A farmer could set up a stand outside their driveway and advertise on Facebook, but the farmer’s market middle man acts as a go between to handle logistics and advertising and customer availability and creates a safe marketplace for customers and vendors.
A middle man is an intermediary. I do not buy food from the farmers market. I buy it from farmers who have paid rent to be at the farmers market. The market is the landlord, not the middle man.
Is Amazon not a middle man? In many cases you’re buying directly from the seller, just like at a farmer’s market. Amazon, like a farmer’s market, exists to facilitate trade between sellers and buyers. It just collects rents.
A lot of these markets are more community-focused and, yeah, they’ll charge something but not beyond the actual cost of putting the market together. They’re not making a profit. In some places the state or municipality will organize the markets in order to foster the local food/ag scene.
Do you think those things mean something isn’t a middle man?
The cost of putting the market together is always going to be higher than selling out of a van. Bigger venue, higher costs. It’s worth it for the increased sales, but the middle man still gets a cut. Even if there’s no profit, even if the cut is fair, there’s still a cut.
… isn’t the market a middle man? They charge for the booths.
No, they’re a cost of doing business.
i.e. a middle man
A farmer could set up a stand outside their driveway and advertise on Facebook, but the farmer’s market middle man acts as a go between to handle logistics and advertising and customer availability and creates a safe marketplace for customers and vendors.
No, that’s not what middle man means.
A middle man is an intermediary. I do not buy food from the farmers market. I buy it from farmers who have paid rent to be at the farmers market. The market is the landlord, not the middle man.
Landlords are middle men.
Is Amazon not a middle man? In many cases you’re buying directly from the seller, just like at a farmer’s market. Amazon, like a farmer’s market, exists to facilitate trade between sellers and buyers. It just collects rents.
No. Absolutely not. Landlords are middle men between tenant and the earth. But they are not middle men between consumers and commercial tenants.
Amazon is ABSOLUTELY a middle man because you DO NOT buy directly from the seller you pay Amazon and Amazon pays the seller.
And commercial tenants can’t access customers without the landlord.
Face it, they’re middle men.
A lot of these markets are more community-focused and, yeah, they’ll charge something but not beyond the actual cost of putting the market together. They’re not making a profit. In some places the state or municipality will organize the markets in order to foster the local food/ag scene.
Do you think those things mean something isn’t a middle man?
The cost of putting the market together is always going to be higher than selling out of a van. Bigger venue, higher costs. It’s worth it for the increased sales, but the middle man still gets a cut. Even if there’s no profit, even if the cut is fair, there’s still a cut.