Advantages And Disadvantages Of Trade Items Online

By Stacey Burt


Trading is not a new process. People from centuries ago had been using it to facilitate their buy and sell process. Silk is sold out in exchange for silver, porcelain is given in exchange for a platter of pearl. It is a valid mode of acquiring products. Same is true for today.

Now that the internet has paved the way to easy advertisements and the like, bartering has become easier and more accessible. But with its popularity comes its set of pros and cons. Trade items online are loved by many who have experienced its convenience. But for those who have not yet tried it, bartering may not be a very good option. Here are some its most popular pros and cons.

First good thing about this is flexibility. Conventional buying will need money. If you do not have it, then you cannot get the product that you need. With bartering, you can pay in any form you want as long as the other party agrees with it. Therefore a whole day usage of your laptop can be paid using a gift certificate from Starbucks or anything that the owner agrees to.

It also saves you money. The good think about bartering is you do need to spend anything from the purchase. Think about it as if you are buying a material using another material as the money. Bartering is prefered by people who badly needs to have something but is currently incapable of paying it in cash.

Last benefit is its variety. If you do not have any material thing to offer, then that is fine. You can still offer your service as a trade. For example, if you want to have that limited copy of an album of your favorite band, you can ask the owner to trade it to a service that you can do such as mowing your lawn and the like.

But while these things are enjoyed by many, there are also popular disadvantages brought about by this procedure. One is the lack of trustworthiness of the other trader. Unless the other person is someone close to you, you should always take his claims about a product with a grain of salt. You can never be too sure about his claims.

Trading also lacks what we call the customer protection. You are not really guaranteed of the deal unless you tried using the item for yourself. There are cases when one agrees to a certain exchange, only to be disappointed in the end for not getting satisfaction for the item. Since you do not have any formal paper saying anything about a warranty, the other trader will not be held liable.

Lastly, compromise is always an option. If you need a limited book for instance but cannot find any, you may have to settle for a synonymous one that is of the same category. This will not provide the same information present on the special versions, but since you need a resource, you may have to compromise.

What you can do on your part is to make sure that you are on a credible trading website. Read reviews and recommendations from other people online and starch your search from there. If the site is suspicious, look somewhere else.




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