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What is Business to Business Barter? Business-to-business barter traditionally meant negotiating an exchange of products or services between two companies without performing a cash sale or purchase. With advancements in computer technology, the concept of a bartering system emerged as a means by which business-to-business barter could take place between many businesses simultaneously, greatly increasing the benefits of trading without cash. A barter system removes the limitations that traditionally were a part of any barter transaction, such as the need for an equal dollar value, the mutual need between any two companies for each other's product or service, and the time it can take to coordinate the transaction. Read more about the value of barter right here on our Web site. |
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Why do Businesses Barter? Nearly every business faces the daily dillema of cash flow management. Highly competitive markets, increasing business expenditures, planned or unplanned downtime, perishable inventory and the necessity of discounting inventory are just some of the problems that contribute to the need for cash flow management. Modern, multidirectional barter helps businesses alleviate the affect of these problems. Read more about the value of barter right here on our Web site. |
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Why Would I Use "Trade Dollars" Instead of Cash? Cash flow is the reason. "Trade Dollars" are earned by selling your products and services to a new group of clientele who actively seek out vendors within the barter system. With these additional sales you can offset your cash expenses, thus conserving your cash flow. |
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Is Barter Big in North America? Yes. The International Reciprocal Trade Association (IRTA) estimates that in 1998, 16 billion dollars' worth of products and services were bartered in North America. |
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What Is the Canadian Barter System? The Canadian Barter System (CBS) is a business-to-business (B2B) trade facilitator. We provide a central information repository and credit accounting service for multilateral barter transactions. |
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How Does the Canadian Barter System Work? Upon becoming a member, you advertise your products and services within our network of businesses and business owners. Our online Member Catalogue is just one way to do this, and our professional trade brokers are there to help you from the start. When you sell a product or service to another member, you earn a form of credit that we call "trade dollars", and when you purchase a product or service from another member, you spend your trade dollars. |
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Is the Canadian Barter System for Small or Large Businesses? The Canadian Barter System serves and represents a diverse membership, and is available to all businesses, from the sole proprietor to the large multinational corporation. |
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How Will I Benefit from Being a Member of the Canadian Barter System? Barter produces new business. Business that allows you to expand your market and maintain your cash-paying customers at greater profit.
New distribution channels are possible. If you are liquidating a product (or product lines), you may want to sell those into international markets to protect your local markets. However, barter no longer is just an option for unloading distressed merchandise, it has been used by companies as a creative tool for expanding sales and penetrating new markets.
Barter conserves cash. Say you have ten vacant hotel rooms at $100.00 a night and you need a new copy machine priced at $1,000.00. Barter provides a way in which you can buy your copier, fill your empty rooms (at your cost on the rooms) and maintain your cash. The same is true with filling empty tables for a restaurant. Plust, barter provides added earnings potential for your wait staff.
Barter pust ideal resources to work. Excess capacity is converted into needed goods and services for your organization.
