First they used barter. Then they didn't use barter any more. Then they used barter again. Barter (of early civilization fame) is now back, and it's on the Internet.
Earlier, it was sheer necessity that gave items of barter currency value. For example, Native Americans cherished their black and white beads not for their aesthetic worth, but because they were equated with money and could buy other things. Today, goods are bartered for their inherent worth. I'll give you my Tibetan T-shirt in exchange for a CD because I want to listen to the CD, not because it's going to buy me something else in turn.
Attempting formal exchange in India is Barterindia.com, a b2b site where businesses or industries can trade off goods and services. For instance, you could swap some hardware of a closed department of your company for excess inventory of another. The site uses units of value called Barterindia Rupees (not rupees at all) to gauge the approximate worth of items in transit. What this means is you don't barter 5 rupees for 5 rupees, you just cross your fingers and hope you get a fair deal while you exchange, say, automobile spare parts with bags of cement.
However, there could be more logical exchanges too. For example, Delhi-based Net4barter.com, which facilitates a lot of media deals, could have an offer like "Wanted advertising space and other media in exchange for equity in a soon-to-be-launched b2b ecommerce site on real estate." Here presumably, both parties would be talking the same language.
But this is for established businesses. The simple beauty of barter is best seen in the informal exchange of little possessions. Old jeans for a set of sketch pens! CEO of Kabadibazaar.com, Manish Vij, voices his big ambition, "Come summer vacations, I want school kids to freely exchange comics and CDs on our site." It's only logical that young people, with no access to the credit cards most ecommerce sites require, would be a key target of online barter.
Ironically, most business barter sites currently work more offline than online. This is to sustain operations through a period of low market awareness of the idea. It also helps facilitate evaluation and transportation of goods involved. Some sites like Barterix.com are merely an appendage to the company's predominantly offline listings.
15to21.com, which has a lot of teenagers in Chennai online, is banking on local flavour. Clicking on the 'barter here' icon opens up a basic message board with simple, straightforward inputs from students seeking Visual Basic 5 books and others offering old novels by Ruskin Bond. Most importantly, here, you know they're all in Chennai and can easily meet up to exchange stuff.
In the same kid league, there's mykindasite.com, where an informal 'kidbiz' section hosts small, miscellaneous offers. If you feel like kick-starting the process yourself within your local area, there's ready infrastructure at the Masti.com Swapshop. With no items here yet, you can post the first one!
While 'there's no such thing as distance' on the Net, the issue of distance looms large the minute one goes offline. So much so, that the Managing Director of Secondsale.com, Omran Ghosh, says, "In the long run, we're looking at revenue from providing logistic support for the transactions." Where Secondsale.com already scores over competitors is the plethora of options to buy-and-sell it offers. There are classifieds, where goods are put up at fixed prices; auctions, where sellers can look for a maximum price; a reverse auction where buyers can look for a minimum price; and even garage sales. Simply because consumers like choices.
The whole purpose of online barter is to save money on what you want and make money on what you don't. As one site aptly puts it, "Why trash it when you can cash it"?
Now for a fact: The few users of barter in India come online with little expectation. They do it simply to try out something new. The idea is exciting, the actual exchange of goods is a perk. So now, if one really wants to be optimistic about online barter, they can say 'Exceptions prove the rule.' In a more tempered world-view, however, one can say that online barter has its share of flippancy, no more, no less.
There's a lot of strength in the core idea, of getting something out of browsing, the child-like excitement of getting something almost free, and the satisfaction of connecting constructively with new people out there. Surely that's enough. Isn't it?
Links for Barter Sites
Kabadi Bazaar
A barter site, where you can exchange or buy and sell old stuff like office equipment, stamps, books, posters and even bikes. Get your free registration here, and search their extensive database of products for sale or list your products to be sold or exchanged.
Secondsale.com
A site for barter and auction of second-hand and used goods: ranging from antiques to cars to toys. Registration is free.
Barter India
A virtual b2b barter marketplace. List and sell your excess inventory or browse, search and buy. Includes a number of categories of exchange. Has a number of sections explaining the process.
15 to 21
A site for teenagers, here you can find info on sports, technology, books etc. You can also barter stuff and join discussion forums and contests. There is a penpals section and a lefties corner too.
Nirvana Zone
A portal aimed at the young at heart. Sections include singles, barter, chat, e-mail and even one where you can build your own site.
Khulja SimSim
Open doors here to bargains, barters, auctions and trade. Get directly connected to sellers and shop for bikes, handicrafts, furniture, tennis racquets and even Madonna's bedtime stories!
Book Barter India
Online place for barter of novels, children's books, special interest books, technology, entertainment etc.
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