together, highly competitive producers cannot (or would not want to) use the same advertiser or broker.
Perishable goods need to be delivered without delay. No matter what the product, intermediaries do offer.
experience and specialisation in their field, networks of contacts, and a larger scale of operation than producers'.
own services could usually have, and this means lower costs/overheads, or improved performance and therefore.
higher profit.
However this efficiency is not offered for free; intermediaries need to be paid either fixed fees or commission;.
merchants will mark up product prices, not always by a sensibly small amount (books are an example of this.
reducing product performance). The efficiency gains need to outweigh the opportunity cost.
Selling direct.
The use of a retail intermediary means that customers, instead of buying from many producers, visit a small.
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number of retail outlets or industrial distributors where a range of goods from many producers are available. This.
is cheaper for the customers, however they are paying more for the goods due to the extra cost of producers.
dealing through retail intermediaries. Some consumers may wish to bypass this final intermediary stage, and buy.
direct from producers, if they believe the inconvenience will be cheaper than paying higher prices. Companies.
offering this (ie, not using a retailer or industrial distributor) can either allow customers to pick up goods from.
their factories or warehouses, or transport the good to the consumer using transport intermediaries or through.
door-to-door sales. Examples include goods which are bought infrequently (eg fork-lift trucks, ships and aircraft),.
those which are sold by mail (mail-order catalogues) with delivery charges payable, and door-to-door selling of.
cosmetics, Tupperware, etc.
Problems with selling indirectly.
Intermediaries interrupt the lines of communication between producers and consumers, which for some types of.
