The Difference Between a Distributor, a Broker, and an Agent

A distributor usually holds stock or has a supply arrangement and invoices the buyer as the seller. Some are authorised by a manufacturer for defined lines. Authorisation should be evidenced, not assumed from the word distributor.

Holding stock does not certify the stock. You still match the unit, the condition, and the documents.

Brokers find material and connect parties. Some take title briefly. Some never do. The risk changes with that choice. A broker who cannot name the invoicing party is still searching, even if the price sounds firm.

Brokerage is also where double-brokering appears: several intermediaries each adding a margin to the same serial number. Ask for the serial and the supplier early.

An agent may be the supplier, or may introduce a supplier, as the transaction record states. The buyer pays the product price to the identified supplier. The agent is the payee for that price only with documented authority.

Commission, if any, is paid by TabAir under a written deal-specific confirmation. It is not the same as the distributor’s margin and it is not the 8% platform fee, which is charged to the buyer and the seller under the published terms.

Who will invoice, and for what? If the answer is unstable, the prices are not comparable because you do not yet know what relationship you are buying.

TabAir’s review of a distributor, seller, or agent checks marketplace eligibility. It does not assign these commercial roles. The transaction record does.

A distributor usually sells in its own name and may hold stock or a supply arrangement. Authorisation by a manufacturer should be evidenced, not assumed from the word distributor. Holding stock does not certify the stock. You still match the unit, the condition, and the documents.

A broker may never hold the part. Some take title briefly. Some never do. The risk changes with that choice. A broker who cannot name the invoicing party is still searching, even if the price sounds firm. Several intermediaries on one serial number is a reason to ask who adds what.

An agent on TabAir may be the supplier, or may introduce a supplier, as the transaction record states. The buyer pays the product price to the identified supplier. The agent is the payee for that price only with documented authority. Commission, if any, is paid by TabAir under a written deal-specific confirmation. It is not the distributor's margin and it is not the 8% platform fee.

Job titles are a weak guide. The useful difference is who controls the unit, who invoices, and who is allowed to be paid. If that answer is unstable, the prices are not comparable because you do not yet know what relationship you are buying.

TabAir's review of a seller or agent checks marketplace eligibility. It does not assign these commercial roles. The transaction record does. Read it before you pay.

If your own company is more than one of these things on different deals, say which one you are on this deal. A distributor hat and an introducing-agent hat in the same thread, without a sentence that separates them, is how buyers freeze.