ITEX in the News

Palm Beach County businesses stretch their budget by bartering

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. -- The practice of exchanging goods and services without using money may seem pre-historic. But it's making a comeback for a range of reasons, from high unemployment, to people who just want a good deal. They are saying "barter is smarter."

From socks to yachts, to getting your car fixed or even babysitting and parties, you can barter anything.

"We have found more people are asking us to barter their events, more so than in the past," said Randee Wechsler.

Wechsler is the owner of Atlas Party Rental in Boynton Beach. The family owned and operated business handles any event you can think of from weddings, to extravagent parties.

"What's great about bartering is we we were able to get items on trade, that we use for our business, like sewing machines." said Wechsler.

But that's not all. Whether it's chairs, tables, special linens, or china, anything can be bartered, which is simply exchanging one service for another.

"There are some customers that are really into bartering, that's I all they do. In order to gain their business, you have to be part of a bartering group," said Wechsler.

Itex is an online global bartering group. Barter Depot is a broker based in Boynton Beach. Cathy Ebberbach and her husband Scotty have been running it for 20 years.

"We facillate trades between clients that are ours, being the buyers and sellers," said Ebberbach.

They broker trades by enabling you to post a product or service on the website. A member buys it using "barter dollars." It then goes into your account, which you can then use to buy items or services for yourself.

"You know the economy is terrible these days and people still want to go out and enjoy life, so they use barter as a second income to do that. We have clients that brings their things over to our showroom," said Ebberbach.

Their showroom is their living room. Full of everything from vintage posters to vintage scales. Ebberbach weighs in on how she uses bartering for herself.

"Ninety-percent of my life is done on barter, getting my hair done, going out to dinner staying at a hotel," she said.

As for Wechsler, barter is smarter.

"What's nice about exchange groups is that I can rent a party for $500 to somebody and that $500 gets banked into my account. Then I can take the $500 and buy $500 worth of printing materials," said Wechsler.

Before you decide if bartering is good for you, remember bartering doesn't mean free. Barter Depot charges a small fee every month, plus a six-percent commission on transactions. In addtion, you must pay taxas on any income you generate and like eBay and Craigslist, barter sites are based on trust with people you don't know. So buyer beware.