By Bob Meyer

I came across this story recently and thought it was worth posting. It points out the difficulty of trading online with someone new, which is why most initial contacts are followed up with a face-to-face meeting in the same city.

In China there is a great interest in bartering after the story in which Kyle MacDonald, a Canadian, succeeded in trading one red paperclip for a house.


It is not that all are expecting the same fortune as MacDonald, but rather, finding it a convenient way of exchanging something no longer needed or wanted for the thing that they do want.

The www.comhuan.com, (not available in English) was established in June 2006 for Chinese online barter traders, and is one of the most popular Websites for online trades.

Indeed, the convenience and efficiency of online barter trade is incomparable.

However, it remains a problem when it comes to the security of transaction and the insurance of the quality of the goods exchanged.

Unlike buying goods online in which the Website could handle buyers’ payments beforehand and ensure the quality of the goods, barter trades must take place offline. This means they are more risky.

And if we take a closer look at barter trade on the Internet nowadays, we would find that most transactions are made between people who live in the same city.

No doubt, the majority of people are aware of the possible risks and are careful in avoiding them. But even in this way, there is still a possibility that inexperienced buyers may be cheated.

If online barter trade is to develop, there has to be a more effective way to supervise the transactions.

What do you think?

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 29th, 2007 at 9:22 am and is filed under Entrepreneurs & Small Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.