Buying and Selling of Products over Internet. 

Due to tough economic times, there are many people switching from working at an office to working from their home. You might be thinking if you could do the same. Anyone can work from home with a little knowledge. The internet can open new opportunities for the business to buy and sell goods and services online which is termed as E-Commerce. It is primarily the same as regular commerce that is, buying and selling. E-Commerce differs from ‘regular' commerce only in that it uses computers to facilitate buying and selling products and services over the Internet, as well as new ways of selecting and buying those products and services.

There are several modes of buying and selling things:

•  The web store .

•  The auction

•  The want ads . (The want ad model is fairly straightforward, including classified advertising listings on the Web and postings of items for sale)

•  The convention . (A group of users communicating via newsgroup or mailing list)

There are two different types of categories that supported E-commerce

•  Business to Consumer means selling products or services directly to the individual consumer.

•  Business to business consumer means selling goods and services to other businesses.

Business to consumer environment requires the web store which is generally large-scale retail establishments that use a shopping-cart sales model and accept credit cards via a secure server. Examples include Amazon.com, J.Crew, and Microsoft's Expedia travel service. Consumers any where in the world browse the online shop or store and buy products by following some form of payment processing function.

The growth of online auctions is the important development in business to business relationship. Auctions make person-to-person sales easier and provide a forum for feedback. Examples include Up4Sale and eBay. There are two types of auctions.

•  Forward auction-lots are sold to the highest bidder.

•  Reverse auction- suppliers compete on price and the lowest bid for a tender wins business.

Another development in the business to business relationship is E-marketplaces. These are the websites where buyers and seller trade goods and services

Selling online can be a new way to increase the scope of your market, throughout the world. Imagine having instant access to a huge marketplace through the click of your mouse. For some small businesses this has become a reality as they established a route to market through the online auction providers. But its good will depend on your product, services and how you service your customers. It is important to understand how online selling fits in with your other selling techniques. Online stores are particularly suited to small businesses operating in a shallow recess market or offering well-defined product and services which can be set out in a catalogue.

Buying online is also known as e-procurement, it is very important in many businesses for buying raw materials, office supplies, equipment and more. E-procurement is using the Internet to help with purchasing. The Internet allows you to Search for product and supplier information on the web, D ownload a product catalogue, Email enquiries to suppliers, Place orders online, Make payments online.