Bartering For Wealth

Bartering For Wealth
6th March 2006

XO Limited (www.barter-software.com), the worlds largest developer of barter and alternate currency software, today announced a new offering to bring its barter software and associated "barter industry training manuals" free to the those involved in running or establishing barter and/or community currency systems, a market worth almost 14 trillion dollars today.

As part of the offering, XO is providing unlimited free copies of its barter-exchange training manuals and will also fully fund the implementation of its software along with data migration and 24 hour help desk support. XO will also manage the infrastructure and hardware of the servers housing the system and provide ongoing software development and access to user groups at its own cost.

The company has already signed on around 20 barter systems to its software with the largest exchange being a commercial operator with approximately 5000 members. New and existing exchanges are offered the ability to demo the system online and/or immediately get up and running to use the software after registering online.

"We are very excited about our new offerings. As part of this initiative, barter exchange operators will be able to enjoy the benefits of using a robust and proven system designed to lower their operating costs whilst increasing the overall service offerings and trading levels." noted Sam Price, Co-Director of XO.

Non-commercial/"grass roots" currencies are offered the system free of charge whilst commercial/fee-charging barter exchanges are charged a small percentage per transaction (typically less than ½ a percent). XO also offers value added SMS/TXT, EFTPOS and Phone Banking services to both commercial and non-commercial exchanges alike.

New and existing exchange operators will be able to fully brand their own barter system with their own graphics, colors and text and allow their users can register, buy, sell and conduct bartering online with one another in a secure environment.

The software also allows exchange operators to have complete access to their customers data with reports being able to be viewed securely over the Internet or downloaded into common Microsoft applications.

By providing free setup and some data migration, the company hopes to enable small and fledgling start-up exchanges to establish a foothold, thereby paving the path for mature growth in the future.

Those interested in viewing a demo of the software can access it at http://www.barter-software.com

So what is a barter exchange and how can it benefit those involved?

Simply put, barter is a mechanism where two or more parties can swap what they have for what they need (ie you swap babysitting for someone mowing your lawn or one business may swap advertising with another for a new car), the downside being that if both parties do not want each-others goods then no transaction can take place.

A barter exchange takes the idea of barter a little further and uses a proprietary currency called "barter dollars" to allow their members to exchange their excess time, space or inventory for goods or services that they need. This results in both a cost saving, and increased revenue for the business owners involved. The "barter dollars" simply act as a way to record the value of each transaction with the 'barter exchange' acting as the "bank". Barter dollars allow businesses and individuals to trade with one another without having to directly swap goods so that the "wants and needs" of some can then be met by the "wants and needs" of others in the community.

The advantages of barter are many:

1. If you are short on cash you can buy the things you need now through additional sales of your own goods and services;

2. Unused potential production, or unsold stock, can be traded for things that you need;

3. Businesses who have not yet earned "barter dollars" are able to acquire interest free loans which can be repaid through their own efforts;

4. Products and services cost less - If someone sells a service [advertising, accountants, doctors, lawyers, artists etc] then they are selling their spare time for barter dollars. If they sell this time to other members of the barter exchange and then use those barter dollars to buy from other members then the cost of what they are buying is only the cost of their spare time!

5. Barter is one of the few recession proof businesses - In times of financial hardship businesses or individuals can swap their goods or services and still get what they need. The more they trade the better off they become.

6. Barter is an economic tool that helps to build community wealth. It is a good way of meeting a business or individuals need to get what they want, build wealth and gain assets through their own efforts.

7. Loyalty - People who barter with one another will find out more about each others business and, if the trade was successful, often engage in future trading with the same business or individual.

8. New money is easily generated - Today's method of earning money is simply a transfer of ownership of printed currency, not the generation of new currency from the labors of the population.

9. Today's method of earning money is simply the transfer of ownership of printed currency, not the generation of new currency from the labours of the population. With barter, anyone with a product or service to offer can trade immediately with anyone else, without having to worry about the need for the government to first print money and bring it into their area (usually through loans).

"Use a doctor as an example" says Daniel Evans, Marketing Manager for XO Limited. "Every unsold appointment is lost money. As part of a business network they will receive more customers who will pay them using barter dollars. They can then use these barter dollars to pay for things that they would usually buy using cash."

"The seller is basically "trading" their unsold time for things that they need. No cash is involved and they get more luxuries or more business services that they need from other people via the barter exchange." Says Mr Evans

Those wanting to test the software provided by XO can go to: http://www.barter-software.com

Copies of the barter training manual can be downloaded at http://www.xolimited.com/xodocs/bartermanual.pdf

# END #

About XO Limited

Founded in 2002, XO is the worlds premier barter and counter-trade systems developer. It offers a neutral Internet based platform that enables traders to trade with one another using a "virtual" currency through electronic and traditional means. XO's systems are designed to enable barter exchange operators to reduce their costs whilst increasing their overall trade volumes. Some of the key functionalities of their trading platform includes: a universal currency, Internet banking, TXT/SMS banking, internet trading, IVR (telephone) banking, EFTPOS (electronic point of sale) cards and direct interfaces with traditional banking methods. Additionally, the XO software systems are written to enable the barter exchange operator direct access to their customer base via the Internet, with data able to be accessed and downloaded into common Microsoft and third party applications. It is understood that the company operates the largest team of software developers specializing in barter exchange systems anywhere in the world.

© Scoop Media