The structure of the selling market

The existence of any kind of interregional or international trade subsumes the existence of two separate markets, distinct from each other in space and concept. The structure and organisation of buying and selling markets need not be similar for trade to take place, and in fact all through history they have differed widely from one society to another without impeding the free flow of goods and services between them. However, such differences demand considerable flexibility in commercial techniques on the part of merchants and traders who stand as the vital connecting link in the chain of economic transactions from the producers to the final consumers. The unique quality of English and Dutch trade with Asia, as conducted through joint-stock companies, sprang from the attempt to impose a centralised and bureaucratically directed system of exchange and distribution on markets that were traditionally decentralised, fragmented, and oriented towards individual efforts. This generalisation applies as much to the selling markets in Europe as to the Asian purchasing markets, though on the selling side the chartered companies successfully developed a marketing arrangement that greatly simplified the decision-making process and the complex calculation of risks and uncertainty associated with early modern trade. From the very beginning of their commercial relations with Asia, both the Dutch and English East India Companies made surprisingly little effort to reach the consuming markets directly. The distribution of the imports which provided the bulk of corporate profits was left either to the individual members of the companies or to wholesale specialist dealers.