Q.By taking large advance orders and holding stock in its own warehouse until it is sold on to retailers, a wholesaler primarily performs which of the following services for a manufacturer?
(A) Advertising the manufacturer's brand to the general public
(B) Bearing the risk of price fall, spoilage or obsolescence while stock is held, and providing storage
(C) Manufacturing a portion of the goods on the manufacturer's behalf
(D) Fixing the retail price at which the final consumer must buy

Holding stock after buying it from the manufacturer shifts the risk of price fall, spoilage or obsolescence onto the wholesaler, and also spares the manufacturer the job of storage.

Focus on what actually happens to the goods once the wholesaler has bought and is holding them, before they are resold.

A wholesaler's bulk purchase and subsequent holding of stock in its own warehouse means that once the manufacturer has sold the goods, any subsequent fall in price, spoilage, or the goods becoming outdated/obsolete before resale to retailers is the wholesaler's loss, not the manufacturer's. The wholesaler's own warehousing also relieves the manufacturer of the job (and cost) of storing and insuring large finished stocks.

Option-by-option analysis:

• (A) Incorrect — advertising the manufacturer's own brand is not a standard wholesale function; a wholesaler may promote the products it stocks generally, but branding is the manufacturer's own responsibility.
• (B) Correct — risk-bearing and storage are exactly the services described in the question's facts.
• (C) Incorrect — a wholesaler is purely a trading middleman and performs no manufacturing function at all.
• (D) Incorrect — a wholesaler does not fix the retail price the final consumer pays; that decision lies with the retailer (subject to any resale-price guidance from the manufacturer).