Agents are functional middlemen who represent either buyers or sellers on a recurring basis. Producers or buyers will hire an agent on a permanent basis to deal with specific product transactions.

Using agents has significant advantages:
  • Agents tend to have many contacts that can be used to sell products.
  • Agents work at building good relationships with their customers.
  • Agents are paid on commission. Customers do not have to pay agents until the goods are sold.
  • Agents can offer producers lower costs for the services because they can spread their operating costs over all the products they sell.