Auction sites have been wildly popular among consumers looking for that unique and hard to find item. But when taking that same approach in the B2B space for used and excess IT equipment, sellers are left dissatisfied with the results. Why?

1. Auction customers are looking for a bargain. They are hoping to secure goods for below market value and the return is simply not worth the time and effort of IT managers needing to dispose of assets.
2. Once a bid is placed, the seller is obligated to sell the item. This lack of flexibility puts sellers in a bad position if the bids are not high enough.
3. Sellers are not anonymous on auction sites and not all sellers want to reveal who they are, so they avoid auction sites to maintain their privacy.
4. Auctions require patience. The most viable bids come in during the very last hour of an auction and even after 40 bids, the price can still be too low. Companies would rather give it all to a broker for pennies on the dollar than spend the resources required to sell on an auction site.

With advances in technology, improvements continue to be made. ServoTerra has developed an open B2B trading eXchange on the Force.com platform, which addresses the weaknesses of the auction site and generates higher returns overall. In one test across platforms, it took 400 auction bids to generate an offer 40% lower than what was offered in 3 bids over the eXchange. Learn more at http://www.servoterra.com.

Tweet this!