Going, going, gone? Unit 11 ae Gerunds and infinitives vil R PAGE 97 ar ets Career skills: Making offers PAGE 98 wowwclongman-etticor ‘vnww.econamist.com Dilemma: Closing the deal PAGE 100 The people’s company Keynotes \) The marketplace brings together the buyers and sellers of goods and services and provides a framework for egotiation and price setting. The price Which goods and services are exchanged on a market fluctuates with supply ~ the quantity available for sale ~ and demand - the number of buyers. There are different types of markets which do not always have physica locations. Today, new electronic marketplaces have emerged on the internet where businesses can sell direct to consumers (e-commerce) or to cther businesses (B2B). Some markets oF this type use auctions where buyers submit bids and the highest bidder wins.Preview Types of markets IB Look at the products below. Match the pictures with the kind of markets they represent. commodities market real estate/property market stock market consumer goods/mass market labour market Bi Think of one major item that you have either bought or sold recently. How did the transaction take place? Did you negotiate the price? Were you satisfied with the result? BB Have you ever bought or sold something on the internet? What is different about buying things in an online market? Reading Electronic markets Ol Read the article about eBay - the online auction site. Which paragraphs A-F give information about the following things? 1 what eBay does when it detects unusual activity by sellers 2 possible threats to the developing business 3 the different things you can buy on eBay 4 how transactions are evaluated 5 how popular eBay is 6 why eBay conducts live interviews with buyers and sellers By Read the text again and answer the questions. 1 What conventional operating costs does the eBay model not have? What services do the customers provide to the company? How did eBay begin? How is the company developing? What are the main threats to eBay's future success? 94m UnitGING, Fir. SorP? Will eBay's unique relationship with its customers become a casualty of the auction site's success? Meet the People's Company, Like a democracy, It can be a noisy place where citizens sometimes think the people in-charge have no idea what they're doing. But 2t eBay, the online auction site, the people are in charge. Its customers — the 70 million buyers and sellers who trade here have the kind of influence that most consumers and businesses can only dream of. I's true, eBay has a business model that doesn't require carrying any inventory. But the real secret of eBay's unlikely success is this: i's a master at capturing the awesome communications power of the internet, tracking customers’ every movement so new products and services are tallored to just what they war eBay's customers are its product development, market research, merchandising and sales department —all rolled Into one. i's not just that they have made eBay into a global marketplace for almost anything, from a $1 baseball card to a $4.9 Gullstream jet, eBay's customers also tell the world about eBay by word of mouth, They crow online discussion boards, share tips, point out glitches, and lobby for changes. eBay's custo: site by rating each other. Imagine a retailer trying to da this: interview every single person leaving every store, post alist of what each thought of the shopping experience, ask them to write up a merchandising plan and call suppliers to arrange deliveries —and oh, by the way, could they keep an eye aut for shoplifting? That's what eBay's customers voluntarily do each day. fers even police the D)) some ofits mos effective ways of geting user put, hough, dort depend he internet, Since early 1999 ay has regularly Town in groups of sellers ana buyerstoIts headquarters in Calforlato interview them, asking for their views on new features and polices. The result: fewer problems. Even when something does go wrong, eBay can respond quicy, They can essentially negotiate with 50,000users at ence and make work, says Munjal hah, CEO of Andale Most of all, eBay simply watches. Almost al of its fastest-grawing new categories grew out of observing seller activity. After noticing random car sales, eBay created a separate site called eBay Motors. This year, eBay expects to gross some $3.8bn worth of autos ‘and parts ~ many of them sold by dealers. I's the way of the future,’ says Bradley Bonifactus, internet manager at Dean Stallings Ford, Inc. eBay business isthe company’s latest offering: anew site providing businesses with an e-commerce platform. t's exciting new teritory and dangerous. Many rivals aim to be the biggest places for e commerce, too, and some are making fast progress. Butthere's a bigger question. Can eBay's values survive such grand ambitions? Omidyar worries that the growing Glossary participation oflarge commercial selerscould —Cqsuality someone dliate eBay's unique culture. 'fwelose that, we've hurt by events pretty much lost everything, he says. eBay's people powermadebuilding a business simple awesome huge compared with everything conventional tailored personalised companies must do. Keeping in touch with ll those shoplifting theft customers from here on won't be easy from shops dilute weaken Unit 1195The following items were either sold on eBay or withdrawn from sale by eBay management. Guess which ones were actually sold and for how much. Turn to page 143 for the answers, round of golf with Tiger Woods missile silo house ‘woman selling herself for marriage guest appearance on a TV show square metre of land on a Scottish island human kidney Vocabulary 1 Complete the article with the following words. trading auction characteristics business _ inventory clients. rate retailer The essential guide to starting your own online business i few simple Ifyou are thinking of '_trading_ on eBay then there are a Pm questions that you should ask yourself before you start. It's one thing to?____a few personal items from time to time but actually running your own online * is a different thing altogether. t of product should you will y find the answers to all these questions and more in Kathleen Morton's new book Online Business The Easy Way. Kathleen shares her secrets in this new book that could set you off on the road to becoming a successful online i Order now! | Vocabulary 2. Compound nouns Match the two halves of the following compound nouns. 