Cashless consumers clock up record Christmas sales

Savvy Kiwis traded more than $2 million in a seven hour Christmas shopping frenzy – but not a single cash dollar changed hands.

The $5,000-a-minute, no-cash spending spree may sound like an impossibility, but that was the impressive result of the annual Bartercard Trade Show in Auckland recently. www.bartercard.co.nz

More than 152 businesses and 10 food stalls traded their goods and services without exchanging one cent of hard cash. Everything was bought, swapped and sold on Bartercard.

“This year’s result was a 12% increase on last year when $1.78 million was traded at the Auckland event. The trend was echoed nationwide, with our other Bartercard trade shows boasting increases of about 11% on 2013,” says Anthony Vryenhoek, National Marketing Manager at Bartercard.

“Not only is this a good sign of a rebounding economy, it also demonstrates the growing awareness and acceptance of bartering and Bartercard as the preferred cashless option.”

The Auckland show had everything from meat and wine through to toys and spas, including a large spa worth more than $30,000 selling on the day.  The variety helped to sort most people’s Christmas shopping needs and enabled them to save not only cash, but time as well with everything they in one spot.

A little-known feature of Bartercard, the ability to buy property, also received a lot of interest. “Given the state of the Auckland property market, the interest in property purchase with Bartercard is not surprising,” says Anthony.

Properties for sale included a quarter acre section in Franklin, on the market for $250,000, of which $100,000 can be paid for with Bartercard.  Ten sections at Lake Taupo were also available, with 70% of the cost able to be paid on Bartercard.

Child Cancer also benefited from the event’s success with $3,000 raised on the day. As sponsors of the Auckland Blues, Bartercard enlisted the help of the players to raise money by painting kids’ faces.

About Bartercard: Following Bartercard’s creation in Australia in 1991, Bartercard New Zealand became the first international licensee a year later. Since its inception, the Bartercard Trade Exchange has grown to more than 7,000 member businesses across New Zealand who buy, sell or swap over $200 million worth of goods and services outside the cash economy each year. Bartercard operates in New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, and Cyprus.

For more information or high res images, please contact Hannah Parr at Lassoo Media and PR on 021 293 6114 or hannah@lassoo.co.nz

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