Factor (agent) facts for kids

A factor is a type of trader who helps sell goods for other people. They get paid a fee, called a commission, for their work. A factor usually handles the goods themselves and sells them in their own name. They don't always tell the buyer who the original owner of the goods is.

Factors are different from other sellers because they actually take possession of the goods they are selling. This means they physically hold the products, or documents that represent them, like a shipping bill.

Today, many factors work in the textile industry, which makes clothes and fabrics. But they are also important in other businesses like shoes, furniture, and hardware. In the United Kingdom, factors have special powers under a law called the Factors Act 1889. A factor can also hold onto the goods if the original owner owes them money.

The word "factor" comes from a Latin word meaning "doer" or "maker." Long ago, a factor often worked from a special trading post called a factory.

History of Factors

Before the 1900s, factors were important helpers in trade. Their main jobs were storing goods, selling them, and keeping track of the money. They also made sure buyers paid for their purchases. Sometimes, they even gave cash advances to the owners before the goods were sold.

Factors were especially useful in international trade. They played a big role during the time when many countries were exploring and setting up colonies around the world.

Mercantile Factors

Large trading companies often had different levels of factors. For example, the British East India Company had "factors" who were ranked between junior clerks (called "writers") and more senior traders (called "junior merchants").

In the Hudson's Bay Company, which traded furs in Canada, there were important officers called "chief traders" and "chief factors." These chief factors often held high leadership positions within the company. There were 25 chief factors and 28 chief traders who shared in the company's profits.

The Dutch East India Company and the British East India Company had factors all over Asia. In the 1700s and early 1800s, trade in places like China and Japan was very limited. Factors often worked from small, special trading areas. For example, the Dutch had a "factory" on Dejima, an island near Nagasaki, Japan.

Colonial Factors

Sometimes, in new territories without much government, a company might ask its factor to act like a governor. This factor would be in charge of the trading post and even a small group of soldiers. For instance, in Banten, on the island of Java in Indonesia, the East India Company had chief factors who ran the trading post from 1603 to 1682.

The term "chief factor" was also used for similar roles in other languages. For example, the Dutch oppercommies or opperhoofd (meaning 'supreme head') were like chief factors. This was the case for the Dutch West India Company on the Slave Coast of West Africa.

Notable Factors

• Alexander Grant Dallas (born July 25, 1816 – died January 3, 1882) was a Chief Factor for the Hudson's Bay Company. He became the superintendent for the company's operations west of the Rocky Mountains. He also served as the Governor of Rupert's Land.