Trade Work Policy
Jpetrous Creative Services LLC (“JpCS”)
Last Updated: October 28, 2026
JpCS sometimes exchanges creative work for goods or services instead of cash. This Policy explains what we will and will not trade for, how both sides agree what the exchange is worth, and how trade work is scoped, taxed and credited. It exists so that a handshake does not become a disagreement a year later.
Trade works well when both sides know exactly what they are getting and what it is worth. It goes wrong when the value is assumed rather than agreed, when one side delivers first and then waits, or when “we will work something out” is the whole of the arrangement.
Writing it down is what keeps a good relationship good. Most of our trade arrangements are with people we like working with, and we intend to keep it that way.
This Policy is not a Service Agreement and does not create one. Nothing here obligates JpCS to accept a trade.
Both are covered by this Policy, and both are priced, documented and recorded like any other engagement.
We consider trade where what you are offering is something JpCS can genuinely use in the business. In practice that usually means:
Every trade is valued in dollars before work begins. We state what our work is worth at standard rates, you state the fair market value of what you are providing, and both numbers go in writing. Where they do not match, the difference is settled in cash or the scope is adjusted until they do.
Fair market value means the price the thing would carry in an arm’s length sale — not a rate card, not a notional value, and not what it cost you to produce.
Trade work is scoped exactly as paid work is: what is included, what is not, what you supply, and roughly when it is delivered. Anything outside the written scope is a new request and is quoted before further work is done.
The same specificity applies to what you are providing — placement, size, duration, run dates, quantity — so that “advertising” does not later turn out to mean something smaller than either of us pictured.
Trade is exchanged within an agreed window, normally twelve months from the date the arrangement is agreed. Credit not drawn within that window expires unless both sides agree in writing to extend it.
Where one side will deliver substantially ahead of the other, the arrangement says so, and says when the balance is due.
If what was promised is not delivered, turns out materially smaller than described, or becomes unavailable, the shortfall converts to cash at the values agreed in Section 5. We will raise it before invoicing rather than afterwards, and we expect the same courtesy.
Trade is income. Under United States tax rules the fair market value of goods and services received in a barter arrangement is taxable to both parties, and may be reportable on a Form 1099. JpCS records every trade at the agreed value and reports it accordingly.
We are not tax advisors and this is not tax advice. Treat a trade with us as you would any other taxable transaction and confirm the treatment with your own accountant. Agreeing a value in writing at the outset, as Section 5 requires, is what makes that straightforward for both sides.
Trade clients receive the same standard of work as cash-paying ones:
Ownership of deliverables transfers once the trade is complete on both sides, on the same terms as payment in full. Source and working files remain with JpCS unless their release was agreed before work began.
Trading our time does not mean absorbing out-of-pocket costs. Stock photography, fonts, music and other licensed assets; printing, production, signage and fabrication; paid advertising budgets and platform fees; domain registration, hosting and third-party subscriptions; and travel beyond the local area all remain payable in cash unless the written arrangement expressly includes them.
Trade work is displayed in our portfolio, case studies, website and social media by default, with the business named, on the same terms as Section 7.2 of our Terms and Conditions. Tell us in writing if you would prefer otherwise.
Where a trade is with a publisher, agency or media partner, work produced for their end clients is treated as partner work under Section 7.3 of those Terms and is not displayed without their written agreement.
Either party may end a trade arrangement by written notice. Work delivered and value received to that point are reconciled at the agreed numbers, and any imbalance is settled in cash within thirty (30) days.
We may update this Policy at any time by posting a revised version with a new “Last Updated” date. The version in force at the time an arrangement is agreed governs that arrangement.
Tell us what you would like produced, what you are offering in exchange, and what you believe it is worth. If it is something we can use, you will get a straight answer and a written arrangement. If it is not, you will get a straight answer and a quote instead.
JpCS operates remotely and does not maintain a public office address.
Jpetrous Creative Services LLC
Michigan, United States
Phone: (586) 563-6634
Email: contact@jpetrous.com
Before you go
Call or send a message. Tell me what you're working on and I'll tell you honestly whether I'm the right fit.