Definitions

AGREEMENT TYPES AND PRODUCT DEFINITIONS FOR BUYERS AND SELLERS

DISCLAIMER: The following business-related definitions are intended to be a ‘general guide’ only. You should thoroughly investigate your own geographic jurisdiction to clearly identify the definition that you are seeking clarification of to use this site more effectively.

DISTRIBUTOR: A formal agreement whereby the buyer buys from the seller in bulk at a discount price and resells that product in the buyer’s local economy at a margin under their own terms and conditions. (Un-sourced or cited)

RE-SELLER: A non-formal agreement (only contract law) whereby the buyer buys from the seller to consume or re-sell in local economy. (Un-sourced or cited)

AGENT: A formal agreement whereby the buyer only acts on behalf of the seller, for a given economy or set of conditions. The agent owns their own business but represents that brand for that economy only, generally on a commission basis only. (Un-sourced or cited)

AFFILIATE: What Is an Affiliate?
The term affiliate is used to describe the relationship between two entities wherein one owns less than a majority stake in the other’s stock. Affiliations can also describe a type of relationship in which at least two different companies are subsidiaries of a larger parent company.
An affiliate is determined by the degree of ownership a parent company holds in another company. Ownership is generally less than 50% of the company’s stock. The term is also used in online retail. In this case, one company becomes affiliated with another in order to sell its products or services. (SOURCE: INVESTOPEDIA, 2020)

FRANCHISEE: What Is a Franchisee?
A franchisee is a small business owner who operates a franchise. The franchisee has purchased the right to use an existing business’s trademarks, associated brands, and other proprietary knowledge to market and sell the same brand, and uphold the same standards as the first business. Franchisees become owners and independent operators of third-party retail outlets called franchises. (SOURCE: INVESTOPEDIA, 2020)
GENERALLY FOR A SHARE OF YEARLY PROFITS (BUT NOT LOSSES IF ANY) (un-sourced or cited)

LICENSEE: What Is a Licensee?
A licensee is any business, organization, or individual that has been granted legal permission by another entity to engage in an activity. The permission, or license, can be given on an express or implied basis.
Understanding Licensees
A licensee has received legal permission from another party to conduct some sort of business over which the other party holds some control, ownership, or authority. The licensee may pay outright for this permission, known as a licensing fee, or may make payments based on the results of the business arrangement, known as licensing revenue. (SOURCE: INVESTOPEDIA, 2020)

PRODUCT: A product can include either a tangible-good or an intangible-service. The term product is used interchangeably between the two items, to describe either. (Un-sourced or cited)

OEM: Original Equipment Manufacturer. This is the factory that generally makes the product for a brand. IE. Calloway Golf Company is a Golf Brand of golf equipment. But Scone Industries is a Chinese Golf Equipment Manufacturer, that makes many of the worlds best golfing equipment company’s products. Therefore, Scone Industries is the OEM, and Calloway is a Brand that Scone makes for. (Un-sourced or cited)

GENERIC: Generic refers to a good that is sold in the open market without having any real identifiable brand related to that good. A general example is similar to OEM, but say for foods, a wheat seller could be a producer or wholesaler that on-sells their wheat product to others unbranded. Contrary to this ‘generic’ feature, the wheat seller could package and sell their wheat with a distinct brand feature, that generally has related to it, a higher market price, not always, but sometimes referring to higher quality or reliability. (Un-sourced or cited)

BRAND: What Is a Brand?
A brand is an identifying symbol, mark, logo, name, word, and/or sentence that companies use to distinguish their product from others. A combination of one or more of those elements can be utilized to create a brand identity. Legal protection given to a brand name is called a trademark. (SOURCE: INVESTOPEDIA, 2020)

SERVICE: A type of business that is not ‘Goods’ based. They offer an intangible product as a form of sales revenue for themselves to others -consumers (B2C) or businesses (B2B). (Un-sourced or cited)

M & A: Merger or Acquisition. A merger is where two companies come together to form one. An acquisition is where one entity buys out-right another (normally smaller) entity. (Un-sourced or cited)