Written by Bob Meyer, Editor of BarterNews

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Best Buy Introduces Technology Trade

EBay’s growth as an institution continues upward as some 430,000 people now make all or most of their living selling on the site. Last year $24 billion worth of goods were sold.

A rush is on today by new companies providing services that make it easier for people to unload their belongings on eBay. However, the most creative effort we’ve seen is Best Buy Co. They are taking in used electronics on trade (in Chicago and Washington, D.C.) through a program called Technology Trade.

In exchange for the electronic products, customers receive “Best Buy Gift Cards” —at the blue book value of the used goods. Best Buy then sells the products on eBay. They additionally acquire new customers in the process, through their scrip offer.

Trade Exchange Owners...
Build Rapport & Empathy With Your Client Base!!

Ever Make A Poor Business Decision?
Read This One That Cost Ross Perot $60 Billion... You Won't Feel So Bad!

Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank have transformed a few ragtag stores in Atlanta into the nationwide profit-making empire known as Home Depot.

In Built From Scratch, a book published by Random House, they tell how Ross Perot blew a chance to invest $2 million in 1978 for a 70% interest in the company, which would be valued at more than $60 billion today.

According to the story, Perot was unwilling during negotiations to allow Home Depot to assume the lease payment on Marcus’ four-year-old Cadillac. Marcus walked when Perot balked, exclaiming, “If this guy is going to be bothered by what I’m driving, how much aggravation are we going to get when we have to make really big decisions?”

(Reprinted from the Tuesday Report, December 12, 1999.)

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The Art Of Trade And The Trade Of Art!

100% quality art reproductions are now available to Trade Exchanges and their clients and members through ARTrade Corporation (www.artrade.ca), a Canadian company, part of the JUMA Publishing Group. ARTrade and JUMA employ both the giclee and oil on canvas processes of reproduction. ARTrade takes pride in their diverse collection of artists and their works.

The best part is that the art can be obtained at 100% trade and through a barter/cash blend for larger orders. ARTrade is now ready to accept your orders on their comprehensive, interactive website that not only allows your to view the catalogue, but allows you to select a frame and place the framed image on your selection of wall treatment. While shipping and taxes must be paid in cash, your will find that ARTrade’s prices are the same as the cash prices on their JUMA website. Absolutely, no trade inflation!

Hotels, interior designers and corporate premium and incentive buyers are invited to contact ARTrade and inquire about special corporate program details. ARTrade will also assist you in the development of affinity, charitable giving and loyalty programs. ARTrade is also accepting proposals from qualified trade exchanges and would be willing to discuss mutually beneficial marketing opportunities.

Book your corporate and holiday giving requirements early and receive a special bonus if you mention you saw ARTrade in BarterNews or the Tuesday Report.

Visit www.artrade.ca,or call Brian Owen or Con Mathios at (877) 901-5862.

BarterNews issue #62 is now available...Get yourself a copy now! Orders are shipped within two business days. (Click on Order Form.)

IMS Continues To Roll, Projects 5th Consecutive Profitable Quarter

Don Mardak’s International Monetary Systems (OTCBB:INLM) has issued guidance on its second quarter 2004 income. Management projects that the company’s revenue will exceed $1.1 million in the quarter ending June 30, an increase of approximately 10% over the same period last year.

And net income, according to an IMS spokesperson, should more than double the total for the second quarter of 2003. It will be the fifth consecutive profitable quarter for the New Berlin (WI)-based barter company.

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Get New Money-Making Ideas And Valuable Contacts!

You can obtain useful, informative ideas and contacts in every available back-issue of BarterNews.

Barring Unforeseen Catastrophes 2005 Ad Spending Will Be Higher

Good news from ad forecaster Robert Coen, a senior vice president and director of forecasting at Interpublic Group’s Universal McCann. Next year advertising around the globe will see another nice rise of about 5.5%, despite the fact that 2005 has no Olympics or U.S. presidential elections to boost ad spending.

Overall ad expenditures are globally predicted to be $550 billion in 2005, based on local currencies. Worldwide advertising in 2004 is expected to grow to $519.4 billion.

Did you know that your classified ad gets one full year exposure in the
Tuesday Report archives?!

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The Barter Marketplace archives click here.

No Free Lunch...
One In Two New Restaurants Fails Within Two Years, Barter Can Help Beat The Odds

Last week we reported how independent restaurant owners, concerned about the inroads chain restaurants have made in their market, are joining together in various marketing efforts.

Many people dream of opening up a restaurant, but here’s a few things you should know prior to setting up your kitchen. First, it’s a very challenging business. Profit margins, after all expenses, are normally under five percent and the failure rate is alarmingly high.

The cost of setting up an average restaurant, like a diner, is around $300 per square foot. That could include tables, chairs, carpets, kitchen equipment and paint for the walls, but not the property costs.

Other costs would be various permits (occupancy, sanitation, fire safety and liquor) and insurance policies for liability, workman’s compensation, and fire. Then there are the various construction costs. Labor will typically be 25% of your expenses.

Since bankers don’t like to lend into an industry with such a high failure rate, normal funding sources are family and friends as well as high-interest credit cards. Overlooked by most, unfortunately, is reliance upon, and assistance from, a good local trade exchange when opening up a new eatery.

Under-capitalization is one reason restaurants go under. But location is very important, too. However, experts say the monthly rent bill for a healthy restaurant is ideally no more than its sales on one busy day.

BarterNews offers an exceptional, in-depth 16-page report, “Why and How Savvy Restauranteurs Trade,” see order form to purchase.

Every barter company in the world is listed on our web site, click through to our Global List of Barter Companies.

Here & There...

• Foreclosures in the U.S. this year are running at 1.27% of all mortgage loans, up 14% since 2000, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. In the first five months of 2004, 113,362 foreclosed homes came on the market...up 56% from the same period last year, according to tracking firm ForeclosureFreeSearch of Boca Raton (FL).

• Evidence of the economy’s improvement comes from FedEx’s shipment of 5.6 million packages a day, up 7% from a year ago in the U.S. and up 12% outside the U.S. The recovery, according to FedEx, is broadbased and includes industrial, durable-goods, and retail shipments.

• Did you know the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has a venture-capital arm? The agency says it invests in “companies of strategic interest” and is making an investment in Spotfire, a closely held Somerville (MA) firm, because the CIA faces an unprecedented information tsunami.

  (Spotfire is an 8-year old company founded by a Swedish computer interface expert. They sell software that is used by all 20 of the largest pharmaceutical companies, and more than 100 biotech companies for analyzing huge amounts of research data in the search for better drugs.)

• Have you signed up to receive a summary via e-mail of the Tuesday Report every week? If not, go to the top of this issue (right hand corner) and sign up!

• Nearly 82 million Americans went without health insurance coverage sometime in the past two years, most for over nine months, a Families USA survey reports.

• After four years of efforts, satellite-radio’s two companies—XM and Sirius—are still a year or more away from becoming profitable, despite having spent a combined $3.4 billion.

  Although it’s falling short of initial growth projections, satellite radio still is expanding faster than cable TV, which took years longer to reach one million subscribers. Bottomline: new technology requires patience, enormous marketing efforts, and deep pockets before success is attained.

• A major problem facing China, and a true threat to future growth, will be acute shortages of water. Two-thirds of China’s cities are short of water and 90% of its rivers are seriously polluted. One-fifth of their urban water supply is lost through leaky pipes, and the nation’s factories use five to ten times more water than those in developed nations to produce an equal amount of goods.

• If you've missed any of our weekly Tuesday Reports the past five years we have an archive of issues for you at the bottom of this week's letter...check it out!