A reseller is a company or individual (merchant) that purchases goods or services with the intention of selling them rather than consuming or using them. This is usually done for profit (but could be resold at a loss). One example can be found in the industry of telecommunications, where companies buy excess amounts of transmission capacity or call time from other carriers and resell it to smaller carriers.
According to the Institute for Partner Education & Development, a resellers' product fulfillment-based business model includes a corporate reseller, retail, direct market reseller (DMR), and an internet retailer (eTailer); less than 10 percent of its revenue comes from services.
Resellers are known to conduct operations on the Internet through sites on the web.
For example, this occurs where individuals or companies act as agents for ICANN accredited registrars. They either sell on commission or for profit and in most cases, but not all, the purchase from the registrar and the sale to the ultimate buyer occurs in real time. These resellers are not to be confused with speculators, who purchase many domain names with the intention of holding them and selling them at some future time at a profit. Resellers, by the very nature of their business are retailers. It is not unheard of for online pawn shops like iPawn to also act as a reseller, and purchase rather than loan against valuables. Online auction and classifieds websites, such as those owned by eBay Inc. and Craigslist provide services for resellers to sell their goods and services.