Barter has proven to be a prudent business tool to help companies in a wide range of industries. Below are some (FAQ) Frequently Asked Questions about Barter of America and how barter can be employed in your business.

• Why are prices on barter often higher than those for cash?
• How does barter work?
• What can I spend my trade dollars on?
• What if my product or service is too popular?
• Do I have to trade all the time?
• If there are other businesses that I would like to see enter the system, what should I do?
• Can I expect to receive trade business immediately upon becoming a member?
  
• How do we market your business?
  
• Why Trade?
  
• What can be traded?
  
• How are inventories remarketed?
  
• What if I need to make a purchase before I’ve earned trade dollars in the system?
  
• How should I price my products and services?
  
• I have heard that barter is only good for the acquisition of services and not for goods. Is this true?
  
• Can I use my trade credits to negotiate purchases with businesses that are not members of the Exchange?
  
• Can my trade credit be spent with other trade organizations?
  
• Why Not Trade Directly?
  
• What is Barter of America Inc.?
  
• What is Barter of America's strategy?
  
• What is Barter of America's relationship to local brokers?
  
• What exciting developments are for Barter of America in the next 3 years?
  
• Will Barter of America list its and other’s entire inventory on this Web site?
  
• What is BoA Currency Innovations and Currency Exchange?
  
• I'm interested in barter. How are trades taxed?
  
• What does it cost to get started?
  
• How do I join the Barter of America Network?

• Tips on Barter/Trade
• Tips on Selecting a Barter Trade Exchange.

Why are prices on barter often higher than those for cash?
In most cases, they're actually not. The trade price almost always costs you less--even if the cash price appears lower. Let us explain...The actual cost to you of an item is actually a fraction of the amount charged since it may cost you only 55 cents on the dollar to earn a trade dollar.
There's a simple formula to find the actual cash cost to you of something purchased with trade dollars: Your actual cash cost is:

(Costs for you to earn a trade dollar) X (the cost of the goods you wish to purchase) + (12%).Let me give an example. You normally sell goods on the network with a 45% cost of goods (i.e. each trade dollar earned costs you 45 cents). Now lets say you saw two identical items one available through a barter member for $1,000 trade and other available on sale at $799 cash. Buying through barter costs you 45% X $1,000 + $120 = $570 cash -- a savings of $229 over buying the item with cash!

If you are providing a service to your trade customers, then often much of the trade costs will be your time, thus making barter even more attractive. And remember, when you pay for an item in trade dollars it represents income that you would not have earned if you were not a member of the exchange -- trading brings you new customers. Rests assured that BoA will not permit firms to remain in the Exchange which provide poor service, or overpriced or poor quality goods, or which otherwise do not honor their commitments or obligations. (TOP)

How does barter work?
Barter is simply the exchange of goods and services without the use of money. People have been doing it informally for thousands of years...but today, this type of transaction has turned into a sophisticated business practice.

When you join Barter of America.com, Inc., you have the opportunity to trade your services or products with those of more than 1,500 BoA clients. Let's say you own a landscaping business and you need a lawyer to help you incorporate. You'll look in the BoA directory or call your BoA trade broker to find a lawyer in your area. You'll meet directly with the lawyer to discuss your needs, just as you would if this were a cash transaction.

So, now you're ready to hire the lawyer. What happens next? You need a lawyer...but the lawyer probably doesn't need landscaping.

That's where BoA comes in. You don't trade directly with the lawyer; instead you pay for the transaction with trade dollars. You may have earned your trade dollars by upgrading the landscaping of a local restaurant...or by landscaping the home of a local business owner.

Essentially, BoA acts as a clearinghouse, keeping track of transactions and helping you link up with businesses that have something you want, or that need your services. When you make a sale, you call for an authorization and complete a sales invoice. You submit this to BoA, along with a small cash service fee, and your trade account will be immediately credited for the amount of the sale. Put barter to work for your company! It's a simple, effective way to expand your business horizons. (TOP)

If there are other businesses that I would like to see enter the system, what should I do?
Just contact the BoA office with the names and telephone numbers of each referral. We ask that you first give them a brief overview of BoA, and mention that a representative from the company will be contacting them shortly. Just like the cash economy, supply and demand determines how active an account will be.

BoA is continuously marketing your company's product or service, with the idea of generating as much business as you care to receive. Once they become clients, you receive a minimum of $50 cash credit and T$200 dlls. to your account. (TOP)

How do we market your business?
Our trade brokers phone member businesses that regularly purchase your products or services and facilitate an introduction. Our brokers become part of your sales force.

1. We place your ads in our monthly newsletters – free of charge. Newsletters are direct mailed to thousands of businesses.
   
2. We send daily emails where we sell your products and promote your services.
   
3. We place your specials on our weekly Hot Fax. This is a great way to move inventory quickly or fill a vacant seat at an event.
   
4. We provide a free listing in our membership directory.
   
5. We produce trade shows for member businesses where they can display what their company has to offer.
   
6. We host informal gatherings where members can Network.
   
7. We distribute your flyers and brochures through our direct mail program to member businesses.
   
8. We provide regional and national exposure to businesses looking to expand their horizons. We do this through the "Banc" and "Universal Currency" which is nationwide.
   
   

We connect your web page to our active member shopping mall on the Internet. Or, we create a Website for you. (TOP)

What can be traded?
Undervalued Product Inventories
Excess from forecasting errors, packaging changes, technology changes, etc. - everything from premium and incentive items to refurbished products.

Excess Production Capacity
Produce products for trade to improve plant efficiency, absorb overhead and utilize excess components.

Industrial Products
Steel, resins, oil, paper, chemicals, etc.

