Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013

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DIVISION F – WHOLESALE TRADE




The Wholesale Trade Division includes units mainly engaged in the purchase and onselling, the commission based buying, and/or the commission based selling of goods, without significant transformation, to businesses. Units are classified to the Wholesale Trade Division in the first instance if they buy finished goods and then onsell them (including on a commission basis) to businesses.

Wholesalers' premises are usually a warehouse or office with little or no display of goods large storage facilities and are not generally located or designed to attract a high proportion of walk-in customers. Wholesaling is often characterised by high value and/or bulk volume transactions, and customers are generally reached through trade-specific contacts.

The Wholesale Trade Division distinguishes two types of wholesalers:

• merchant wholesalers who take title to the goods they sell, including import/export merchants; and
• units whose main activity is the commission based buying and/or the commission based selling of goods, acting as wholesale agents or brokers, or business to business electronic markets, both of whom arrange the sale of goods on behalf of others for a commission or fee without taking title to the goods.

For units that have goods manufactured for them on commission and then sell those goods, the following treatment guidelines are to be followed:

• units that own the material inputs, own the final outputs but have the production done by others will be included in the Manufacturing Division;
• units that do not own the material inputs, own the final outputs but have the production done by others will not be included in the Manufacturing Division (these may be included in wholesale trade or other divisions); and
• units that do not own the material inputs, do not own the final outputs but undertake the production for others will be included in the Manufacturing Division.