Internal Trade

Internal trade is the buying and selling of goods and services within the boundaries of a nation. Whenever a product is bought from an individual or an establishment located inside the country, it counts as internal trade.

Everyday examples of internal trade:

• A neighbourhood provisions shop in a locality
• A central market, a departmental store or a shopping mall
• A door-to-door salesperson
• Goods bought at an exhibition

Key features:

• No customs or import duty is charged, because the goods are part of domestic production and are meant for domestic consumption.
• Payment is normally made in the country's legal tender (its own currency) or in any other acceptable currency.
• All kinds of markets co-exist: from a person selling vegetables or clothes on a rural street, to big-town retail shops selling particular branded products, to outlets carrying imported goods and multinational brands — in India these live together in harmony. Depending on what we need (daily items versus specialised goods), we choose different shops or markets.
• Middlemen link producers to us: Products reach shops from manufacturers through intermediaries. They are genuinely useful — without them, distribution would break down.

Two broad categories of internal trade:

• Wholesale trade — the purchase and sale of goods and services in large quantities, for the purpose of resale or intermediate use. Traders who do this are wholesalers.
• Retail trade — the purchase and sale of goods in relatively small quantities, generally to the ultimate consumers. Traders who do this are retailers. …