such as whether the wholesaler is independently owned or owned by a producer, whether the wholesaler takes title to the products they handle, or lastly by range of services, the most relevant of which known as Merchant Wholesale will be the primary topic in this article.

"Merchant wholesalers take title [ownership] to product the

What is a wholesaler? In a nutshell, it is a company that buys (usually directly) from a manufacturer in large quantities at a discount, then pieces out the product into smaller quantities that are then sold for a higher price. The usual chain of product goes: Manufacturer > Wholesaler > Retailer > Customer.

Services provided by wholesalers involve both manufacturers and retailers. Producers, once the product is manufactured, begin incurring storage costs as well as logistical issues involved with keeping product onsite. Wholesalers usually pay transportation costs, as well as reducing costs involved with producer storage by removing manufactured product to a warehouser's own utilities, providing financial benefits as well. These costs incurred by a warehouser can be spread among many more products than a retailer or producer, thereby reducing the per-item cost to a retailer. A warehouser also takes the burden off the producer for possible detrimental stockpiling of goods, as the warehouser often has agreements to purchase certain quantities in exchange for reduced product costs, reassuring the manufacturer that there will be a market for certain production levels and allowing manufacture at the most efficient levels possible.

There are three different general classifications of wholesalers, defined by criteria such as whether the wholesaler is independently owned or owned by a producer, whether the wholesaler takes title to the products they handle, or lastly by range of services, the most relevant of which known as Merchant Wholesale will be the primary topic in this article.

"Merchant wholesalers take title [ownership] to product they

y wholesalers involve both manufacturers and retailers. Producers, once the product is manufactured, begin incurring storage costs as well as logistical issues involved with keeping product onsite. Wholesalers usually pay transportation costs, as well as reducing costs involved with producer storage by removing manufactured product to a warehouser's own utilities, providing financial benefits as well. These costs incurred by a warehouser can be spread among many more products than a retailer or producer, thereby reducing the per-item cost to a retailer. A warehouser also takes the burden off the producer for possible detrimental stockpiling of goods, as the warehouser often has agreements to purchase certain quantities in exchange for reduced product costs, reassuring the manufacturer that there will be a market for certain production levels and allowing manufacture at the most efficient levels possible.

There are three different general classifications of wholesalers, defined by criteria such as whether the wholesaler is independently owned or owned by a producer, whether the wholesaler takes title to the products they handle, or lastly by range of services, the most relevant of which known as Merchant Wholesale will be the primary topic in this article.

"Merchant wholesalers take title [ownership] to product the

a warehouser's own utilities, providing financial benefits as well. These costs incurred by a warehouser can be spread among many more products than a retailer or producer, thereby reducing the per-item cost to a retailer. A warehouser also takes the burden off the producer for possible detrimental stockpiling of goods, as the warehouser often has agreements to purchase certain quantities in exchange for reduced product costs, reassuring the manufacturer that there will be a market for certain production levels and allowing manufacture at the most efficient levels possible.

There are three different general classifications of wholesalers, defined by criteria such as whether the wholesaler is independently owned or owned by a producer, whether the wholesaler takes title to the products they handle, or lastly by range of services, the most relevant of which known as Merchant Wholesale will be the primary topic in this article.

"Merchant wholesalers take title [ownership] to product the

user often has agreements to purchase certain quantities in exchange for reduced product costs, reassuring the manufacturer that there will be a market for certain production levels and allowing manufacture at the most efficient levels possible.

There are three different general classifications of wholesalers, defined by criteria such as whether the wholesaler is independently owned or owned by a producer, whether the wholesaler takes title to the products they handle, or lastly by range of services, the most relevant of which known as Merchant Wholesale will be the primary topic in this article.

"Merchant wholesalers take title [ownership] to product the

such as whether the wholesaler is independently owned or owned by a producer, whether the wholesaler takes title to the products they handle, or lastly by range of services, the most relevant of which known as Merchant Wholesale will be the primary topic in this article.

"Merchant wholesalers take title [ownership] to product they deal in, assume risk and buy and resell products to other wholesalers, to retailers, or to other business customers" (Ferrell & Pride, 2003). This is further broken down into Full-service wholesalers and Limited-service wholesalers.

Full-service wholesalers include General-merchandise, Limited-line and Specialty-line classifications. General-merchandise wholesalers carry a wide variety of products, but do not specialize within product lines.

Limited-line carry fewer products, but with more specialization in the few product types they deal in. Grocery wholesalers fall under this category.

Specialty-line wholesalers deal in very few products but with high specialization in their chosen product line(s), such as only dealing in pharmaceuticals.

Full-service wholesalers provide the widest range of services, such as quantity breakdowns, financial assistance and credit, marketing services and product availability. Full-service wholesalers usually earn a higher profit margin than other wholesalers, but operating expenses are much higher as well.

Limited service wholesalers specialize in fewer functions than Full-service wholesalers, generally allowing the producer or the customer to provide most functions. These wholesalers include Cash-and-carry companies, Trucking companies, Drop-shippers or Mail-ord