John Randall is a purchasing agent for a rather large delivery service. John has just agreed to purchase a 1992 Chevy van from his brother's construction company, although he has never driven it or seen it. This buying approach would be an example of
A. description buying
B. test buying
C. inspection buying
D. sampling buying
E. negotiated contract buying
Answer: (A) This is a question of evaluating which type of buying method is being used in the process of purchasing a product for this company. The descriptive buying method is a form of buying a product through a written or verbal description and is often done without inspection. This purchase is usually based on a mutual trust between buyers and sellers and is used to reduce the cost of buying; (A) is the correct choice. There is no such thing as test buying, although it does sound good, so (B) is an invalid answer. Inspection buying is the process of inspecting every item before you buy it; (C) is not the best choice. Sampling buying means looking at only part of the potential purchase, making the assumption that the whole purchase will be of the same standards; (D) is not correct. Negotiated contract buying means agreeing to a contract to purchase, but the contract allows for changes in the purchasing arrangements; (E) is an incorrect choice.