on the market

[JACEK1]

Hello again!

Since we produce various componeents and sell them to someone else, would it be right to say that we are ON the market?

I think so. In connection with the sentence above, could I say "we have been on the market for over 10 years?

Thank you.

 

[Tarheel]

Well, "on the market" doesn't work for me. How about saying that you have been in the business for ten years? Or that you have ten years of experience?

 

[Rover_KE]

You could say 'For ten years we have been in the market for supplying steel components to light industry manufacturers'.

 

[emsr2d2]

"On the market" in BrE means "for sale".

My house has been on the market for six weeks.
When did you put your car on the market?
There are twenty different tablet computers on the market.
I don't think there's a purple smartphone on the market at the moment.

In your context, "in the market" would be better. The products you sell are "on the market" but you're not.

 

[SoothingDave]

Your products are on the market. You are in the market.

 

[JACEK1]

I have found a way out of this "difficult" situation. After consulting an acquaintance of mine, I wrote "we have been a supplier for over 10 years".

 

[Rover_KE]

We could have told you that!

We thought you were determined to use 'the market'.

 

[JACEK1]

When I considered using the phrases "on the market" or "in the market", I found that there might be something fishy about them if I use one of them. I could compare this issue to the use of "be after dinner". In Polish, when we say "I am after dinner" we mean "we have (already) had dinner", not "we are looking for dinner".

 

[Tarheel]

"On the market" in BrE means "for sale".

My house has been on the market for six weeks.
When did you put your car on the market?
There are twenty different tablet computers on the market.
I don't think there's a purple smartphone on the market at the moment.

In your context, "in the market" would be better. The products you sell are "on the market" but you're not.

The phrase "on the market" is used the same in AmE.

 

[Tarheel]

I have found a way out of this "difficult" situation. After consulting an acquaintance of mine, I wrote "we have been a supplier for over 10 years".

That is very close to what I suggested. The only thing I would change about that is to be more specific about what you are a supplier of. (But you probably do that anyway.)

:up: