JOBBER, an individual, firm or corporation engaged in whole saling as a merchant middleman, i.e., a middleman who buys merchandise outright and resells on his own account, usually to the retailer. Normally, the jobber performs all of the principal wholesale functions : assembling, storing, and delivering mer chandise stocks, (2) selling stocks through a regular sales force, (3) extending credit to customers, (4) providing retailers with advice and assistance in matters of stock turn, stock control, selling methods, and other aspects of retail store management, (5) assuming risks of price fluctuation, wastage, and deterioration. Hence the term "jobber" can seldom be distinguished from the term "wholesaler" upon the basis of functional differences. Orig inally, of course, the term "jobber" denoted a wholesale merchant middleman who specialized in buying and selling odd, isolated, or "job" lots, while the term "wholesaler" denoted a wholesale mer chant middleman who specialized in buying and selling more or less complete offerings and who maintained continuous stocks.
This distinction has almost completely disappeared in the market ing of manufactured consumers' goods. The jobber (or whole saler) occupies a most significant place in the marketing of gro ceries, hardware, drugs, and dry goods. For years the bulk of such goods has passed through the hands of the jobber (or wholesaler) and hence these four staple lines of merchandise are often referred to as "jobbing lines." Census figures indicate that approximately one-half of all the consumers' goods manufactured in the United States is handled by jobbers (or wholesalers) while approximately 18% of all the industrial goods is also sold through the jobber (or wholesaler). (G. R. C.)