Barter provides a competitive edge. Barter clients are new clients that bypass competing companies to do business at your establishment while you maintain your existing cash clients. |
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I am already bartering products and services with other businesses. Why do I need to become a member of the Canadian Barter System? CBS is easier than doing it yourself, and provides far greater flexibility. Because we represent a network of businesses who buy and sell on trade, you gain the power of multilateral transactions. When you barter with someone outside of our network, you are typically limited to a bilateral transaction, meaning both parties must be in need of each others' products and services. Multilateral transactions let you sell to one business, and buy from another. |
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Why would I want to buy products and services through CBS when everything I buy I pay for at wholesale prices? Many businesses have established relationships with trusted suppliers who provide competitive pricing. CBS will provide your company with more relationships that provide a similar wholesale value. Very few companies can get everything they buy at wholesale (take restaurants, for example), but when you become a member of CBS, everything you buy from businesses within the barter system is at your own already-established wholesale cost. This is how CBS increases your purchasing power. |
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Will CBS Help Me Find New Business? Yes. We have hundreds of companies trading through CBS, and many of these companies are likely to become your clients. At CBS, your trade broker will work with you to develop new business. |
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I've only ever dealt in cash. Is the Canadian Barter System a good choice for my business? Yes. Business generated through the Canadian Barter System does not replace your existing cash business, but is complementary to it. Our system allows members to generate new and more business amongst themselves, displacing retail cash costs with the cost of your products or services. |
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How do I become a member of the Canadian Barter System? Click here. |
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Do I get a line of credit when I join the Canadian Barter System? At our discretion, we may from time to time issue a line of credit to your barter account in order to help finance your business trading activity, or to get you started in the system. All credit is issued in "trade dollars" (barter), which means that the credit we issue is not in Canadian currency, and may only be used with other member businesses. |
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Will I Be Able to Join CBS Without a Line of Credit? Yes. However, before you can make any purchases on barter, you will have to sell product or service in exchange for barter credit (trade dollars). |
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Can I cancel my membership at any time? Your satisfaction is important to us and we will try to solve any problems that you may have. If, however, you remain dissatisfied, you may cancel your membership so long as your barter accounts are not in a negative balance. |
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What are Trade Dollars? Trade dollars are the medium used to exchange products and services with other members of the Canadian Barter System. This is a convenient term for barter credit, whereby you have sold something to a CBS member but have not yet accrued something in return. The value of a Trade Dollar is equal to that of the Canadian Dollar, as we do not run our own economy. Transactions performed across international borders may be subject to the Canadian Dollar exchage rate with whatever foreign currency your trading partner is using to value his product or service. |
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How do I earn Trade Dollars? By selling products and services to other members with the Canadian Barter System in exchange for barter credit, which is the same thing. |
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Can I buy products and services through CBS without using Trade Dollars? No. To buy and sell through CBS you must use the barter system. You will not accrue any benefit by not using your barter credit. |
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When can I sell products and services, and when can I buy? You can sell your products and services in exchange for barter credit (trade dollars) as soon as you become a member. You can begin buying once you have built up sufficient barter credit to afford the barter purchase. All credit is tracked through the use of an account that CBS maintains on your behalf. Your trade broker will help you gain the Trade Dollars you need. |
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How do you know that I will be able to use my Trade Dollars for products and services that I need? With thousands of products and services available, it is very unlikely that you would not find products and services useful to your business. We recommend that you discuss your needs with one of our trade brokers, who will help you to find what you're looking for. By completing our quick checklist behind the "Become a Member" link, you can jumpstart this process now. We often target businesses based on the needs of our members, and can in most situations arrange to get you a particular product or service that might otherwise be difficult to find. |
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How do I price my products and services? When you sell a product or service to a member of the Canadian Barter System, who is paying you in barter credit, you sell to them at your regular retail price, the same as though they were paying in cash. When you buy a product or service, you pay for it with barter credit equal to the regular retail price. Trading through the Canadian Barter System does not require an alternative set of prices, and relies on the membership to offer their products and services at fair retail value. |
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What does it cost to participate in the Canadian Barter System? We charge an initial membership fee of $0.00 plus a recurring annual or monthly fee equal to $0.00 per annum. We also charge a commission on barter transactions, equal to 5% of the total value bartered in Trade Dollars. |
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Are there any tax advantages to barter? Barter income is business over and above your normal cash sales and is treated the same as cash income. Trading through CBS should be considered a marketing tool, not a tax tool. As with cash expenditures, purchases made through the barter system that are business related are also tax deductible. |
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How does Revenue Canada regard barter transactions made through the Canadian Barter System? Barter transactions are considered by Revenue Canada to be the same as cash transactions, and are similarly subject to taxation. This is illustrated in the Revenue Canada Interpretation Bulletin IT490, dated July 5, 1982. For a copy of the IT490 bulletin, you may contact our offices, or Revenue Canada directly. Please use the contact form provided on this site. We recommend that you contact a tax consultant for any further information or advice. |
