Dealer buying group

Definition

A co-operative that pools independent dealers' purchasing to win rebates and manufacturer terms.

Why It Matters

It is how an independent dealer buys anything like a chain does, and it usually carries more than price: program access, marketing, sometimes a warehouse. The membership rarely transfers automatically, and the rebate tiers reset on a change of control more often than sellers expect. Since the rebate can be a large share of a thin net margin, establish the group's transfer rule and the tier the business currently sits on before treating last year's earnings as repeatable.