Numbers: Barter is back

British Airways Business Magazine leads with an in-depth article on barter.  Some great numbers here:

• 500,000 + companies across the world belong to a barter system

• One of its leading proponents is Bartercard, an Australian based
  company with around 75,000 members worldwide.

• A$1.5bn was bartered in the
  company’s marketplace last year.

• Goods are priced at their normal cash value and Bartercard’s cut is 6.5
  per cent (5.5 per cent in cash and 1 per cent in trade) of the value of
  each transaction to both parties.

• The US-based International Reciprocal Trade Association says that
  American barter exchanges now stand at 250,000, up from 200,000 five
  years ago.

• Bob Meyer, the publisher of Barter News, told Forbes that he reckoned
  that in the US a million small businesses bartered in some way and that
  the transactions were worth $20bn annually.

• Meyer said he
  expected barter to grow at 10 per cent this year (5 per cent is more
  normal) as when cash is tight, interest in bartering increases.

• China signed a barter deal with the Democratic Republic of the Congo
  worth $9bn — the largest ever. China committed to build the country
  $6bn worth of infrastructure in return for a slice of its mineral
  wealth. Both parties held the deal up as a win-win.