Depreciated Assets
Real Estate, equipment, accounts receivable, etc. (TOP)

How are inventories remarketed?
Barter of America will remarket your goods to complement, not compete with your current distribution -- domestically or internationally. Yes, Internationally, globally… "There's no industry that can be impacted any greater than the barter industry by the opportunities on the Internet. It doesn't matter if you're in Indonesia or Afghanistan. The Internet makes the whole world a village. "Barter isn't just for your neighborhood. It's now international." The barter system began in the U.S. approximately 30 years ago. Now its exists in 52 countries around the world.

There are many advantages to international bartering. Global locations with opposing weather seasons are one such advantage. BoA successfully traded $170,000 in off-season summer merchandise to a business in Argentina, during the Argentinean summer season.

"We had an opportunity to sell these items for regular price. If we sold them locally, we'd have to price them at a discount due to the end of the summer season," We continually commit to your defined remarketing restrictions.

BoA’s KEY AREAS OF REMARKETING

• Nontraditional Retail
  
• Mass Merchandisers
  
• Supermarkets
  
• Drug Chains
  
• Dollar Stores
  
• Warehouse Clubs
  
• Home Center Chains
  
• Specialty Retailers & Distributors
  
• Exports
  
• Private Label
  
• E-Commerce/Internet
  
• Premium & Incentive Users
  
• TV Shopping
  
• Auctions
  
• Catalogs
  
• Duty Free (TOP)

Why Not Trade Directly?
Many businesses are already bartering directly. But it’s not always easy to arrange a direct trade. It depends largely on good luck. And sometimes you get burned when you provide product and get nothing in return.

Belonging to a trade exchange eliminates both problems. Barter in an exchange is not direct - it’s simply buying and selling for a different dollar - a trade dollar.

Of course we use a computerized system to keep track of trade dollars earned and spent. When your business sells to another member your account is credited with trade dollars, which are immediately available to spend with any other member businesses. You don’t have to find a member who wants what you’ve got before you can make a trade.

And when proper procedures are followed, your trade dollars are guaranteed - even when a member goes bankrupt. (TOP)

What is Barter of America.com Inc.?
Barter of America.com is a Trade Exchange business-to-business marketplace and community for global trade focusing on helping buyers/sellers cut down time, money and effort spent in trade process through its web-based information and e-business platform. Barter of America is the New Monetary System of Digital Money -- A Totally Cashless Society with it’s world’s leading network of Merchants and corporate companies. Located in major business centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Mexico. Barter of America offers a global marketplace for businesses to trade a wide variety of products and services.

Barter of America is transforming and popularizing business barter, by making barter a practical business tool. Barter of America members work with local trade brokers to facilitate trading, and gain access to our global network of trading participants. (TOP)

What is Barter of America's strategy?
Barter of America is already advancing its strategy of building a global barter exchange. Barter of America has develop a communications, transaction and settlement infrastructure for use by major corporations who currently participate in a $2 trillion p.a. non-monetary market, which includes corporate barter, reciprocal trade, and asset swaps.

Our technology-driven trading system is designed to improve the efficiency of what is currently a cumbersome, paper-driven commercial market hampered by currency exchange issues and the challenge to monetize assets which are taken in exchange. By bringing together retail and corporate barter exchanges linked by the Internet, Barter of America is expanding the trading opportunities available to clients worldwide.

In the same way that established stock brokerages have integrated the Internet into existing client services to expand their business and revenue, Barter of America clients may conduct trades and manage their accounts however they wish; through the personalized service of a local broker or Barter of America's online system, that does not include guidance. Both options offering a worldwide inventory of choices to make trading more productive and profitable. (TOP)

What exciting developments are in store for Barter of America in the next 3 years?
In only a few short years, Barter of America will be facilitating billions of dollars in trades for hundreds of thousands of diverse clients worldwide. Our current "charge card" system works just like a MasterCard or Visa. Simply, fill out a Voucher sales slip, give the customer a copy, and send a copy to us. We credit the sellers account with "trade dollars" and debit the buyer's.

But the next step is …The project, which would be the first major Barter of America-branded Barter Debit card introduced in the United States, will enable customers to use their cards to shop on the Internet, as well as make purchases in stores with a Balance of their accts. stored on both the card’s chip and/or a magnetic stripe. Consumers will also be able to accumulate loyalty points/miles from merchants both in stores and on the Web.

In other words… an international barter currency that will even rival, in a couple of decades, today's banking industry! Although BoA’s role is to provide the accounting for the trading unit through its system, the company intends to partner with institutions, such as major banks, that may be willing to be market makers in this innovative alternate currency. (TOP)

What is BoA Currency Innovations and Currency Exchange?
By bringing together an expert team of leading monetary economists, quantitative mathematicians, and currency specialists, Barter of America intends to significantly advance the concept of Exchange barter credits with a view to facilitating the creation of a far more robust commercial "eCurrency" trading unit.

The use of a Currency Exchange Chart is critical in facilitating the acceleration of transactions flowing through BoA’s trading system by removing the constraints of duality that currently exist in the large corporate and reciprocal trade market. Currently, numerous corporations are willing to receive barter credits-dollars from barter agents, in exchange for assets they wish to dispose of, yet there is typically no substantive underpinning to these units; they often are illiquid, and there may be no market available to monetize or value them. If you have X Barter Currency visit our site to exchange it for Z Barter currency. (TOP)

How do I join the Barter of America Network?
It's easy to join the Barter of America Network. Just complete the simple OnLine application form, which will be sent to your closest participating broker. The local broker Associate will contact you to complete the application and help you get started.

Become a member of BARTER OF AMERICA, and we'll show you how you can choose from thousands of products and services and take advantage of a broader range of spending power! (TOP)