Ecommerce Platform Aspires to Reinvent the Metals Supply Chain

Reibus was founded last May by Chief Executive Officer John Armstrong and Chief Technology Officer David Bain, both formerly with metal products backgrounds in procurement, management and supply chain roles. The two spent four months developing and refining the software behind the B2B platform that is designed to make transactions as simple as possible. “We consider ourselves more of a technology company than a steel provider,” Haley said.

He estimates the site currently has about 20 million pounds of steel and aluminum listed for sale. Most of the material is prime or excess prime coil and sheet, although Reibus can also handle sales of secondary materials and scrap.

Reibus gives service centers, traders and OEMs another option to find buyers for excess material. Service centers can use Reibus as a quick source to fill holes in orders, enabling them to reduce the inventories they carry. “That’s the value Reibus offers, a way to smooth out the peaks and valleys on the supply end. For buyers, we are able to save them time and money,” Haley said.

Reibus generates its revenues from a commission on each sale, in addition to the $199 monthly fee sellers pay to list their materials. Other online sites take a passive approach, but Reibus is a full-service ecommerce provider. “Our sales team is actively bringing buyers to the site. We reach out to the HVAC industry, metal building and other markets. We work for those commissions,” Haley said.

Haley describes Reibus as “a virtual warehouse.” Once the buyer agrees to the price, Reibus handles all aspects of the transaction, from credit to invoicing to freight. The material is shipped directly from the seller to the buyer, and the source can be transparent or remain confidential, Haley explained. “Sometimes if you have excess material and you are trying to find a home for it, you may not want to advertise that fact. We are completely independent and can make the transaction anonymous.”

Reibus does not offer processing services, such as coil coating or slitting, and considers itself a resource, not a competitor, to service centers. “At this point, most of the major service centers now know who we are. We have relationships with them, we are independent so they don’t view us as a threat. They view us as a way to increase the velocity of their sales and to say yes to more orders.”

Editor’s note: Reibus is just one of various ecommerce ventures that Steel Market Update intends to profile. SMU does not endorse or recommend any ecommerce platform.