A merchant is someone who engages in commerce.
Latin is where we can clearly find the etymological origin of the word merchant . Specifically, this emanates from the Latin noun commercium , itself composed of two different parts: the prefix with -, which is equivalent to “set”, and the word merx , which can be translated as “merchandise”.
Merchant is the person who trades (that is, who is dedicated to negotiating by buying and selling merchandise ). The term is used to name someone who owns a business or someone who works in a business . For example: “My father is a merchant: he has a computer supplies store in the center,” “The neighborhood merchants demand greater security in the face of the wave of robberies,” “I was once a successful merchant, although the economic crisis of the ' 90 forced me to close the business.”
Trader activity
It is interesting to note, in addition to everything stated above, that merchants carry out one of the oldest activities in the world. And already in the Neolithic there were all kinds of transactions, which at that time revolved around agriculture. Then, with the passage of time, they expanded and developed with activities such as bartering or with elements such as the appearance of money.
It should be noted that carrying out an act of commerce does not imply that a person is a merchant, since whoever buys in a store is also taking part in this type of actions. However, in that case, it is an accidental subject of commerce . The merchant, on the other hand, is the one who carries out acts of commerce on a regular basis.
Commercial law
In commercial law , merchants or commercial subjects are the people who are the object of regulation . In other words, a merchant is a person to whom commercial laws apply.
These regulations, among many other aspects, make it clear that the merchant as such has a series of very important obligations so that his activity is under the necessary legal parameters. Specifically, they determine that you must comply with these actions:
• It is essential that you keep a strict and exhaustive accounting of your business.
• In order to carry out your commercial activity, it is vital that you are registered in the corresponding commercial registry.
• Of course, you must keep all documentation relating to both your premises and the exercise of your activity.
• Another of the most important obligations that is also required of merchants is that they pay the corresponding taxes, based on their exercise.
• All of this without forgetting that they must be subject to all those actions that are requested by State entities and that are dedicated to the control of commercial activity.
In some trades and professions, being classified as a tradesman is a negative thing.
Merchant as a derogatory qualification
In some countries, and depending on the context, the term can be used in a derogatory or critical way .
In these cases, a merchant is someone who lies or deceives with the intention of completing a commercial transaction, defrauding another person: “This doctor is a merchant: every time I go to the office, he wants to sell me some new treatment,” “Miguel is “A trader is always trying to get some advantage in his favor,” “I am a professional who trades, not a trader.”