Mail Order Business
An advertisement in the newspaper attracts the attention of a person to certain goods. He fills up
the coupon and sends it to the seller. The seller receives orders and packs the goods. The seller
sends the goods through the post office. The buyer receives the goods from the postman by
paying the required amount. The seller later collects the money from the post office.
This is a system of sale by post and is known as Mail Order Business. It is also called shopping
by post. It is a method of selling goods by producers or traders directly to the customers through
post office. The seller advertises the products through newspapers, magazines, television, booklets,
catalogues etc. to make the customer aware about the product. The advertisement contains
detailed particulars about the goods and is designed in an attractive way to create an interest in
the mind of the customers to buy it. The advertisement may contain an order form or coupon,
which the customer has to fill up and send at the address of the mail order house. After receiving
the order, the mail order house packs the goods properly and sends them through the post office
under Value Payable Post (VPP).
The post office delivers the goods at the buyer’s place and collects the money from the buyer.
Then it remits the money to the seller or sender of the goods.
Features of Mail Order Business
The followings are the features of mail order business.
i. The entire process is carried out through the postal system.
ii. Buying and selling takes place without any face-to-face contact between the buyer
and the seller.
iii.
Seller advertises the products giving detailed description of the goods, mode of
payment, terms of sales, etc. in the newspapers, magazines, letters, catalogues, etc.
iv. Seller receives order from the buyer by post.
v. Seller sends the properly packed goods to the buyer through value payable post.
vi. The seller receives payment through post office.
vii. No middleman is involved in the process.