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 hi car lots, while commission mer- 
chants handle shipments of any size. 
14. The sale of goods before or at hardest 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. 
16. Provided an order can not be secured 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 be diverted to the proper 
market. 
17. When a car has arrived on the 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. 
