olony were to be first brought to the magazine. In 1620 the
London Company made plans to abolish the magazine and open the trade to
the public. The colony was then forced to rely on peripatetic merchant
ships which came irregularly. These casual traders dealt directly with
the planters, going about from plantation to plantation collecting
their cargo. These merchants were without agents in the colonies, and
they relied solely upon the chance of selling their goods as they
passed the various plantation wharves. They usually sold their goods on
credit, expecting to collect their dues in tobacco on the return trip
the next year. Occasionally the crops were small, or they discovered
that most of the tobacco had been sold or seized by other traders, and
consequently they were forced to wait another year to collect from
their debtors.

The planter soon discovered that he was in an equally precarious
situation, and largely at the mercy of the merchant, for if he failed
to sell on the terms offered, another ship might not come his way until
the following year. The planter's bargaining power was also hampered by
his ignorance of market conditions abroad. Such conditions encouraged
the practices of engrossing and forestalling, by the merchants, to the
point that much legislation was passed to prohibit such actions.
Increasing competition by the Dutch traders gradually reduced the
dependence of the planter on the casual trading merchant. The danger
from pirates and frequent wars caused the English to inaugurate the
convoy system, which also helped improve the market conditions.
However, trading directly with the casual merchants was still common
after 1625, and a few still operated as late as 1700.

The consignment system developed along with the system of casual
trading, and it also operated upon the practice of the ships collecting
cargo from the various plantations. Importation was based on the same
idea: the ship which gathered the planters' tobacco usually brought
goods from abroad. Originally the merchant acted only as the agent of
the planter. He advanced him the total cost necessary to export and
market the crop abroad, sold the crop on his client's account and
placed the net proceeds to the planter's credit. Soon the merchant was
advancing the planter goods and money beyond the amount of his net
receipts; the planter frequently discovered that he was at the
merchant's mercy and was forced to sell on the merchant's terms.