#cfa #cfa-level-1 #economics #microeconomics #reading-13-demand-and-supply-analysis-introduction #study-session-4
Brokers do not actually become owners of a good or service that is being bought, but they serve the role of locating buyers for sellers or sellers for buyers. (Dealers, however, actually take possession of the item in anticipation of selling it to a future buyer.) To the extent that brokers serve to reduce search costs, they provide value in the transaction, and for that value they are able to charge a brokerage fee. Although the brokerage fee could certainly be viewed as a transactions cost, it is really a price charged for the service of reducing search costs