Corporate trade is about creating value, not getting something cheaper.

There are three main misunderstandings harbored by firms that are hesitant about trying a corporate-barter transaction.

1. The barter firm bought at a discount; therefore, we should pay less than market valueThe price at which both willing buyers and sellers will transact business, the highest value being full market value. for the goods or service they provide as fulfillmentThe process through which ICON delivers the goods and services clients have purchased from ICON using trade credit or cash or both. Also referred to as the back end of a corporate barter transaction.. (Fact: This fails to recognize the essential value proposition of corporate barterThe creation of value by exchanging a client's unwanted or undervalued asset for the promise to purchase over a period of time from the corporate-barter company a defined set of goods and/or services, called fulfillment. (Sometimes mistakenly referred to as Corporate Trade.): A company receives full restoration of a fallen asset's value – at no cost.)
2. Nobody can purchase media cheaper than an ad agency or media buying service. (Fact: Corporate-barter firms purchase differently from agencies or media buyers do. They make forward investments in perishable goods and services that, in effect, appreciate over time. When these commodities are sold to clients, clients pay exactly what they would pay an agency or buying service directly.)
3. The goods or services we purchase as fulfillment must be second-rate damaged goods since we unloaded damaged goods in the first place. (Fact: Corporate-barter firms tend to buy credits for future commodities that are flexible in terms of restrictions, and sometimes entirely free of them.)