Bartercard

[rixalex]

http://www.bartercard.co.th/index.php

Anybody know anything about this? Was approached by a representative of this "club". Supposed to help SME business, but i'm a bit suspicious. The matter of what it costs and what the benefits will be, seems all rather vague.

[Asiantravel]

i can only say they have been around for at least 11 years to my knowledge so not something new

Chairman

Graham Brain

he has been part of it from the beginning. Their office used to be on Asoke

[rixalex]

i can only say they have been around for at least 11 years to my knowledge so not something new

Chairman

Graham Brain

he has been part of it from the beginning. Their office used to be on Asoke

Thanks.

What i didn't like about the salesperson's approach was being very evasive about costs - kind of implied there were none. Then when i look on the website it does talk about a one-off initial payment, but doesn't specify how much. Hate it when these sorts of companies can't be up-front with you.

Anyway, if i am understanding the concept correctly, members carry cards which can used to pay for services at other member's businesses, in a sort of trade exchange affair, and i can't say that interests me.

[Rancid]

They indeed charge you upfront just to sign up. If your business offers physical products that you buy (pub, restaurant etc) then you will have to give that stuff away to other members whether you want to or not. You need to see what you can get for "free" to help your bisiness. Eg if a restaurant and can get inputs like food or booze then OK. If you sell software it works best as what you give away costs you nothing. Again though need to see what you can actually get for yourself.

I was in it in a reaturant long ago but dumped it as all I did was give away what I was paying for in exchange for getting my carpets cleaned or whatever. Numbers just didn't add up, plus there were monthly costs on usage as well. They tell you you build client loyalty, ah no, those customers only turn up when its free for them. Works for some businesses but not others.

[rixalex]

They indeed charge you upfront just to sign up. If your business offers physical products that you buy (pub, restaurant etc) then you will have to give that stuff away to other members whether you want to or not. You need to see what you can get for "free" to help your bisiness. Eg if a restaurant and can get inputs like food or booze then OK. If you sell software it works best as what you give away costs you nothing. Again though need to see what you can actually get for yourself.

I was in it in a reaturant long ago but dumped it as all I did was give away what I was paying for in exchange for getting my carpets cleaned or whatever. Numbers just didn't add up, plus there were monthly costs on usage as well. They tell you you build client loyalty, ah no, those customers only turn up when its free for them. Works for some businesses but not others.

Very informative. Cheers.

[seadoo]

What type of business are you in and what country.

If in Thailand there is an alternative which is bigger than them worldwide and they don't charge to join and have lower fees - pm me with your contact details and ill pass on the info

[JohnC]

Total waste of money and effort, had a number of friends in business who signed up and ditched it as they could only use their points by going for meals etc, did not help there business one bit.

[xen]

They indeed charge you upfront just to sign up. If your business offers physical products that you buy (pub, restaurant etc) then you will have to give that stuff away to other members whether you want to or not. You need to see what you can get for "free" to help your bisiness. Eg if a restaurant and can get inputs like food or booze then OK. If you sell software it works best as what you give away costs you nothing. Again though need to see what you can actually get for yourself.

I was in it in a reaturant long ago but dumped it as all I did was give away what I was paying for in exchange for getting my carpets cleaned or whatever. Numbers just didn't add up, plus there were monthly costs on usage as well. They tell you you build client loyalty, ah no, those customers only turn up when its free for them. Works for some businesses but not others.

Rancid is correct. When i was involved in our restaurant we were approached to join . It is difficult to get figures/info before you join to gauge how useful it would be . A few years ago it made a big push around Pattaya with a few shops / restaurants being members but no doubt that has waned.

[Satcommlee]

Be very cautious! It only suits certain businesses with very high mark-up!

If you are in a competitive business then it is a waste of time!

My opinion only!

[monty]

Correct. Basically works well in high profit margin busineses.

Had it before in a resort an worked quite well for us.

Filling up an empty room and getting paid in Barter Baht gives you spending funds without costing you much.

It was not always easy to find stuff spending your Barter Baht on, but we managed.

Examples were pest control, we bought floorsoap and washing detergent in bulk ( made big savings there), some advertising, ...

Upfront costs are not really the killer, but the fees are. Back then it was 6.5% both when buying and selling.

So actually acquiring and spending 1000 Barter Baht costs you 130 Baht in fees plus the cost of whatever it is you sell.

For this reason we accepted Barter only for rooms and not in the pub/restaurant!

The fees are due in cash!

Thats how Barter pays its costs and generates its profit...

[seadoo]

The new Barter company that has launched recently in Thailand which is apparently bigger than Bartercard worldwide has items such as wholesale meats, alcohol and stuff like that available for restaurants to buy and from what I understand they don't charge to join and their fees are much cheaper.

[innerspace]

We got offered and decided against bartercard.

Then we acquired another business that was already a member.

Got a few sales we might not have if we charged cash.

Bought a few things we needed from companies we might not have gone to if we didnt need to spend points.

[BoonToong]

I used Bartercard in the UK in two different businesses (one with me as a one-man-band consultant and the other as a company selling gift vouchers for 'experiences'). In both cases it worked for me but it took a lot of effort to make it work. Many of the suppliers in the catalogue who are printers, product suppliers, etc end up being in high demand.

As mentioned previously, if you have a high-margin product or service, Bartercard can be useful but, as I say, it's hard work! I also found that if you negotiate hard you can get them to waive the initial fee or reduce it to a pittance.

In summary, depends what kind of business you run and how big the network is.

[LongTimeLurker]

The new Barter company that has launched recently in Thailand which is apparently bigger than Bartercard worldwide has items such as wholesale meats, alcohol and stuff like that available for restaurants to buy and from what I understand they don't charge to join and their fees are much cheaper.

Do you work for this new company?