Bulletin Board (BBS) is a one to many
communication medium where buyer or seller 'posts'
a message for visitors of the Board. Like notice boards
in physical world, BBS is a source for latest information.
BBS is an extremely powerful tool to
reach a seamless world not bound by countries, regions
or even languages. Trade BBS (i.e. Bulletin Board
dealing in International trade) seems to be the ideal
tool for any foreign trade professional. Whether you
are buying, selling or offering some service - trade
BBS can get you instant result almost at zero cost.
-
A Trade BBS provides latest trade
information on following three areas:
-
Buy or Demand message, where importer
or buyer places an inquiry for sellers
-
Sell or Offer inquiries where seller
places advertisement for his product for buyers
-
Misc Opportunities messages where
parties other than seller or buyer (e.g. Agent,
Distributor, Logistics operator etc.) place message
for general exim community.
Evolution of
BBS
During the heyday of dotcoms, thousands
of Trade BBS sprang up from all parts of the world.
Simple technology and ease of use were the main drivers
for such huge popularity. However, so many bulletin
boards with so little to distinguish one from other,
made life difficult for international traders.
Following the burst of dotcom bubble
- many of these trade bulletin boards have closed
down. While, sadly, some good BBS have closed down,
the good news is that surviving ones have become much
more powerful.
Is the Information
Genuine ?
I have heard this concern many times
over. Indeed, all messages posted at BBS may not be
from genuine parties. Like advertisements in Newspaper
or any other media - BBS is a source of information.
How best to use this information is limited only by
the skill and ability of the user. One will have to
separate wheat from chaff ! Besides, whether the source
of information is BBS or not - every prudent businessman
exercises necessary precautions while evaluating a
trade offer. From that angle, it is difficult to understand
the reason for such concern.
List of Trade
BBS
Following is list of few Trade BBS where
you can find buyers. This is only a random list -
please see 'Sources of Information' below for comprehensive
listing.
Source of Information
Listed below are two excellent source
of information on high quality trade BBS around the
world.
-
Google
Perhaps the best listing of world's top BBS can
be found in Google - the king of search engines.
Please visit the following category of Google:
Business > Industries > Import and Export
> Portals It lists 245 top Exim Portals
from all over the world. We are proud to inform
you that www.infobanc.com occupies 22nd position
among world's top exim portals, according to Google's
page-rank Order. Please visit
http://www.google.com
-
Tradelead.com world's
largest collection of tradelead sites It lists
a total of 359 exim portals from all over the
world. Needless to say, www.infobanc.com occupies
a prominent place among them. Please visit
http://tradelead.com
