A Brief History
Before the internet
became a dominant force in business, most trading companies had their own
contact base, which was used to create regular business. The markets were
quite stable and there was little fear of mass encroachment by others into
the individual dealer’s world of sales. When a machine was required, the
end user could rely on a number of simple methods to locate used machinery,
e.g. via local/preferred dealer/intermediary network, journal advertising/small
ads etc.
A changing industry
There are several forces coming together that are driving change within the industry: old style merchant trading is quickly being replaced by the internet; auction systems are now prevalent and becoming a standard method of machinery disposal; and mass listing companies are now increasing which offer similar services and are competing with world markets.
Communications revolution
We now have a communications revolution in our midst, along with a more globally minded marketplace, which affects us all , either directly or indirectly. In the modern information age, we are bombarded with an increasing flow of information: e-mail, voice-mail and instant messaging etc. It is time-consuming to assimilate and process this information and the buyer and seller are becoming confused and don’t know which way to turn when buying and selling machinery to both their local markets and worldwide.
