A jobber is a merchant—e.g., (i) a wholesaler or (ii) reseller or (iii) independent distributor operating on consignment—who takes goods in quantity from manufacturers or importers and sells or resells or distributes them to retail chains and syndicates, particularly supermarkets, department stores, drug chains, and the like.
One objective is to distribute goods at lower costs through economies of scale, which, in sophisticated operations, typically uses complex transportation models.
As of 2016, it is used in the industry sciences, trade press, popular media, and scholarly journals.
The current meaning of jobber has been in existence since the introduction of the factory system, and earlier in cases with respect to importing goods.
[a] Jobbing was the subject of legislation in England in 1670 when a special act was enacted to prevent fraud in the buying and selling of cattle at Smithfield Market, London.