1. MYTH. This is a common myth because barter programs like ITEX operate with all transactions taking place at retail levels, or MSRP, thus making it a level playing field for all participants.

2. MYTH. Barter programs like ITEX began to actually alleviate this “problem”, meaning ITEX barter dollars operate as a credit system where by once a good or service is sold for ITEX barter dollars, it can then be applied as a payment method with other ITEX barter members.

3. MYTH. Canada Revenue Agency recognizes barter transactions they same way as CDN dollar transactions. ITEX barter members receive a statement once a month, similar to that of a bank statement, detailing all sales and purchases that have taken place, along with the service fees for those transactions.

4. MYTH. Haggling pertains to a negotiation of price or terms on a transaction. Bartering pertains to the exchange of goods and or services being exchange for another’s goods and or services.

5. MYTH. As old as bartering is, the oldest way of doing business, it is an age-old strategy that never goes out of style or becomes passé because businesses always barter to move product, fill up downtime in a work schedule, fill up empty tables or hotel rooms, and conserve cash; trading what you have for what you need. It works for brand new businesses as well as those that are decades old.

6. MYTH. Ironically, barter actually increases cash flow. Trading a product or service (real inventory), for other products or services that are needed or desired without spending cash, actually conserves cash flow as it keeps CDN funds on your bottom line. It can help free up cash flow to pay for, as an example, core operating costs or hiring more employees.

7. MYTH. Both a product and service have “hard” costs with each, though depending on the sector or industry, margins can be better than others. When opening a barter account it is important to assess the cost of acquiring a barter dollar. Products or services with greater margins can be very suitable for barter programs; for example, fitness memberships or green fee passes for a golf course, each offer time on a fitness machine or a golf tee, each have a cost of “zero” dollars to operate, less general variable maintenance, therefore making it highly attractive to accept barter dollars as a form of payment for that service. Consequently, for a company that sells “x” product, each product available has a cost that take various points when factoring a retail price. Business’s that carry large inventories (manufacturers), idle inventory, short shelf life inventory, seasonal inventory, hard to move items (retailers, end of lines, cancelled orders), perishable items (restaurants) are ideal for a barter program as they use it as a distribution method to maximize sales opportunities and to increase revenues.

8. MYTH. Ironically, bartering does the opposite. Barter revenue is about new markets, incremental new sales, a distribution or sales channel that doesn’t exist if one’s business doesn’t barter. Barter maximizes a business’s chances of gaining new customers and sales revenue that doesn’t exist now, while increasing cash flow.

9. MYTH. Bartering is actually for any business. Large fortune 500 organizations right down to small one-person operations commonly take advantage of barter programs like ITEX to enhance operational proficiency, profitability and to enhance general business operation levels in terms of sales, company expenses and strategic planning for future performance.