Barter goes online, gaining popularity

By Liang Meilan

Bartering has made a comeback in a recession-racked, cash-strapped world. It allows people to acquire goods or services in exchange for goods or services as well. Money plays no part in transactions. Items bartered online range from hairpins to cars.

In China, bartering is quickly gaining a foothold online, becoming popular among young urbanites trying to cut costs and live an environmentally-friendly lifestyle. Bartering has the thumbs-up from green groups as it prolongs a product’s “life span.”

Xiao Xuan, 21, a university student in Beijing, has been bartering online for three years and has closed at least a hundred deals. “It’s really an ideal way to deal with unwanted but useful things, and I enjoy the process of browsing numerous items posted online and the moment I bargain with other traders,she said. “It teaches me how to live economically.”

There are two main ways to barter online.

On websites like shede.com, traders have to register to post a list of their items. The items will be evaluated by website employees and each will be assigned a value – an “e-currency” – based on its estimated cost. With the e-currency as a guide, people can exchange items with other website users.

The other way is more straight forward: people only have to negotiate with the owner of the items they want until both sides come to an agreement.

Items bartered online are not only used goods: some new ones are also traded. Every barter website has a search function that will help users easily find the things they need. Transactions are supervised by website managers.

Some of the most popular barter websites today are the following: 8huan.com,comhuan.com, feo.com.cn and huanba.net.