What's Barter?
Barter is the system where the needed product or service is bought in exchange of a sold product or service. With its first applications being a trade system, became a multiple trading system with the help of an organizing company.
Barter system is a Common Market as a coming together of the companies and it works thanks to the supply and demand of the companies that are in this market. A company that works with barter system pays the prices of the products and services that are bought from the Barter market by selling their own products to the Barter market. The company selling products or services to the Barter common market collect their revenues by purchasing the products or services that other member companies put in the market. All the companies share their demand and supply with the Barter common market. Barter Common Market, with the participation of new members everyday to match the needs of the companies in the common market, grows and the product portfolio of the market is enriched.
The main reason that Barter system is an alternative way of trading is that it allows all the companies from all the sectors to increase their revenues and sales thanks to the projects provided to them. Barter Company, shows to every company that is a member of the Barter system that with what reasons they should become a member of the system and how they should manage their membership as well as that Barter system is an important trading model.
THE HISTORY OF BARTER
On the basis of barter system lies trading goods without using money. People have used this system since our inception. With the changing of the needs of mankind, this trade type had been given the name "Barter".
The first agent of trading between B.C 9000 and 6000 were "cattle"s. Maya Indians combined three or four-way trading system. Thus, someone with wax can purchase a blanket and end up with a pot at the end of the trade process. Tolket's also used "cacao" as a means to trade.
Barter system began to take shape in the early 1930s. As it is known, in 1929 in the United States, an economic crisis had been experienced and it influenced the whole world. In the same years, Germany had become unable to use their money as an instrument to make purchases and tried to meet their needs from the Eastern Europe and Latin America countries with Bartering. European countries, to protect small and medium sized businesses against large corporations and improve the economical cooperation between them, founded the World International Reciprocal in Switzerland in1934. This organization has a number of members more than 65000 by the year 2000 and again in Switzerland; Barter became much more popular in the construction industry and domestic trade and showed an annual increase of 14% by reaching 4 billion francs (2004). In the late 1940s and the early post-war problems of the 1950s European countries, Barter system had been a partial solution.
Barter is a system that is being used in the United States since 1960's. Barter organizators first emerged as "Regional Exchange Trade Unions" (LETS). The number of companies named "Barter Clubs" and "Barter Exchange" operating in the United States were around 600 in 1995. The number of members of these companies has exceeded 300,000. Also in the same year, in the time of the socialist countries, they also chose to use Barter system in their trade relations.
Barter system in the world began to be widely recognized after 1980. The first barter company was founded in 1983 in Hamburg, Germany, and a company named Euro Barter Business emerged in Austria in 1984. USA Ministry of Commerce announced that Barter, with various forms of it, constitutes %30 of the world trade. The Business Trend Analysts, as a result of their research, claims that %42 of the world trade is done by the Barter system. 500 Barter firms does Barter trading with 450.000 member companies with the estimated amount of 400 billion US $. In the report given by World Barter Association (IRTA) which is situated in the United States, it is stated that Barter trade had seen an increase of %16 per year in the United States. This organization also claimed that; more than 900 barter companies and more than 700 thousand enterprises in various countries did active barter trading. The Economist Magazine claimed that 52% of the world trade in 2010 will be done with Barter.
BARTER DEVELOPMENT IN TURKEY
The lack of demand for Turkish products in foreign markets and being unable to enter new markets caused an economical stress in Turkey. To resolve these problems, some regulations has been brought regarding the debt trading and foreign debts.
Published on May 31, 1932 "Law on the Establishment Exchange Commission" has made it necessary for trading to become a formal system of exchange. This commission of trade continued until the foundation of "Trade Limited Company" in 5th August 1939. In trade relations with foreign countries, with the date May 31, 1941 and Decision No: 2/15843, clearing, settlement and after the adoption of the three types of payment system, including free currency trading, these companies were liquidated in December 29, 1945.
No: 4/10707 dated September 1, 1958 enacted by the Council of Ministers under the name "Foreign Trade Regime" has made it clear that under any circumstances, no judgments will be made based on trading in foreign trade markets.
No: 7/17493 dated 17 May 1979 named "Foreign Exchange Regulatory Decision" and on 28th December 1983 No: 83/7540 named "Export Regime" banned trade and binding treatments. However enacted in 1990. "Export Regime Decision" removed the trade ban and restrictions about binding treatments.
The Barter system, used in various sectors for 40 years in the World, is in service since 1992.
