Rehoboth Beach Delaware startup, uSwapia, is the latest to tackle direct and indirect bartering. Many sites have tried to replicate and improve upon the bartering model provided on Craigslist.com. uSwapia has found a way to barter, or trade, services and goods with someone even if they want what you have but don’t have what you want.

Rather than being stuck with a service or item you don’t want uSwapia has a better way as Kevin Clark the company founder explains:

“So I’m an acupuncturist, and have listed myself on the uSwapia site. I state that for 1 token, I will offer somebody an acupuncture service. Fred the baker pulled his back lifting a bag of flour and wants some acupuncture. I don’t want any baked goods, because I’m still holding onto a little bit of holiday weight, but that’s ok. Fred comes in, the site transfers a token from Fred’s account to my account after the trade is completed, and then I can use that token to go hire Suzy the personal trainer to help get me back into shape in time for summer. Tokens are really just placeholders for trades, and basically everything is traded for 1 token. (We find that most trades would retail for between $50-150, but by taking dollar amounts out of the equation, we are trying to shift the emphasis to building community in one’s neighborhood, while operating under the premise that sometimes we are ahead, and sometimes we are behind, but that it all evens out in the end.)”

In essence not only has Clark provided a new way to barter and trade online but also a better one that solves one of the main problems that people have with trading and bartering in the first place. When you take to Craigslist for example you see what everyone has to barter and what they want but sometimes you don’t have anything close.

Check out the rest of our interview with Clark below.

Who are the founders and what are their backgrounds?

 uSwapia is founded by me – Kevin Clark. I graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in Anthropology, and then went to grad school at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in San Diego for Chinese Medicine. I’m currently practicing Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine here at the Delaware beaches. Whenever I have free time, I love to go rock climbing, eat, see a movie, or go camping.

Where are you based?

We are in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

What’s the startup scene/culture like where you’re based?

The startup scene is pretty nonexistent here. I’m not aware of any other startups other than brick-and-mortar businesses in the immediate vicinity.

How did you come up with the idea for uSwapia?

I offer people the option to barter in exchange for Acupuncture treatments. Some stuff people have offered includes quilting a quilt, teaching banjo lessons, massages, fresh produce, homemade meals, car repair, etc. Sometimes it works out great, and other times the trades go south. The biggest issue I noticed is clearly placing a value on what someone is offering, especially when it is something intangible or not commonplace (like cooking a meal and dropping it off). It’s also pretty disheartening when someone has what you want, but doesn’t want what you have to offer. I wanted to find a way to take the hassle and fear out of approaching a barter or trade and so I started thinking about ways to make it easy for anybody to use. uSwapia came together and I’m hoping others will see the value in it that I do.

How did you come up with the name?

That was actually a very long process in the beginning. Some friends and family members and I were trying to come up with different ideas that sounded catchy and still portrayed some idea of what the site is about. Some names we played with were TerraBarta, Swappably, Apples2Oranges, and such, but I liked the linkage of “uSwapia” to “utopia” – as if it is something that is new and improved from the old way of doing things.

What problem does uSwapia solve?

uSwapia first and foremost takes the issue of 1-to-1 trades out of the picture. Since we use tokens as a kind of placeholder, you don’t have to trade apples for oranges, for example. Someone can sell their oranges to one person, and still go get peaches from someone else. The second problem we tried to address is the issue of trust. When people barter, it is often with strangers who they know nothing about. We are all hearing about how important reputation is becoming and in the same spirit, we strongly encourage and incentivize people to leave honest feedback for each of their trades. When a member can see you are a real person, and that others have loved what you have offered, then they will be more comfortable entering a trade with you, than if you had a blank profile with no descriptions or information about yourself and what you are trading.

What’s your secret sauce?

There’s no secret sauce at all. I’ve just tried to make the site as simple to use, while continuing to be practical as possible, and encouraging to the users who use it. The phone number is on the first thing someone sees on the top of the contact page and we honestly love hearing from users about what they need or would like to see added to the site.

Are you bootstrapped or funded?

Completely bootstrapped. We tried the crowdfunding gig but ended up with something like $300. Personally, I don’t have the time needed to start pitching myself to investors and trying to convince them to sign on. I was never a good salesman and I think that if there is value to the service, users will see that and sign up organically. It may be a slower start, but I have faith in the website and the service it brings to people.

What are some milestones you’ve achieved?

We are still in the early stages, but we are working on a marketing campaign for a launch we will be doing on the west coast probably in March. We are partnering with individuals in the spirit of uSwapia, so that the majority of travel, lodging, services, food, and work will all be “paid” for using bartering and trades. I think this is a level leaps and bounds beyond what I had ever imagined happening, and it has really been a quite humbling experience.

What’s your next milestone?

The next milestone will be a large-scale city-wide launch. So far we have stayed local for beta testing but we are just about ready to make the next step and try to scale the site.

What’s one challenge you’ve overcome in the startup process?

Trying to be a “non-tech” individual entering a tech-world. I’m an acupuncturist by trade and this has all been a completely new experience for me. I’ve gone to a munch of meet-ups, conventions, conferences, etc. for designers, developers, entrepreneurs, and the like and am still learning. I’m looking forward to the Everywhereelse conference in February.

Who are some of your mentors and business role models?

Honestly, anybody who has successfully launched a website, created a new business, or seen a project from the idea stage through to completion, has my admiration. Some of the people I read and twitter-stalk for inspiration or direction are Tony Hsieh, Lisa Gansky, Janelle Orsi, Brian Chesky.

What’s next for uSwapia?

Right now we are working on a 4-city west-coast launch. Anybody anywhere in the country can sign up now, but we are going to try to do a large-scale push, hopefully in March.

Where can people find out more and what is your Twitter username?

Our twitter username is @uSwapia and we usually post using the #collcons or #barter hashtags. People can also check out the website at www.uswapia.com or email Kevin directly at Kevin@uswapia.com

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