Merchant
Merchants function as professionals who deal with
trade, dealing in commodities that they do not produce themselves, in order to produce
profit.
Merchants can be categorised into two types:
# A
wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant. Some wholesale merchants only organise the movement of goods rather than move the goods themselves.# A
retail merchant sells commodities to consumers (including businesses), commonly known as retailers. A shop owner is a retail merchant.
A merchant
class characterises many
pre-modern societies. Its status can range from high (even achieving titles like that of
merchant prince or
nabob) to low, such as in
Chinese culture, due to the soiling capabilities of profiting from "mere"
trade, rather than from the labour of others reflected in agricultural produce and tribute.
"Merchant," under the
Uniform Commercial Code, is defined as any person while engaged in a business or profession or a seller who deals regularly in the type of goods sold. Under the
common law and the
Uniform Commercial Code in the
United States, merchants are held to a higher standard in the selling of products than those who are not engaged in the sale of goods as a profession. For example, when a merchant sells something, he or she is deemed to give an
implied warranty of merchantability, guaranteeing that the product is fit to be sold, even if there is nothing in writing to this effect. The UCC also contains a "merchant's confirmation" exception to the
Statute of Frauds.
*
commerce *
distribution *
mercantilism*
capitalism*
merchant marine
