Selecting an eMarketplace
How do you join?

Many eMarketplaces require visitors to register to use the site, which is usually a case of completing an On-line form to receive a password by eMail.  Increasingly, registration is not required until users access the more advanced features of the site - to encourage as many visitors as possible.  

Most eMarketplaces do not charge buyers for their services, in order to encourage visitors to the site.  Instead, they charge the sellers, often following a traditional business-directory model with varying prices depending on the level of service supplied.  These services and rates can vary from inclusion in a business directory, to links to the SME Web site, inclusion of a product catalogue, and advertisement on the front page of the site.  The cost will depend on functionality, and in some cases the service is provided free of charge to both buyers and sellers.  Where this is the case, the eMarketplace funds its activities through other services provided such as software sales, its role as an Internet Service Provider, or Application Service Provider (especially where eCatalogues play a large part in the site).  Other payment models include charging a percentage of the value of the transaction, which will be either paid by the seller, or shared between the two trading companies.

It is worth checking how the site charges customers and suppliers for the services, as it may take some time to find the product/service you are interested in purchasing, only to find that once the charges have been taken into account, the offer is no longer as competitive as you first thought.  Similarly, as a supplier, if the eMarketplace charges a fixed fee per line item ordered, it may not be viable to supply multiple low cost items on that site.