Do any of you belong to a Barter/Trade group? I'm not interested in people who barter on their own. I want to know if anyone belongs to one of these broker groups? If so, what are/were your experiences? Do you end of spending large amounts of money to get stuff for "free?" Initiation fee, monthly fee, and then a commission on the stuff you buy through bartering.
Edd

I have a close friend who's in one. He's always complaining about it. He says that a lot of the members will only accept a limited number of barters each jmonth, and it seems whenever HE needs something, nobody wants to accept the scrip (barter dollars.) He also says that they inflate their rates when they realize they'll be taking barter money. He has told me he wouldn't be in it except for the fact that he gets his membership free each year for doing magic at their annual get-together.

Years ago I was in one It worked well for the most part. The downside was that when the sales person that worked for the barter company realized how well I was doing he used my success to recruit my competition. I went from being one of 4 magicians/ entertainers to being one of 18. It created a severe drop in income and shortly thereafter I dropped out as it was no longer worth doing....

Doesn't mean I wouldn't do it again in the future, but for now I am persuing other things....

In the very erly 80s, I got some benefit from those organiztions. However, by the late 80s the offerings had fallen to very poor pickings. People only offerd their salvage projects in trade. Usually they had already failed in the market place. They didn't improve with age.

Today, that would be a hard-sale with me. But I do remember a time when it worked.

Bob
Magic By Sander

I belong to two barter organizations and I get some occasional work through them. The real upside to these operations is that you build up a reserve of "cash" that you won't spend on anything that you probably don't need. I've gotten a car engine replaced this way, in fact, I get all my automotive work done like this, my dentist works on this program, as does my wife's dentist (and dentists are expensive!). I've gotten some pretty good jewlery and some good DVD's this way as well.

You DO have to declare your income and they will send in a W-4 form to the IRS, but if you use the barter money to purchase things you need, like printing and the likes, you can offset the income with the expenditures, but ALWAYS check with your accountant about tax issues, of course!

Just some notes from a bartering guy. It's not a major part of my income, but it has gotten me in to some events that I would never have gotten into other wise.

Lee Darrow, C.H.

This post has come back from the dead! I didn't join the bartering group and from the sounds of it, I made the right decision. Lee seems to be the only one with a positive review and it doesn't sound like a good ROI.
Edd

Actually, for me, the ROI has been well worth it, but you have to know how to use these organizations. I use them to help lower actual cash outflow, especially in slower months or when I want to use the cash for something else, like paying bills.

Being able to have what amounts to an emergency fund for things like dental problems, car repairs and even printing,dvd duplicating and the like is helpful. Heck, I even got a new engine for my car this way!

The downside is that you often pay full retail and, for service providers like mechanics, you wind up paying cash for the parts and get the labor on barter (which is usually the vast bulk of a car repair bill anyway). The other key is to hook up with a nationally recognized operation. I use Illinois Trade Association and Continental Trade Exchange, the latter of which is based in Wisconsin.

The initial fees to join are ofen done on partial barter (I got my entire initiation fee covered by doing several hours of strolling magic at one of their trade fairs, where I also booked about five shows, giving me a good cash balance, right from the get-go.

FloraCo has an audio tape on barter titles "Getting More Than Money" or somesuch and I believe it is still available for about $10 or $15 from them. It's an education in how to use barter groups and it's been a useful resource for me.

Lee Darrow, C.H.