Being honest

Doing what you say you’ll do

Having character and integrity

Creating win-win situations

Being nice

Here are some good practices specifically tailored to trading/bartering.

Don’t wait until right before meeting to trade to tell all the issues with your product. Get it out early. Chances are the people are so stoked about the trade that they won’t care about a little fixing anyways. If they do care, then it just saves time and energy to be open and honest. Don’t try to swindle.

Let people know where they stand on the trade. You may have a ranking of trades you’d like to make for one of your items.  I’ve found that bad news is better than no news. And in this case it doesn’t have to be bad news. Just let them know that you have something you want more, but that you’d still like to trade with them if that one falls through. Give them a deadline, like tomorrow by 7pm you’ll make a decision. They may have a back up plan as well, so it’s only courteous to let them know. The worse is when others take their time to let you know, and you pass on a fairly good trade. So be the courteous one when possible. I greatly appreciate it when I can make an informed trade, and I understand that my trade may not be on the top of their list. I want the trade to be good for them as well. Don’t worry, another one will come along if missed.

Be open about your crazy addiction to trading. Don’t be ashamed. If you’re too quiet or timid, they may think your      stuff is stolen.

I like to follow up with the people after the trade to see how they like it. At first you think you may have swindled them because you value things differently than they do. But I was surprised about how happy people were with the stuff I traded them. It’s good to know that they are happy with the trade. Sometimes they are hesitant to ask how your new stuff is because they may think they swindled you. Let them know how happy you are, too.

Sometimes trading is for big boys. Things don’t always work out as planned. People back out of trades at the last minute. You get something that has more problems than they explained. It sucks, but it happens. Just be ready for it. Do your due diligence. Try not to act out of emotion and let want blind common sense. And leave negative feedback to warn future traders.

If the trade isn’t worth $5, then don’t do it.

I had a home theater system left over from the sale of a house, and I almost didn’t go to pick it up. I posted it and ended up trading for a 1971 Plymouth Satellite (I still can’t decide if this car was cool or a total beater. You tell me).  I was thinking I could sell it for about $600. I got several cool trade offers, but I ended up getting a $3K car. I’m so glad I didn’t put “No Trades”.

So if you use classifieds to trade, it may be worth the ridiculous offers to get that one stellar trade.

Check out:

Online:

Craigslist.org

Local Classifieds

eBay (although they don’t like it)

Other barter-specific websites

Brick and Mortar

Itex, Corp (B2B)

IMS, inc (B2B)

Tradia (B2B)

Cool Things Beko Offers:

No SPAM.

Only Real Members can make offers.

No annoying phone calls.

No bad feeling of turning down someone’s trade.

No low-ball offers (as much as we can restrict it).

You only get bugged by us when there arrives something that meets your wanted-trade criteria.

You choose whether you want people to offer trades, or if you only want matches per our criteria.

Simple “YES/NO” responses to initiate the trades you want and reject the trades you don’t.

You get to make your first trade FREE

After that, you don’t pay a penny until you have your perfect trade match.

Basically, Beko brings trades to your door, whether you want something very specific or if you are open to trade possibilities that are in your items price range. It’s fun, exciting, almost unreal some of the trades people are willing to make. When done correct, trading is the most fun things because it’s the closest thing to getting something for nothing and still being legal.

It is estimated that the first trade occurred somewhere around 200,000 b.c. (Don’t ask me how they know).

During the next 196,000 years, people must have started to figure out that there are problems/inefficiencies with direct trading. Either when one party does not want what the other party has to trade (Coincidence of Needs), or it is too inconvenient to complete a multi-party trade. So people created Money (wampum, coconuts, etc.) as a common means of exchange in around 4,000B.C.

Around 1,000B.C. we see the appearance of coins made from precious metals.

Then around 1,200A.D. we see the appearance of representative currency notes, meaning people would trade the promissory notes they had secured by something of value (mostly gold) instead of actually trading the item of value itself. This introduces us into the Monetary Era.

In the US, that meant you would deposit gold bars into a bank, and the bank would give you a promise-to-pay note for the amount of gold deposited. Gradually, these notes became common tender.

Thanks to President Nixon, in 1971 the US was taken off the gold, and now we have FIAT money, meaning you can take that nice promissory note back to the bank, and instead of getting gold you’ll get a nice, brand new piece of paper. Paper for Paper…cool? Not really.

Many feel the Money/Monetary System superceded the Barter System, but through recessions we see that the inefficiencies of the Monetary System expose that it is simply built upon the Barter System.

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc420.html

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=188095,00.html

Do I need to report my trades/barters for tax purposes?

Possibly. Please contact your tax accountant for specifics. If needed, click here to be taken to the IRS webpage that explains the tax implications of bartering.

Does Beko help prepare any tax forms and/or statements?

Beko does not help prepare any tax statements. It is up to the user to determine the values of the barters, prepare taxes, etc.

Is BekoZone.com a barter exchange?

No, BekoZone.com does not use any type of trade dollars or trade credits. BekoZone.com is simply a match-making service to connect the people who would like to trade/barter.

Beko will not enforce any trade, as we are simply a matchmaking service.  Just because Match.com finds you a potential spouse doesn’t mean you have to marry them.

Can I receive a refund once I already submitted my final acceptance even though we did not complete the trade?

We do not allow refunds once information has been exchanged. There is no way to verify if a trade was completed or not.

What are items that can get me banned from BekoZone?

Any of the following prohibitions can get you banned:

-       Use of Explicit Language, Pictures, Sexual and/or Illegal content, or Spam.

-       Not performing your end of the trade.

-       Trying to communicate contact information, i.e. email address, phone number, etc.

What do I do if the other party did not perform their part of the trade and/or I’ve become a victim of fraud:

1)   File a Dispute Trade in you login area of myBeko. We will investigate and ban the opposing party if necessary. That is the extent of our service.

2)   Visit the following site to file a fraud claim: http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Internet_Fraud.shtml

Post your Products/Services

Tell us what you want

Check out your Trade Possibilities

Select “YES” to the trades you are interested in

Once the other party hits “YES”, start a message board to ask questions, resolve concerns, etc.

Hit the “I’ll Trade You for It” Button and check out by either using your Free Trade Credit or by paying $5.

You will receive the other party’s contact information. Call them and make the trade as you wish.

Leave Feedback for future traders.

Repeat.

You’d never expect to see a Bugatti Veyron sitting in the used car lot of a Chevrolet dealership but that’s exactly what happened at All American Chevrolet in Midland, Texas. The circumstances surrounding the bizarre occurrence are not exactly clear but allegedly a man by the name of Carlton Beal Jr. traded in his Veyron, estimated to be worth around $1.6 million, for a brand new Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, which costs a little over $100 grand.

The Veyron was a 2008 model finished in a two-tone black and red color scheme similar to the one pictured and only had 2,307 miles on the odometer. It was traded in for a black Corvette ZR1 that was sitting in inventory.

Beal runs a privately held petroleum and natural gas company, also in Midland, and has previously owned a Lamborghini Diablo and McLaren F1 so it’s safe to say he knows a thing or two about supercar ownership.

Perhaps it was an investment gone bad or an extreme act of patriotism but whatever it was Beal must have had a good reason for the trade. No details surrounding the deal have been revealed.

Incidentally, the Corvette ZR1 runs a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 and accelerates from 0-60 mph in 3.3 seconds and reaches a top speed of 205 mph. The Bugatti Veyron packs a quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W-16 engine and takes just 2.4 seconds to reach 60 mph from rest and maxes out at 253 mph.