Barter offers opportunities for Florida businesses strapped for cash, credit

PALM BEACH — Bill Mann is a barter convert.

When the new owner of Red's Backwoods BBQ on Northlake Boulevard needs to buy more alligator meat for his gator bites appetizer, he barters meals at the restaurant for it.

Same thing goes for the new menus, T-shirts and caps he's having printed.

And when he needs plumbing work or the kitchen's hood needs to be cleaned, he plans on using barter for that.

"To me, it's a win-win situation," said Mann, who inherited the practice from the former owner.

"It gets people in the door that may otherwise have never come to your restaurant and fills up empty tables. I plan on doing even more bartering than we're doing now because it's working out so well."

Mann joins a growing group of business owners who are turning to barter.

While this age-old trade practice of exchanging goods and services without the use of money may seem outdated, it's seen a resurgence because of the economic slowdown and tightening credit market.

"A lack of income and lack of credit are going to drive an increase in barter," said Steve Tadelis, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. "Both have happened in spades in the last couple years."

Tadelis explained that interest in bartering rises when people don't have as much access to cash.

"With a slowdown, people buy less bread from the baker, tell the painter that they're holding off painting their homes. So now the baker and the painter don't have enough cash to get the things they need," he said.

Sam Villano of Palm Beach Shores is in that kind of predicament. The economy slowed business for his concrete resurfacing company, Curb Appeal Concrete. And that means he can't afford to buy a new car for his wife and daughter.

So he decided to put up a barter ad on Craigslist: "pooldeck remodeling 4 decent car."

He's gotten only one call so far, but he's hopeful.

Bartering inquiries have grown tremendously on Web sites such as Craigslist.

"Attorney needed for real estate matters; trade for dental treatment," reads one Jupiter ad.

"4x6 motorcycle trailer for ????" reads another ad from someone in Lake Worth, who suggests trading the trailer for guns or fishing poles.

Of course, when it comes to bartering, it's no longer just about direct one-to-one trading with your neighbors. Bartering networks such as Nu-Barter and Itex are seeing an increase in trades and members.

These exchanges allow members to trade goods or services for barter credits, which they can cash in at any participating business (with usually a 10 percent cut to the network operators).

For instance, restaurant Oceans 234 in Deerfield Beach used NuBarter to help pay for its remodeling and reopening. It bought mirrors and frames from Gallery 51 in Boca Raton, used Joel's Custom Interior Design Services in Palm Beach Gardens to help with the redesign, and rented chafing dishes from Atlas Party Rental in Boynton Beach, among others.

Those companies received bartering credits, which they then used to get a variety of services from other members, including dinners and cleaning services.