BARTER, that age-old form of trade, is heating up here, with the Internet as a modern-day matchmaker.
A multimillion-dollar business has mushroomed online for mainly small businesses to exchange goods and services.
Two online brokerages here raked in close to $4 million in transactions this year and membership is booming.
One member is beauty salon owner Daisy Leng, who this year saved $2,800 on advertising and computer software, which she paid for with her beauty products instead of cash.
'The savings are very important to a small setup like mine,' said Ms Leng, now a regular barter trader.
Another local set-up, accounting software company A2000 Solutions, saved $10,000 on printing by redeeming credits earned from selling accounting software in a barter trade.
Bartering helps companies save money, as they can use their products to earn credits to pay for their purchases, rather than coming up with cash up front.
There are two online barter brokerages in Singapore: BarterXchange, set up in 2003, and Ozone Barter, founded two years ago.
This year, BarterXchange saw its membership rise by 47 per cent to 250, with transactions worth over $2.5 million, compared to $1.4 million last year. And at 300 members, Ozone Barter's current user base is more than triple last year's count. Its trade volume has reached almost $1 million, up from $180,000 last year.
Advertising and printing services and restaurant vouchers are the hottest items on the two exchanges. Other goods in demand include computer software, executive training and Web hosting.
Buyers and sellers use a medium of exchange called barter points. With each transaction, points are debited against the buyer's account and credited to the seller's account. Each point is equivalent to one Singapore dollar.
To earn points, Ms Leng sells beauty products and spa vouchers, which are often given away as corporate gifts. She recently acquired $2,000 worth of computer software from technology company NextLogic. Both firms met on Ozone Barter.
Ms Leng, who has 'sold' $5,000 worth of goods so far, admitted she was sceptical about online trading at first. But her fears of being cheated were allayed after networking sessions with fellow members, she said.
She added that bartering has also widened her reach, allowing people to sample her products without paying cash at first.
'When customers are happy, they will come to my shop and pay cash for more services,' she said.
NextLogic, which offers technology that allows companies to manage customer data, has had the same experience.
Said Mrs Dagmar Alexyova, founder of NextLogic: 'It is an excellent way for small companies to try out my product.
'When they buy an upgrade later, they can pay cash.'
Making a trade
TO START, locally registered companies sign up on the websites of the two online brokerages here - BarterXchange and Ozone Barter.
To minimise fraud and scam, members' details are checked against the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority's records.
One-time membership fees range from about $200 to $1,500. BarterXchange members pay a monthly fee of $35 and a 6 per cent cut in cash on goods traded.
Ozone Barter members do not have to fork out monthly fees but have to pay a 5 per cent commission in cash for each transaction.
Each trader gets a webpage for product listing on the sites. Companies can find one another by performing a simple product search.
Transactions on both exchanges are mainly within Singapore, although one member of BarterXchange managed to offload $100,000 worth of outdated iPod accessories to a firm in Nigeria in October.
The onus, however, is on the trader to check the company it is dealing with before it makes a transaction.
Both BarterXchange and Ozone Barter have maintained they are not liable for traders' loss from bad deals.
