Нужен небольшой топик на тему Sale of goods through agents. (на английском)

Agency contact is an agreement between a manufacturer (the principal) and his agent, who represents the principal and who buys and sells the principal’s goods.
Before drawing up an agency contract, it’s necessary to discuss some business matters. Whether the agent will handle the complete range of manufacturer’s goods and won’t sell similar products offered by competitors. In this case he can be a sole and exclusive agent. Or an agent can sell competing lines along with principal’s products.
The next point is the length of the contract. It may be renegotiated after a certain period of time, if an agent works well.
Then it’ necessary to discuss how the agent will be paid for his services. It may be commissions on sales. It’s payment to the agent, usually based on the value of the goods sold. It’s a percentage of the sales revenue. In case the agent is a del credere. he bears all risks of non-payment by customers and receives extra commission.
It is also necessary to share all the responsibilities and duties between the principal and his agent. An agent may be responsible for invoicing customers, it means that he will be sending requests for payment to customers for the sale of goods or services. He will be sending copies of all invoices for records. An agent may be responsible for credit control, it means that he will be keeping a check on debts and making sure the amount of overdue debts is as small as possible. On the top of that, an agent may bear office expenses, provide fast and reliable after-sales service, and keep adequate supplies of spare parts and accessories.
The principal has to send a statement to the agent regularly on which his is based and settle up with the agent by transferring the money to his account. It’s principal’s responsibility to provide the spare parts and pay warehouse costs. The principal has to back up an agent in order the agent has incentive to sell the goods. It’s also important to set up visits for the agent. Advertising and sales promotion costs must be shared between the parties. It’s possible to arrang joint promotion of the goods.
If the principal is dissatisfied with the agent’s sales performance, he can terminate the contract. The reasons for terminating the contract are the following: sales may not come up to expectations and are below target ; bad after-sales service and complaints from customers, who wait for weeks for a sub-agent to make a service call. In case the manufacturer terminates the contract earlier the expiration date, he has to pay compensation to his agent.