Free Markets (3) - Public Offers

A market is a place where people can display and record offers. Putting a whole lot of offers together in once place simplifies life for potential buyers. They can look at all the offers and choose the one that is best for them.

In a few markets, buyers and sellers can make an offer. In stock exchange and other financial markets, both buys and sellers can make offers. A trade is completed when buyer and seller agree on a price. Electronic trading allows a broad range of offers by buyers and sellers to be observed by a large number of observers.

A buyer can go into a car yard and make an offer for a car.

I will only give you a thousand dollars for that heap of junk.

In most markets, only the sellers can make offers and the buyers just accept or reject them. In a shopping mall, offers are made by displaying the good for sale and attaching a sticky label that records the price the vendor is willing to accept. The buyer assesses the quality of the goods by observing them.

In a farmers market, produce being offered is put on display and the price that will be accepted is displayed. Buyers can accept or reject the offers.

Offers make a market. If all offers to buy and sell disappear, a market becomes an empty shell.