kjøpsbart

Kjøpsbart is a Norwegian term describing goods or services that can be purchased on the market from external suppliers. The word is formed from the stem kjøp, meaning purchase, combined with the suffix -bar, which indicates capability, so kjøpsbart literally means buyable or purchasable.

In business and procurement contexts, kjøpsbart is used to distinguish items that can be obtained externally from those that are produced in-house or obtained through non-market arrangements. It often appears in make-or-buy analyses, where decisions hinge on comparing the costs, risks, and lead times of purchasing versus internal production or development.

Common examples of kjøpsbart items include standard office supplies, generic software licenses, external consulting services, and widely available raw materials. Items that are not kjøpsbart typically involve bespoke or highly specialized production, proprietary technology, regulatory constraints, or strategic assets that a firm chooses to develop internally or maintain exclusivity over.

Linguistically, the term reflects Norwegian compounding conventions and the general use of the -bar suffix to denote capability. While kjøpsbart is the standard form, you may encounter closely related variants in usage or style guides. The concept is particularly relevant in procurement policy, project planning, and cost-management discussions, where clear distinctions between purchasable and non-purchasable components aid decision-making.