Manufacturers Rep or Independent Sales Rep

Both are commission only. An Independent Rep is a single person working by themselves, while a Rep Agency has a least two reps, and sometimes many more, likely have offices with support staff, and frequently cover a wider territory or more facets of an industry than a single Independent Rep can do.

Does the Rep provide warehouse space for the products they represent?

Some principals prefer a distributor who takes delivery and ownership of products for resale.

Does the Rep provide maintenance or servicing of installed products, or assist in other ways in product installation. Such servicing is of course dependant upon the nature of the product. An example might be that for an MRI machine, the vendor might require a quarterly reading from the MRI machine. This reading would be "servicing" the product.

Typically an Independent Rep carries lines of products which are physical and tangible. A service is a non-tangible product. For example, credit card processing and web design are services. Some reps can carry lines of both products and services; other reps specialize in either one or the other.

Why do reps sometimes ask for upfront fees? Aren't they supposed to be 100% commission?

Upfront fees may be required when the rep has to expend time and effort to build your market or your channel.

Understand that a rep cannot afford to work speculatively for long periods, such as 6 months or longer, without any compensation. Sometimes such fees are considered as advances against future commissions.

For more information, see Tips For Working With Reps on the Training Tab.