The Wholesaler.

             The wholesaler may  sell the whole  of a particular  purchase  in one lot  to one customer , or he  may divide his purchases and sell portions  of them  to a member  of customers. In  certain types  of wholesale trade, the wholesaler  may sell  goods  before  he actually purchased  them; coal and some  imported  foodstuffs  are examples of commodities  which lend themselves to this  method of trading. Again, the wholesaler may carry no stock, but upon receipt of an order, instruct the manufacturers or importers with whom he deals to forward the goods direct to his customers.

The Wholesale Trade: It is possible to divide wholesale trade into four divisions, viz (a) Warehouse (b) Home (intermediary trade) (c) foreign (intermediary trade);and (d) the commercial side of industry.

                                The  Warehouse Trade 

          This consist of buying goods from the manufacturers, or other sources  of supply, in order to stock a warehouse , from which  stock sales are made to retailers, either as the result of the  retailers personal visits to the warehouse, or  through agents or travelers employed  by the ware housemen to solicit orders  from retailers.

                                  Home (Intermediary) Trade 

        Home (Intermediary) Trade Is the buying of goods by one person in the same country, by means of samples, without handling the bulk. The bulk goes direct from the original seller to the customer of the buyer. This is done, e.g in the corn and coal trades. A trader of this type is known as  “ factor” but whether  or not  a  person  is a  factor  in legal  sense  of the  term  depends  on circumstances.

                                     Factor

            As legally defined a factor is a person employed  to sell goods merchandise consigned  or delivered  to him  by  or  for his principal  for reward. Another name  for  a factor  is Commission Agent.  A factor differs  from a broker  in that the factor has possession of the goods  and often  sells in his own  name , whereas  a broker  does  not have  possession  and always sells in the name of his principal.

                                        Foreign (Intermediary) Trade-

              Foreign (intermediary) trade is similar to Home (intermediary)trade, but in this case the trader  buys his goods in one country and sells them in another.

                                           Commercial Side of Industry- 

                  The Commercial side of industry relates to those activities of manufacturing firms concerned with the marketing of their products, and these are obviously much complicated than the commercial activities of merchants.