Introducing the Wrox Classifieds Application

The emergence of the Internet as a worldwidestandard for communicating information has opened up a huge number of new business opportunities. One of these opportunities is the area known aselectronic commerce. Essentially, theInternet is able to take the place of a traditional bricks-and-mortar store –playing the role of the vendor (or the retailer who sits between buyer andvendor). For very little overhead, people are now able to sell their productselectronically. The Internet has enabled the buyer and the seller to be broughttogether in a virtual (rather than a physical) manner.

Let's consider a simple example of commerce between twopeople, involving the kind of classified advertisements that are traditionallyto be found in almost any 'local' newspaper. In a listing of classified ads, anadvertiser will place a small ad that lists items that he wishes to sell, andprovides a means (usually a telephone number) by which prospective buyers cancontact them.

Let's briefly examine the nature of a sale via a newspaperclassified. During the course of the sale, the information flows in differentdirections at different stages. First, there is a downstream flow ofinformation (from seller to buyer) – the listing in print on the newspaper.(Thus, the classified ad listing is just a way of bringing a buyer and sellertogether.) When a potential purchaser's interest has been raised, then thatinterest must be relayed upstream (from buyer to seller) – usually by telephoneor in person. Finally, a meeting should result that uses face-to-facenegotiation to finalize the sale – if the sale can be agreed.

By placing the entire system on the Internet, the upstreamand downstream communications are accomplished using a single medium – a webbrowser. The sale becomes more of an auction, because many potential buyers,all with equal status, can bid for the same item. So it's fairer for allpurchasers, and gets a better deal for the seller.