2018 - Volume #42, Issue #2, Page #07
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Free Online Marketplace Helps Buyers Find Sellers
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“We want to connect farmers with buyers. Building relationships is important in the food chain,” says Kim Harrison, who raises cattle and sheep with her husband on the couple’s Missouri farm.
As she juggled selling to individuals, food hubs, cooperatives and big box stores, she decided there had to be a better way. After researching and dismissing the idea of creating a physical distribution center, she and her business-minded daughter, Olivia Vann, spent a couple of years working with a developer to set up a digital marketplace. Since launching last year, hundreds of users have signed up, with about 40 percent producers and 60 percent buyers.
It’s free for farmers to sign up, list and look, and it’s also free for buyers listing and looking for items. A fee is only paid by the buyer when a connection is made — to cover the cost of PayPal fees and administration fees. The buyer/seller make delivery arrangements.
Harrison notes that 2BuyAg.com is different from other digital services in a few ways.
They work in real time, she notes, and posts are only up for a short time. Harrison and her daughter go the extra mile to help farmers set up their pages and a PayPal account. They also keep an eye on messages sent to farmers from interested buyers. If the farmer doesn’t respond, they call the farmer.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Kim Harrison, 5199 Co. Rd. 351, Fulton, Mo. 65251 (ph 573 590-0643; www.2buyag.com; kharrison@2buyAg.com).
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