPR ON THE “BAD GUYS OF BARTER” BECAUSE THEY ARE A MIGHTY FEW’. AS A WHOLE UPSTANDING ETHICAL TRADE COMPANIES WILL PREVAIL.
IT’S ALWAYS INTERESTING TO HEAR OF MEGA MERGERS IN OUR INDUSTRY AND SOLID ASSOCIATIONS SUCH AS IRTA, NATE, INTERNATIONAL BARTER ALLIANCE (DOBARTER) AND TH E UPCOMING BARTER 21 CONTINUE TO POSITION THEMSELVES AS THE DRIVING FORCE OF THE COMMERCIAL TRADE EXCHANGE.
I ALSO APPRECIATE YOUR EFFORTS IN REPORTING NEWS SO OPENLY AS I ALOS RESPECT “BARTER NEWS” FOR ALL THE YEARS IN KEEPNG FACTS AND NEWS OF OUR INDUSTRY ALIVE.
ANYWAY THAT’S MY TAKE FOR NOW…GOOD LUCK TO YOU+
Sorry
In my earlier response, as I praised the up-standing trade associations such as IRTA , NATE and DoBarter and yet also blasted the “bad Boys of Barter” that are continual side - thorns who tarnish the industry…
I referred to the early days of IRTA as ITA, actually it was IATE
the “INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS of TRADE EXCHANGES”
A RESPECTED ORGANIZATION THAT MANY FEEL… IS THE “GOVERNING BODY ” OF OUR INDUSTRY…
PLEASE FORGIVE MY MISTAKE..IT’S RATHER LATE
THX
PAUL OROZCO
TRADEX INC
TEMECULA, CA
Hi, Check out Toronto Dollar . we have been going almost 20 years, and look forward to any raising of our genre of community currencies.
want to trade links?
i tweet your stuff through @toronto_dollar
Our title keyword
local Toronto alternative community currency of compassion.
Vic Garbutt