Today at a banquet of NABA members in Chicago, Research Director Shirley McBride announced that a new barter record of almost $36 Billion was set in North America in 2006. "This was a an incredible year for barter as we saw a major increase in the commercial segment of almost 12% over last year" she explained. She further went on to report that in 2006;
- 1 in every six businesses undertook at least one barter transaction for the first time with intentions to do more in the future.
- 1,845 new corporations had barter transactions exceeding $100,000.
- 74% of all Fortune 500 companies utilized barter-up a whopping 14% from last year.
- 39% of all small business owners (less than 25 employees) report experimenting with barter with a positive result.
- Complaints in the barter industry actually dropped to 1.2% despite the big MBE fiasco.
- The average dollar amount of commercial barter rose to $1,927 per trade
- Merchants reported saving an average of $327,000
using barter and saw and average cash flow increase of 18%.
"Needless to say, we are pleased to see the steady growth of barter in North America and we expect to see this growth extend internationally over the next three years". NABA will soon be holding anouncing a seminar on international barter to be held in Las Vegas in October of 2007. Stay tuned for details.
