Export merchants are still a great factor in Eng land, where they are usually spoken of as "general exporters" or "shipping merchants." It was the ex port merchants who built England's foreign trade and the powerful organizations which they organized, still control and will continue to control for years the mar kets of many sections of the world.
It goes without saying that their hold is strongest in the "old lines," such as cotton goods ; newer pro ducts, such as electrical goods and many lines of ma chinery, being generally handled direct. Their inti mate knowledge of the markets abroad and of the productive possibilities of the English plants, coupled with good-will resulting from decades of sound busi ness policy, make their position secure.
6. Foreign transaction becomes a domestic one.— The outright purchase of goods by the export mer chant reduces the foreign sale to a domestic transac tion, as far as the manufacturer is concerned. The latter does not need to know the foreign consumer. The export merchant assumes all risks. The manu facturer does not worry about possible depressions in the market to which the goods are shipped. Usually he receives his money promptly within a few days after his goods leave the plant. He deals with a firm rated in1Dun's or Bradstreet's, and known to him per sonally and in many cases to his banker. He does not need to bother with the intricate details of custom house and transportation formalities.
7. Foreign buyer benefits, also.—An equally im portant service is performed for the, foreign buyer. In most cases the export merchant offers his goods for sale at a price expressed in the foreign money and delivered at some important trading center with which the buyer is acquainted. The transaction is, there fore, no different for the foreign buyer from the pur chase of similar goods from a local firm. The in timate knowledge which the export merchant pos sesses of the market in which he specializes enables him to grant more liberal credit than would be pos sible to an exporter whose principal interest was in the home market.
The large shipments which the export merchant makes enable him to secure more expeditious service, generally at lower rates, than an individual foreign buyer could secure. He offers the buyer a variety
of articles, thus enabling him to mass his orders and secure the accommodations accorded a large account instead of scattering them. In this respect the ex port merchant is virtually an international jobber.
8. Disadvantages of dealing thru export Vier chants.—The export merchant is indifferent as to who produces the goods he sells, so long as they sat isfy his customers. He may, therefore, shift his pur chases from one manufacturer to another, tho this is not easy to do where he deals in trade-marked or patented articles.
Export merchants generally place their orders for unbranded goods. When the goods are in the ware houses ready for export the merchants have their own trade-marks attached. Frequently the marks differ for the various countries to which the goods are shipped. This is a common practice among the Ger man and French export houses. To some extent it is also practiced in England.
In Germany the manufacturer attached the ex porter's trade-marks and the goods left the factory ready for the steamer and were seldom as much as inspected by the export merchant. In some cases where speed was essential the goods passed directly from manufacturer to steamer fully addressed to their final destination. In the textile trade the English mills generally mark the goods with any brand desired by the buyer. The American mills, as a rule, refuse to use any brand but their own.
9. goods and export 'merchants.— We must not overlook the fact that it takes a great deal of effort and expense to introduce new products into foreign markets. Only after the demand be comes large is there any possibility of profits. More over, in the case of trade-marked products, the manu facturer may at any time undertake to supply the for eign buyer direct. In that case, much or all of the export merchant's initial outlay becomes a dead loss. The export merchant is unable to control the quality or character of trade-marked goods. His knowledge of the foreign market may convince him that slight changes in them would increase their sale, but the manufacturer most likely will refuse to make them.