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The additional benefits of online selling, beyond the broader exposure include a reduction in cost of vendors as well as purchasers.\u00a0\u00a0Purchasers can save time by looking online before travelling.\u00a0\u00a0Vendors don\u2019t have to muster and truck cattle to saleyards.\u00a0\u00a0This can create savings in time, reduction in livestock stress during the ale process as well as eliminating additional costs such as yard and transport fees.<\/p>\n
While there are many advantages, online selling doesn\u2019t mean you or your agent can relax too much!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over time I have heard many people complain their online sales results weren\u2019t what they expected.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s common to hear, that \u201cthe price was too low\u201d, \u201cno one bid\u201d \u201cit\u2019s not worth the hassle \u2013 I can sell them through the yards for the same money\u201d etc…\u00a0\u00a0Some of these are possibly fair points.\u00a0\u00a0However, I don\u2019t think that this is the fault of the process.\u00a0\u00a0Rather I think it underlines the difference between selling and marketing.<\/p>\n
In my mind selling is a transaction where someone will buy cattle (often as economically as possible) for their budget.\u00a0\u00a0Most people look for bargains and will try and get them.\u00a0\u00a0And most people are a bit lazy and won\u2019t look too hard!\u00a0\u00a0If they see something that sort of fits, they often buy it so they can get onto their next task!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Using an online platform to sell cattle does expose cattle to these people.\u00a0\u00a0But you have to remember that your cattle are now competing in a national marketplace.\u00a0\u00a0The audience may be bigger, but if they are just looking to buy, they may not look at everything on offer.\u00a0\u00a0And potentially your cattle may miss out.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the risk of just selling.<\/p>\n
Marketing, on the other hand is, in my mind at least, the process of creating awareness and demand for your cattle.\u00a0\u00a0This in turn creates interest and should encourage people to purchase as an informed choice, not just as a lazy \u201cit\u2019ll do\u201d choice but as a purchase of the right option.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Online platforms are perfect to support marketing.\u00a0\u00a0These platforms give you the chance to tell potential buyers more about your cattle than just breed, age sex and weight.\u00a0\u00a0You can use these as starting points to describe the markets they suit or the roles in a herd they could fill as breeders or trade cattle.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n