For years, people have tossed around the idea of creating more barter opportunities in Buffalo.
Now, a new barter/trade company has come to Buffalo. It’s called Bartercard. The barter company established itself in WNY a year ago, with the intentions of seeking out businesses that were looking for additional avenues to procure goods and services, while saving money at the same time. The way that Bartercard Buffalo works is easy. Say a restaurant is looking for new dishes and glasses. The owner would look to see who in the trade system has what he or she needs. Then, a trade transaction is made. Back in the day, that might mean that the business that traded the plates and cutlery would have a bunch of trade at the respective restaurant, but that’s not the case with Bartercard. That company can go through the trade Rolodex to see what its own needs are, and can spread those trade dollars around. From junk removal and hauling, to law services, business owners might be surprised to see who’s trading out there. Check it out:
Bartercard conducted its first trades in 1991. Today, its worldwide cardholders trade $40M every month. Now, Buffalo is part of that trade ecosystem – Bartercard currently employs 19 full-time employees in Buffalo, and 180 businesses have signed up within the first year. That means that the push is now on, to expand the local client network.
Members earn Bartercard trade dollars for the goods and services they sell and this value is recorded electronically in the member’s account. One ‘Bartercard Trade Dollar’ is equal to one US Dollar for all accounting purposes, and is treated as such by the IRS.
It was Bill Toth who took the opportunity to open a Bartercard franchise in Buffalo. Toth’s first employee, Jerry West, is now the franchise principal. “Thank you Buffalo for an amazing first year, this is only the beginning. 2018 is going to be epic!” says West. “We’ve had an extraordinary year and have grown our team and our members in the network. We are looking forward to a new year with even more opportunities.”
Bartercard doesn’t simply offer abilities to trade for goods and services, it also allows businesses to expand their networking portfolios, while saving money at the same time. Companies can trade by using their earned trade dollars, while also tapping into interest free credit lines, to help offset the trade balances.
The concept of trade goes back to the origins of mankind. Along the way, currencies came into play, and barter fell out of favor. Today, the barter system is coming back into favor with many businesses, thanks to companies like Bartercard that make it easy to document the trades thanks to new technological advancements. Online resources allow business owners to search for prospective trade clients, record their transactions, check their balances, etc. The days of businesses dealing one-on-one via trade transactions is over. So is thumbing through an outdated barter book. Now, Bartercard is here to elevate the trade experience to even greater heights than ever before imagined possible.