Peddler

A peddler is someone who travels, selling goods to the general public for a living. A peddler may operate door to door, by foot, and/or at organized events such as a (trade-)fair or carnival, perhaps with a horse-drawn or motorized wagon. A peddler can also be known as a canvasser or a solicitor.

Related Topics:
Selling - Goods - Carnival - Solicitor

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In many economies this work was often left to nomadic minorities, such as gypsies, offering a varied assortment of goods, both evergreens and (notoriously suspicious) novelties. Peddlers sometimes doubled as performers or "healers." In the modern economy a new breed of peddler, generally encouraged to dress respectably to inspire confidence with the general public, was sent into the field as an aggressive form of direct marketing by companies pushing their specific products, sometimes to help launch novelties, sometimes on a permanent basis. In a few cases this has even been used as the core of a business and on a large scale.

Related Topics:
Gypsies - Direct marketing

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While peddlers had a significant role in supplying isolated populations even with fairly basic goods, their market share has in modern times been drastically reduced as increasing density of population and buying power encouraged sedentary, even specialized sales points (these also enjoy scale advantages) while modern transport (railroads, cars, airplanes), mail order, refrigeration and other technology allow even rural clients alternative chanels of purchase.

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As they often have bad reputations as high pressure salesmen, peddlers must be able to face constant negative feedback to maintain the confidence needed for the next sales presentation. Peddling can be a very stressful job if one is not mentally prepared. A successful peddler must be able to read the body language of the intended customer. Other important qualities for a peddler include constant eye contact with the customer, a positive attitude, and an upbeat presentation of the goods offered.

Related Topics:
Reputations - Negative feedback - Confidence - Stressful - Body language - Customer - Eye contact - Attitude

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