BARTERING It's a booming business in Kelowna and BC

BARTERING: It's a booming business

John Klockow, owner of The Pen Cafe in New West, sits in his restaurant Thursday afternoon where he has used bartering to renovate in exchange for gift certificates to his restaurant.
Colleen Flanagan/NewsLeader

By Wanda Chow - Burnaby NewsLeader
Published: June 06, 2009 9:00 AM
Updated: June 06, 2009 10:46 PM

If there’s a wheeler-dealer in the local world of bartering, it might be New Westminster’s John Klockow.

In 2005, when he had to sell his Richmond condo, Klockow skipped the traditional step of calling a realtor. Instead, he turned to Trade Exchange Canada (TEC) where he’d been a client for years.

The company found him a buyer through its membership. The condo sold for $250,000, of which $40,000 was paid in TEC “barter dollars” or credits.

Klockow then used those barter dollars to buy plumbing services, new uniforms and furniture from TEC members for the renovations he was completing at The Pen Cafe, which he owns in the Fraserview neighbourhood.

On top of that, he saved about $10,000 in realtors’ commissions.

He’s also used barter dollars to pay for dry-cleaning of restaurant linens, computer services, flowers for the cafe patio and alarm monitoring. The cafe’s food supplier accepts barter dollars for 25 per cent of the payment.

Klockow earns his barter dollars by selling gift certificates to his restaurant. The beauty of it is his overhead for staff, heat and power is the same whatever form of payment people use. So all the gift certificates really cost him is the price of the food itself—about 26 per cent of the bill.

“I know right away if I were to stop using barter, right away my food costs would go up two to three per cent,” Klockow said, of having to pay his suppliers all in cash.

With $500,000 in sales a year, that would add $10,000 to his business expenses, no small sum.

But using the trade service doesn’t just save him money, he stressed. It creates a revenue source, and is a great way of marketing to customers, particularly as his restaurant is tucked away on the former B.C. Penitentiary site.

“It helps increase your cash flow. It brings people into my restaurant that probably wouldn’t come in but because of the gift certificates, they’re specifically coming to my restaurant.”

And he’s gained a number of repeat customers as a result.


A way to network, too


Many businesses are looking for a boost to keep their heads above water during the current economic downturn. Some are turning to Burnaby-based Trade Exchange Canada and other bartering services.

In the first five months of 2009, TEC saw a 40 per cent increase in transactions over the same period last year. It’s also seen almost twice as many new clients join up in that period as in 2008, said Scott Berg, TEC managing partner.

Berg and fellow managing partner Wayne Edgar started TEC in 2002 after years in the barter services business with other companies. It now has 1,200 members in B.C. and handles $10 million to $12 million a year in transactions, for which it charges a six per cent cash transaction fee (for the barter portion) to both the buyer and seller. It essentially matches up buyers and sellers and maintains accounts for clients.

He stressed that barter makes a whole lot of sense when it’s used for .......Ckick here for the full article

David Melse
Trade Exchange Canada,
748 Bernard Avenue, Kelowna BC V1Y 6P5
Office: (250) 717-0026 Mobile: (250) 864-0529
Email: David
Website: http://www.tectrade.ca/