- Why would I want to barter something?
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It’s a great question, and the one we are asked the most. Call us biased, but at
BarterThing.com we always answer that question with another: Why buy when you can
barter? Think about it. You need your leaky sink fixed but you have no idea how
to do it yourself. Do you really want to shell out hundreds of dollars for a plumber?
You’ve got a knack for gardening. Maybe there’s a plumber out there who’s willing
to fix your sink if you create a killer garden. Both tasks are no-brainers for each
of you. But you both come out on top – without the big ticket bills that come with
the deal. It’s a win-win situation for everyone. And the sky’s the limit on BarterThing.com.
Why not barter tickets to the super bowl for a car? Or a boat for a new kitchen?
Anything and everything can be mixed and matched. The only limit is your imagination.
All we ask is that you please follow our Terms of Service.
Happy bartering!
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- How much does it cost to join?
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Membership is free. We want our members to advertise all of the goods and services
they have. The more members we have, the bigger our community grows. And the bigger
we grow, the more our members can meet and barter.
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- How does the site work?
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It’s simple. You set up a free profile and indicate all of the goods and services
you have that you want to barter. You can update your profile at any time you want,
and we encourage our members to keep their profiles accurate. Then you simply search
our member directory for the goods or services you are looking to get. Our search
engine is very powerful and will let you find just what you are looking for. You
can then browse all of the matches and read about what our members have to offer.
From that point, our simple 1-2-3 process takes over. Step 1. Request. Is anyone
in your search results a good match for you? Do you want to ask them to barter with
you? Simply add them to your cart and then contact them. It’s free! Step 2. Accept.
Once you send a request to someone to barter you need to wait to find out if they
are interested. The other members – as many as you want – get notified that you
want to barter with them. They will check out your profile and see what goods and
services you have to offer. Are you a match for them? They could decline, and end
the discussion. Or they could want to move forward with you. Step 3. Confirm. If
someone decides that they do want to barter with you, they’ll send you a confirmation.
At that point you’ve both met your match and are ready to barter. In order to do
that you will need to directly contact the member.
Member contact information is currently FREE, but is subject to change at any time.
Once the Confirm step is completed you will each be given the first
name and e-mail address of the other party. You are now free to contact one another to initiate the
bartering. Please note that at this point it’s up to you and the other person to
work out the details of the barter. You may or may not even end up coming to agreement
on it. Our goal is to simply match members up and then let them see if they can
make a barter deal.
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- How much does it really cost? Are there hidden fees?
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There is currently no fee to retrieve a member's contact information, but is subject
to change at any time. There is never a charge for membership or to search or browse
the site. All we do is connect members. The actual bartering of services will take
place off line on your own. Please read our Terms of
Service and Privacy Policy for more information.
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- Can I barter cash?
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Cash is not one of the Bartergories you can select from. However once you make contact
with a member you are free to barter anything you would like. The actual bartering
of services will take place off line on your own. Please read our
Terms of Service and Privacy Policy for more
information.
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- Why the 3 step process?
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The 3 step process lets members check each other out to make sure both sides agree
there is a match. It helps to eliminate stale/outdated information. For example,
someone may have their profile set up to barter a time share which is no longer
available. Or someone may simply decide to stop using the site without turning off
their profile. The 3 step process ensures both parties are interested before the
match is made.
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- What about tax laws?
-
BarterThing.com is a contact/matching site that allows people to find others that
want to barter. We have no involvement at all in the actual bartering process. The
bartering of services will take place off line on your own. Members that decide
to barter are responsible for any possible tax implications around bartering. It’s
no different than if you and a friend decided to barter of your own accord. Please
read our Terms of Service for more information.
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- What’s a Bartergory?
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A Bartergory is simply a preset category of goods, services, or destinations/events.
It’s how we classify the items that people can barter on BarterThing.com.
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- Can corporations use BarterThing.com to barter?
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Anyone can use BarterThing.com. However our site is aimed at the individual person.
Our Profile member page does not collect Company information for that very reason.
There are many corporate-bartering sites online. We created BarterThing.com to fill
a very real need for the working person to find an easy way to barter.
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- I deleted the e-mail you sent me with the contact info. What
do I do?
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No worries. Contact information is not only e-mailed to you, but also displayed
online. Once the Confirm process is complete you can go into your Bartering History
and see the contacts you’ve made including their detailed contact info.
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- The contact I wanted to barter with had an incorrect e-mail
on their profile. Now what?
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You can Contact Us to let us know of anyone with a
bad e-mail and we can attempt to notify the individual that they have an incorrect
profile. Contact information is not only e-mailed to you, but also displayed online.
