Aftermarket

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The marketplace where products and services are offered following the original sale, often catering to additional needs of consumers
2. A segment of commerce that includes goods and services sold to consumers after the initial purchase, enhancing or maintaining the original item
3. A secondary market for products and services that arise to support, enhance, or complement items already purchased by consumers

Etymology: "Aftermarket" is a plain compound: "after" joined to "market," with the sense of a market that exists after the original sale. The first element traces back through Old English "æfter" to a Proto-Germanic root shared by German "after" and related forms, while "market" is an older English word for a place or occasion of buying and selling. The sense is what makes the word worth a closer look. The "after" does not refer to time in the abstract but to the sequence of commerce: the primary market is where a product is first sold by its maker, and the aftermarket is the trade that follows, in parts, accessories, repairs and services for that same item. A car owner buying replacement brake pads or custom floor mats is operating in the aftermarket, and the phrase is most often heard in motoring, where it came to name the whole industry of add-ons outside the manufacturer's own supply chain.

Synonyms: replacement market, secondary market