Bartering goods and services precludes the creation of money. One is only limited by one’s imagination when considering new ways to conduct barter. Take the relatively new innovation of exchanging empty time in multi-million dollar vacation villas for its equivalent value in luxury goods for the villa.
The fact is that industry statistics prove that the luxury vacation villa is occupied only 26% of the time. No matter how compelling the owner’s own VRBO ad or even the often 5 separate luxury vacation listing sites “hawking” the same property at the same price with the same amenities are…the fact remains that this often multi-million dollar valued asset remains empty and non-income producing nearly 3/4 of the time.
Enter the world of Luxury Barter and its alternate currency. By lining up the BAR (Best Available Rate) of the villa’s empty time for a specific block of desired time, one can offset this exact same value with an equal value of say the finest linens for the bedroom or even a wine cellar full of the finest vintages. What is more, the villa owner may exchange a block of their unused time for an equal value of someone else’s own (and unoccupied) vacation villa in another resort locale…all on an even exchange and for zero cash outlay.
It turns out that this same methodology may be utilized for other high value assets that are simply not being enjoyed by their owners or guests as often as they could be. Again, these very expensive “toys” remain idle most of the time. It has been cited that private jets are used only some 600 hours per year. Who knows how often the spectacular mega yachts out there, those proverbial “holes in the water” in which cash is thrown into, are used by their owners or are even chartered out?
An interesting option to increase the use and offset the cost may be to use the “Luxury Barter” concept outlined in this article. The asset owner has everything to gain and virtually nothing to lose by exploring this unique way to maximize otherwise unused time.
Serial luxury travel entrepreneur, Peter Burns III, specialises in the establishment and operation of niche market multi-location businesses.
In the past 40 years of business formation and ownership, Peter has started, run, sold, and/or expanded over 100 individual businesses in dozens of fields. He is currently focusing on luxury holiday rentals at Asset Exchange Collection.
