New auction site lets printers bid for paper

BJ Ball New Zealand is marketing excess paper stock online through new auction site ibidb2b.com.

According to Stephen Williams, regional manager for BJ Ball NZ, ibidb2b.com will be used as a vehicle to clear surplus inventory to “customers we wouldn’t otherwise have access to. Some of the stock will end up in exotic locations other than New Zealand. It is a new way of selling paper to go alongside our current offers.”

BJ Ball decided on the reserve that it was prepared to see the stock go at, turning dead stock into cash and freeing capital. Shipping details on auctioned paper will be arranged on a per sale bases.

“We were approached through ibidb2b director, Mark Campbell to offer our excess paper stock online. We see it as a professional and functional front to have a different offering in the market. It’s an alternative option to access a broader market,” he said.

The company will gauge success of the initiative on the volume of stock cleared, rather than price. If it successfully clears excess lines, “then we will continue through with it as a means to clear stock.”

Williams (pictured) says the online auction will not affect local sales representatives or the company’s reps on the road. “It is just another means to clear surplus inventory.”

ibidb2b.com is an Australian-run website that enables raw material to be traded on the open market be it excess, surplus or overrun inventories. It allows for sellers to specify their own additional terms and conditions, which are often required in business-to-business transactions.