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A Word on Anonymity (A Slight Return)

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We originally published the following post on August 21st, 2019 — a little over two years ago! While a lot has changed since then (the official introduction of BryzosPay, a global Pandemic), a lot has stayed the same (our stance on anonymity, a global Pandemic). With BryzosPay’s successful launch which has been met with a loving embrace from our Buyer and Seller community, we are now more confident than ever in anonymity’s role on the platform.

The risk associated with issuing credit to an anonymous Buyer was always the biggest sticking point with anonymity. And it proved a big challenge to overcome. But we love nothing more than a challenge and after two years we are proud to say BryzosPay totally removes that risk from our Sellers and gets them paid on time, every time without having to run background checks, get bank approvals, or chase invoices. At the same time, it offers our Buyers unparalleled payment terms, freeing up working capital so they can get back to what they are so good at — building!

With all that said, please read on to get our take on anonymity, then and now.

Originally published on LinkedIn, August 21st, 2019. Updated on August 23rd, 2021:

We’re often asked, “Why is Bryzos anonymous?”

The answer is simple — if perhaps a bit unexpected — Bryzos is anonymous because it has to be. Disclosing the identity of the Buyer and/or Seller before a transaction introduces a host of biases that tip the scale in favor of either. Bryzos’ objective has always been to provide a neutral, transparent, comprehensive, and unbiased marketplace for steel — sadly, an increasingly difficult thing to find.

Note: Bryzos does disclose the identity of both the Buyer and Seller after the Buyer clicks “Purchase.”

Two key points that led Bryzos to its stance on anonymity:

SELLER PROTECTION: Every owner of steel products has taken a large financial risk to have steel on the ground. It is not Bryzos’ place to interfere with a Seller’s opportunity to capitalize on that risk.

If Bryzos were to disclose the identity of the Seller quoting a bill of material, a less scrupulous Bryzos user could create additional fake RFQ’s in order to triangulate that Sellers’ inventory position.

No cheating on Bryzos.

PRICING BIAS: Knowing the identity of a Buyer or Seller introduces the opportunity for pricing bias. Bryzos wants all quotes to be fair and representative of what the market will bear.

One of the first questions that people ask in response to anonymity is:

“What about credit? How am I supposed to offer credit to a Buyer I don’t even know?”

That’s a great question. And was a really hard problem to solve. Bryzos knew that it could not budge on anonymity, but also knew it had to solve the credit issue. The problem has been solved with BryzosPay. 

Bryzos has structured the transaction such that the Seller does not take the credit risk on the Buyer. Bryzos, in association with Cass Bank of St. Louis and B2B Checkout Platform partner, Ba/ance, shoulders the credit risk, not the Seller. When a Buyer pays using BryzosPay, you, as the Seller, are getting paid either way—it does not matter who the Buyer is from a credit perspective. 

And as a Buyer, we have figured out how to provide Net 60 terms, freeing up working capital for you and your company. No more holds while you wait for your product to arrive. 

We believe in our community of Buyers and Sellers and we’ve put ourselves on the line to prove it. Now it’s just up to you to take advantage of it! 

To learn more, visit www.bryzos.com or email [email protected]

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