OUTLETS AND METHODS OF SALE FOR SHIPPERS. 25 



and bad accounts. Direct-to-the-consumer sales are usually possi- 

 ble only with highly specialized commodities of small bulk. 



9. Direct-to-consumer sales by the grower may be made as fol- 

 lows: Direct delivery by wagon or motor truck; the use of public 

 markets; express and parcel-post shipments; peddling from the car 

 doors; and sales to factories. 



10. Under present methods of distribution most car-lot shipments 

 must be sold through wholesale distributing agencies. 



11. Sales to country merchants, country collecting agents, country 

 buyers of special products, and traveling buyers are desirable in that 

 the grower deals with the buyer in person and receives cash at the 

 time of sale. 



12. Private exchanges closely parallel cooperative associations in 

 the organization of their sales forces, with salaried representatives 

 or brokers in the larger markets. Thus they are able to secure an 

 advantageous distribution of commodities sold through them. 

 Cooperative associations, however, are mutual organizations of pro- 

 ducers, while the exchanges are private companies organized for 

 profit. 



13. Brokers and commission merchants are valuable marketing 

 aids to the producer in that they act as his personal representatives 

 on the market. In the case of brokers this is an important con- 

 sideration in the matter of rejections, for the representative is able, 

 through being on the market, either to prevent rejection entirely or 

 to offer a suitable compromise. Brokers act merely as representa- 

 tives of the shipper, whereas commission merchants usually have 

 complete authority to dispose of shipments to the best advantage. 

 Brokers handle shipments usually in car lots, while commission mer- 

 chants handle shipments of any size. 



14. The sale of goods before or at harvest time transfers the ele- 

 ment of risk from the grower to the buyer and changes the crop into 

 immediately available assets. 



15. One advantage of selling goods f. o. b. destination is that 

 although they are liable to rejection in case of damage in transit or 

 a decline in the market, there is at least the prospect of a buyer, 

 and, with reasonable allowances made, the car usually will return a 

 greater profit than if it had been shipped to the market unordered. 



L6. Provided an ordei can not be seemed by the time a shipment 

 of perishables is Loaded, the car can be started in the general direc- 

 tion in which market conditions seem strongest. If a sale is made 

 while the car is in transit; the shipment can l>o diverted to the proper 

 market. 



1 7. When a car has arrived on t he market and is unsold it may be 

 disposed of either for cash "on track," through an auction, or it 

 may be put into storage until conditions warrant its withdrawal. 



