I’ve been looking forward to writing this article. I think the reason I love Bartercard / the category of an organised Trade Exchange is that it nicely ties into several of my core values:

• Using downtime / reducing waste

• Sales / Doing deals

• Business Development

• Networking & people

• Creativity & Entrepreneurship

If you don’t know what a Trade Exchange is or how it works, you’re not alone. Although Bartercard has invested in sponsorship and brand enhancement it’s still relatively unknown and often mis understood. 

Essentially it’s a membership based community of businesses that trade in a unique currency known as a Trade Dollar. One Trade Dollar in theory carries the same weight as an $NZD. Members have their own bank accounts to store the currency and can do business (buy and sell) with other members both nationally (in NZ) and further a field in other countries also. 

Started in the 1991 Bartercard has been around for over 30 years now and within the global industry is potentially the largest based on card holders and dollars transacted each year ($600m according to Wikipedia). 

I’ve personally been involved in trading since around 2005 when I joined a competitor exchange (BBX). With my taxi business at the time. Since then I’ve worked for both Bartercard NZ as well as another exchange in Canada (Trade Exchange Canada) with the legendary Des Regier, an absolute GC! 

I feel confident in my knowledge of how Exchanges work, what the limitations are how to get value out of a membership. I’ve therefore decided to join Bartercard, again. As I was an active member during my ALT. days. 

I’m excited about this journey and to share some of it both here and on the Podcast. I’ve lined up a couple of consulting customers already and also plan to use it as a tool to get bookings at Weka Retreats. 

Watch this space for more Bartercard content, as well if you’d like to know more about it or have an impartial, unbiased chat about the suitability of your business I’m happy talk, just get in touch.