Once the Confirm process is complete you can go into your Bartering History and
see the contacts you’ve made including their detailed contact info. Once a member
corrects the information you will see it updated automatically online.
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- What types of payment options are there?
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Currently we only use PayPal. As BarterThing.com grows we will consider other payment
options.
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- I did not end up bartering with the person I contacted. Can
I get my contact fee back?
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No. Once two members have agreed to contact each other it is up to them to work
offline to come to a bartering agreement. There is no guarantee that everyone you
connect with will be someone you complete a bartering agreement with. Please read
our Terms of Service for more information.
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- How do I report fraud or abuse?
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Our Terms of Service are quite strict around fraudulent
behavior and misuse of the site. Please Contact us
to report anyone you feel is in violation of these terms.
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- What do I do if I forget my password?
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Passwords can be reset automatically online. Simply click on the link for Forgot
your password to get it reset.
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- What web browsers does BarterThing.com run on?
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BarterThing.com is optimized to run on: PC: IE versions 6.0 and 7.0, Firefox versions
1.5 and 2.0 Mac: Safari (latest version), Firefox (latest version)
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- Is there a help desk I can call for technical assistance?
-
At this point BarterThing.com does not have a technical support desk. Our site has
been designed and tested to work with the most common browsers. All help for site
usage is explained directly online.
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- Why do I need to be a member to barter?
-
Bartering only works if both parties have something to barter. The only way for
that to work is for members to set up profiles with what they want to barter. It’s
also a key part of the 3 step confirmation process to make sure all bartering information
is current and accurate.
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- How does the 1-2-3 bartering process work?
-
It’s simple. You set up a free profile and indicate all of the goods and services
you have that you want to barter. You can update your profile at any time you want,
and we encourage our members to keep their profiles accurate. Then you simply search
our member directory for the goods or services you are looking to get. Our search
engine is very powerful and will let you find just what you are looking for. You
can then browse all of the matches and read about what our members have to offer.
From that point, our simple 1-2-3 process takes over. Step 1. Request. Is anyone
in your search results a good match for you? Do you want to ask them to barter with
you? Simply add them to your cart and then contact them. It’s free! Step 2. Accept.
Once you send a request to someone to barter you need to wait to find out if they
are interested. The other members – as many as you want – get notified that you
want to barter with them. They will check out your profile and see what goods and
services you have to offer. Are you a match for them? They could decline, and end
the discussion. Or they could want to move forward with you. Step 3. Confirm. If
someone decides that they do want to barter with you, they’ll send you a confirmation.
At that point you’ve both met your match and are ready to barter. In order to do
that you will need to directly contact the member. It is currently free to obtain
the contact information of the member you are trading with, but it is subject to
change any time.
Once you pay the contact fee you, and the other member, will each be given the first
name and e-mail address. You are now free to contact one another to initiate the
bartering. Please note that at this point it’s up to you and the other person to
work out the details of the barter. You may or may not even end up coming to agreement
on it. Our goal is to simply match members up and then let them see if they can
make a barter deal.
Return to Top
- Why does it take 3 steps to barter?
-
The 3 step process lets members check each other out to make sure both sides agree
there is a match. It helps to eliminate stale/outdated information. For example,
someone may have their profile set up to barter a time share which is no longer
available. Or someone may simply decide to stop using the site without turning off
their profile. The 3 step process ensures both parties are interested before the
match is made.
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- How much does it cost to barter?
-
Bartering will actually occur off line. You use BarterThing.com to search for people
you want to barter with and let them confirm that you do indeed seem to be a match.
Contact information is currently FREE.
Please see our Terms of Service for more details.
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- Do offers expire?
-
No. We leave it up to members to cancel any offers they have made that they feel
they have had out there too long. You can find these in the Offers You Are Making
section after you log in.
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- Do Confirmed offers expire?
-
Once an offer is Confirmed it is immediately processed for payment and therefore
does not have time to expire. You will now find the details of it in your Personal
Bartering History.
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- Where can I look to see my bartering history?
-
You must be logged into your account. Once logged in click on Personal Bartering
History. Please note this only shows you Confirmed (paid) bartering events. You
must complete all 3 steps to see something in your History. Events that only go
through steps 1 or 2 and then get canceled or deleted will never appear in your
history.
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- How long do I get to keep contact information in my bartering
history?
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Contact information stays available as long as a member’s profile is active. You
only need to make the contact once.
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- How do I rate someone that I’ve bartered with?
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You must be logged into your account. Once logged in click on Rate A Member. You
will then see a list of all of your contacts. Simply click on the Rating section
in order to rate them.
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