The recent focus on transparency in how agencies handle clients’ media budgets has led to further scrutiny of the opaque practices of so-called barter agencies, set up by holding companies to exchange extra goods for media space. The two Association of National Advertisers’ agency transparency reports mention the practice nearly 50 times.

Barter agencies originally set up to help brands unload unsold products in exchange for media. For example, an audio products maker may have 1,000 unsold headphones with a total face value of $50,000 at the end of the year. The company doesn’t want to keep those headphones on the books. It transfers them to a barter agency in exchange for media space bought at a discount. The barter agency then resells the goods through other channels.

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