1 auction a plan 2 merchandising b site 3 feedback © board 4 discussion d_ platform 5 market forum 6 ecommerce f research Do the nouns refer to only online businesses such as eBay or conventional ‘offline’ businesses as well? 96 m Unit 11Language check Gerunds and infinitives Look at the following uses of the gerund. ~ after prepositions ; eBay's customers even police the site by rating each other. asa noun ; Keeping in touch with all those customers won't be easy. ~ after certain verbs The eBuy sellers enjoy meeting each other. Look at the following uses of the infinitive (to + verb). ~ after adjectives ... makes it easy for buyers and sellers to grade each transaction. ~ after certain verbs I wanted to give the power of the market back to individuals. ~ to show purpose Blea flown in sellers and buyers to its headquarters to interview them, 32) For more information and verb lists, see page 160 Practice [J Complete the following profile of Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay, with appropriate gerund or infinitive forms. sieesSofur AG@tioneer a ierre Omidyar is today at the head of one of the internet’s biggest success stories: eBay. Born in France, Pierre moved to the USA at the age of six when his father was given the opportunity of ('work}__working — at John Hopkins university. During his schoo! years in the US Pierre ‘ started (write) computer programmes for six dollars an hour. ("Know). how important computers would become in the future, he decided (apply) for a place at Tufts university. After (graduate) in 1988, Pierre then worked as a software developer before (create) his first stare up “Ink Development Corporation’ in 1991. The company Beeslveedlacftare sa@enabled computers ("read)_____taitructions given bp pen and not through a keyboard. Five years later he succeeded in ("sell)__ the ‘company to Microsoft It was not until 1995 that he came up with the idea of Claunch) website which would serve both as a market for (exchange), collectors” items and as a forum where collectors could meet ("discuss) their passion. From a hobby it soon became a full-time occupation and after (rename) _ it eBay, the world’s most open marketplace was born. Now a billionaire, Omidyar has set himselt. ew Boal: ("ger rid), of 99 per cent of his fortune during his lifetime by (finance) _____non-profit-making operations around the world, ttle ON, aetna Mit Bi Think of a non-profit-making project that you would support if you were Pierre Omidyar. Explain your ideas to your partner. Would he or she agree to donate money to your project? Unit 197Career skills From choosing restaurants to negotiating billion-dollar contracts, the same routine of suggestion and response happens in both business and everyday life. Look at the following ways of making suggestions. What/How about... ? Would you be interested in . I think / suggest you / we should .. Why don't 1/ you/ we u. ? let's. Once one person has made a suggestion, the other person can either accept, refuse or ask for it to be modified. Which of the phrases below can be used to do each of these things? 1 Pm afraid I/we can't... efuse— 2 Maybe it would be better to .. 3 OK. That's great. 4 What/How about ... ? = 5 [don’t know about that. 6 We could always .. 7 Done./That’s fine. 8 There's no way I/we can... Listening 1@) [J Listen to a short discussion. What are the speakers talking about? What is the outcome of their conversation? 1 Listen again and complete the conversation with the phrases the © speakers use. 98m Unit 1Listening 2 © The selling process | Notes feo ees [Hi Listen to Marsha Terrell, an | * e-commerce consultant, talk about | | —— how to advertise items online. | What do each of the letters of | AIDA stand for? Complete the Se a, notes. | = Fee nesaee Practice [J Look at the posting on an auction website. Does it follow the advice Marsha gives? Does it make you want to bid for the item? =O evayitem Ly RPM con ieee [see [ot trees [omen ASTON MARTIN DB7 LAGONDA CONVERTIBLE TATE current highest bid $55,000.00 SIS ESEEEA wheelsndeals (54) Time remaining 0 days 7 hours Feedback Score 54 History: bigs negative a Email seller (click here) Delivery and payment (click here) Drive this James Bond dream machine. You only live onc This is your chance ta hecame the owner of a legendary luxury sports car and this one is a beauty. Only 15,000 miles and still in perfect condition. This limited series convertible combines luxurious leather interior with the supercharged performance of its 335 bhp engine. Fully equipped with dual air bags and surround sound entertainment system. Black paint exterior and tan leather interior. ‘One year warranty. Comes with original MIS plates! BUY NOW FOR $63,000 and we will deliver this beautiful car right to your door, free of charge! (offer restricted to USA only, excluding Alaska) Writing Work in pairs. Choose a product that you would like to sell online. Prepare an advertisement to post on an auction website. Culture at work The importance of relationships Some cultures prefer to build longterm business relationships and invest a lot of personal time socialising out of office hours to create trust and understanding. Other cultures prefer short-term relationships based on specific deals and contracts with little personal contact. What is common in your country? Unit 1m 99Dilem Dilemma: Closing the deal I vier Watermark ple, is a specialist supplier of quality stationery and writing accessories, which it distributes in European markets. At present the sales of the company’s leading products are not growing Hal Garnett, the newly appointed CEO, is in a hurry to reorganise the company’s sales strategy and to introduce a new online sales channel. Since Watermark does not have the in-hot site itself, it has decided to outsource the use expertise to develop such a work. Several web agencies have been contacted to obtain tenders to develop and maintain a new, eight-page site. Among the most interesting tenders that Watermark has received is from a new web agency called N- ‘A meeting has been arranged with N-Vision to agree on the final specifications and budget for the new site. Task 1 page 142, Group B you are the Watermark Task 2 Study the tender on page Ml and decide ‘on your objectives for the meeting. What are you willing to compromise on? Task 3 Prepare arguments to support your objectives. Make notes that you can refer to in the meeting. Task 4 Work with a partner from the other grou reach a satisfactory agreement on the specifications in the tender. Present your arguments and try to achieve the best result for your company. Write it up Write a formal letter to the other company with minutes of the meeting and a summary of the agreement you reached. See Style guide, page 16) 100m Unit 11 Work in goups. Group A you are the N-Vision representatives. Turn to sales team, Turn to page 138 Useful phrases Why don't we Would you be interested in | Im afraid we cant... | Idon’t know about that. What /How about ...? Work together to ecision Decisio © Listen to Andrew Harrison, an e-commerce consultant at Pryce & Hausman, explain what advice he would have given Watermark.