Marketable – definition and example

Marketable may refer to a product that we can sell or market or a person who is attractive to potential clients or employers. A marketable person is in demand. We use the term for goods, services, or skills that are easy to sell. They are easy to sell because many people want them.

If I say “I am studying for a degree to make myself more marketable,” I am talking about the job market. I am saying that people with degrees are in greater demand than those without degrees.

The Oxford Living Dictionaries has the following definitions of the term:
“1. Able or fit to be sold or marketed. 2. Attractive to potential employers or clients; in demand.”

Marketable securities

Marketable securities are very liquid securities because we can turn them into cash rapidly. We can also do this at a reasonable price.

Bonds, shares, or mortgage-backed financial instruments, for example, are securities. Securities are financial instruments that have a given value and that we buy and sell, i.e., trade.

In other words, securities are any proof of ownership or debt that have a value and that we can sell.

The marketability of securities is high because they usually mature in under twelve months. Also, the rates at which we can trade them have only a tiny effect on prices.

Marketable
It is every company’s dream to have lots of marketable products and their ultimate nightmare to have none.

Regarding securities with good marketability, the OECD Glossary of Statistical Terms writes that they are:

“Securities that can easily be sold. On a corporation’s balance sheet, they are assets that can be readily converted into cash – for example, government securities, banker’s acceptances, and commercial paper.”

The noun marketability refers to how well or badly we can sell something. If it sells easily, we say that it has good or high marketability.

What is marketable surplus?

‘Marketable surplus‘ is a term that farmers use. It is the surplus of produce that exists after the farmer has paid for costs. Wages, fertilizers, land, tools, and agricultural machinery, for example, represent costs.

Farmers have to invest. They need to invest money in tools, fertilizers, machinery, land, and labor. They also have to invest money in seeds, especially when they start off.

Put simply; marketable surplus is the part of the harvest that a farmer can sell to earn a profit.

Regarding this profit, SmallBusiness.Chron.com says:

“With this profit, she (the farmer) can reinvest into farming operations by purchasing more land or better farming equipment. She may also simply save this profit or use it to purchase personal items.”

Compound phrases with ‘Marketable’

With the word ‘Marketable,’ we can make many compound phrases. Let’s have a look at five of them:

  • Marketable Skills

The skills that are currently in high demand in the job market. If you have marketable skills, it will be easier for you to find a job than somebody who doesn’t have those skills.

For example, marketable skills in the 1930s included typewriting, shorthand, basic accounting or bookkeeping, machine repair, and telephone operation. Today, they have evolved to include digital literacy, coding, data analysis, digital marketing, and project management.

  • Marketable Title

A title to something, like a piece of property, that has no claims on it, i.e., its ownership is not disputed. Thus, it is easy to sell.

  • Marketable Quality

If a product has a marketable quality, it means that it is of a good enough standard to be sold, i.e., it is suitable for the marketplace.

For example, a pear that is ripe, free of blemishes, and meets size specifications is considered to have marketable quality.

  • Marketable Area

A geographical area where a specific business does well. For example, Silicon Valley is considered a marketable area for tech startups due to its established tech industry and network of investors.

  • Marketable Capacity

The maximum amount a company can produce and sell in a week, month, or quarter. For example, if a company’s marketable capacity is 500,000 units per month, it means that it has the ability to produce and potentially sell that many units in a month under normal operating conditions.

We can also use the term for how much an economic sector can produce and potentially sell.

Derivatives of the root word ‘Market’

From the root word ‘Market,’ we get marketplace (noun), market-goer (noun), marketwise (adverb), marketability (noun), marketeer (noun), market-led (adjective), marketbound (adjective), markethouse (noun), and marketedly (adverb).

Video – What is Marketable?

This video, from our sister channel on YouTube – Marketing Business Network, explains what ‘Marketable’ is using simple and easy-to-understand language and examples.