The AI-Powered Barter Marketplace
Trade items directly with your community — no cash, no fees, no middlemen. Our AI matching engine finds trades you'd never discover on your own.
The peer-to-peer barter marketplace
powered by AI
Facilitrades is a digital platform that enables direct item-for-item trading between individuals and communities — no cash, no fees, no middlemen. Our AI-powered matching engine connects traders who would never find each other through traditional search, unlocking value in the circular economy.
The Problem We Solve
Billions in unused goods sit in closets, garages, and storage units. Traditional marketplaces force you to sell for cash, then buy again — losing value at every step. We eliminate the middleman of money for direct exchanges.
Who It's For
Collectors, hobbyists, small business owners, sustainability-minded consumers, and local communities. Anyone who has something of value and wants something else — without the friction of cash transactions.
Industry Context
The sharing economy is projected to reach $335B by 2028. Within it, peer-to-peer exchange and circular commerce are the fastest-growing segments — driven by sustainability trends and a desire for community-driven commerce.
Pure Barter
Item-for-item, no cash
AI-Matched
Semantic search, not keywords
Non-Custodial
We never hold your items
Community-First
Trust built through reputation
What we're building
A full-featured trading platform with AI at its core. Currently in active development with core systems complete and user-facing features in progress.
MVP Stage — Targeting Summer 2026
Browse the Board
Items pinned to a community cork board — filter by category, discover trades nearby
Scrapbook Design Language
Polaroid cards, pushpins, and cork boards create a warm, tangible trading experience
Community Trading
Join trading communities by interest — Home & Garden, Tech, Collectibles, and more
AI Matching Engine
Powered by Google Gemini embeddings and hybrid search (BM25 + vector), our matching engine understands the intent behind what you're looking for.
- Semantic search — describe items in natural language
- Multi-party trade chain discovery (find 3+ way trades)
- Auto-categorization of posted items
- Personalized trade recommendations
Unified Messaging
Real-time chat integrated directly with trades. Every trade proposal spawns a conversation so traders can negotiate and coordinate seamlessly.
- Direct messages, group chats, and trade conversations
- Real-time WebSocket updates
- AI trade assistant in every conversation
- Media sharing and trade history context
N-Party Trade System
Not just 1:1 swaps. Our trade engine supports multi-party trades where 3+ people exchange items in a single coordinated transaction.
- AI discovers trade chains across the network
- All parties confirm before trade completes
- Counter-offers reset all confirmations (no silent changes)
- Full trade history and dispute resolution
Discovery Feed
Browse and discover items posted by your community. User-created categories and AI-powered tagging make finding the right trade effortless.
- Category-filtered browsing (user-driven tags)
- AI auto-tags items with multiple categories
- Community-scoped and location-aware results
- Trending and recently posted feeds
Trust & Reputation
A comprehensive reputation system built for peer-to-peer exchange. Community ratings, verified profiles, and trade completion history.
- Trade completion score and history
- Community endorsements and ratings
- Verified identity and profile badges
- Fraud detection and reporting system
Technical Foundation
Enterprise-grade infrastructure running on Google Cloud Platform with a modern, scalable architecture designed for growth.
- FastAPI + PostgreSQL + pgvector on GCP Cloud Run
- Next.js 16 frontend with shadcn/ui components
- OAuth authentication (Google, Apple, Facebook)
- Redis caching and real-time WebSocket transport
Free to trade. Premium to power-up.
Trading on Facilitrades is always free. Revenue comes from optional premium features that enhance the trading experience.
Free for Everyone
- ✓Post items and create trade listings
- ✓Browse and discover available trades
- ✓Send and receive trade proposals
- ✓Real-time messaging with trade partners
- ✓Join communities and build reputation
Premium (Stamps)
Pay-per-use credits called "Stamps" unlock AI-powered features:
- AI trade chain discovery (find multi-party matches)
- Smart post enhancement (AI-written descriptions)
- AI trade assistant (in-chat recommendations)
- Promoted listings and priority matching
Built by traders, for traders
Christopher Olson
Founder, CEO & Principal Engineer
Full-stack software engineer approaching 10 years of experience building enterprise-grade systems. Currently leads all product development, cloud architecture (GCP), AI/ML integration, and frontend design for Facilitrades. Sole developer and technical architect — from database schema to deployment pipelines.
Gabriel Porrata
Co-Founder & Investor
The original visionary behind the Facilitrades concept and initial investor. Gabriel is an 8-year Franchisee Operator of a successful Chick-fil-A restaurant, bringing real-world business operations experience to the venture. He conceived the idea for a peer-to-peer barter platform and provides financial backing. Not involved in day-to-day operations — all business operations, development, and strategy are led by Christopher Olson, Founder & CEO.
Legal Entity
Facilitrades LLC — operated by Fenrir Consulting, LLC
Headquarters
Florida, USA (remote operations)
Founded
2025 — Actively building toward Summer 2026 MVP
Building in public
We believe in transparency. Here's where we are and where we're headed.
Backend Infrastructure
FastAPI + PostgreSQL + Redis on GCP Cloud Run
Database & Schema Design
50+ tables — items, trades, users, communities, conversations
AI Matching Engine
Gemini embeddings + pgvector hybrid search (BM25 + vector)
User Authentication
OAuth (Google, Apple, Facebook) + JWT refresh tokens
Real-Time Messaging
WebSocket transport + unified conversation system
Frontend Development
Next.js 16 + shadcn/ui — custom scrapbook-inspired design system
Trade Workflows
N-party proposals, counter-offers, confirmation flows
AI Trade Assistant
In-conversation assistant for trade recommendations
MVP Launch (Florida)
Summer 2026
Geographic Expansion
Late 2026
Cash creates buyers and sellers.
Trading creates partners.
Traditional Marketplaces
- • Convert everything to dollars first
- • Payment disputes and chargebacks
- • High fees eat into value
- • Anonymous, transactional interactions
Facilitrades
- • Exchange value directly — no conversion
- • Both parties confirm before trade completes
- • No fees on trades, ever
- • Build real connections with your community
“Your vintage guitar has value. Your coding skills have value. Your garden tomatoes have value. Why convert to cash when you can exchange directly for something you actually want?”
— The Facilitrades Philosophy
Four steps to your first trade
Simple, straightforward, and powered by AI to help you find the perfect match.
List
Upload photos and describe what you have to trade
Discover
AI-powered search finds matches you'd never find with keywords
Propose
Send trade proposals and negotiate terms directly
Exchange
Meet up, ship, or arrange pickup — you control the exchange
Trading, reimagined
Built from the ground up for peer-to-peer exchange, not adapted from e-commerce.
AI-Powered Discovery
Describe what you want in plain English. Our AI understands context and finds matches traditional search would miss.
Non-Custodial
We never hold your items, assets, or payments. You arrange the exchange directly with your trading partner.
Community Reputation
Verified profiles, trading history, and community ratings help you trade with confidence.
Flexible Settlement
Pure swaps are the default. When trades don't align, settle with Bitcoin, gold, or silver.
If it has value, you can trade it
Electronics
Phones, laptops, gaming gear
Vehicles
Cars, motorcycles, bikes
Collectibles
Vinyl, cards, antiques
Home & Garden
Furniture, tools, produce
Services
Tutoring, repairs, consulting
Digital Items
Game skins, software, NFTs
Handmade
Art, crafts, baked goods
And More...
Anything of value
Launching Summer 2026
We're building something special. MVP launching first in Florida, with nationwide expansion to follow.
Questions? Reach out at info@facilitrades.com