1.   For example, Clinique can be purchased at www.clinique.com, a site established three years ago that just started selling direct last month.

2.   Selling direct, with no distributors or retailers, Dell is spared the expense of an inventory of finished goods.

3.   Two people sat on the hay and dreamed about making and selling computers direct to end users.

4.   It suggested selling direct to a major Swiss metals house rather than selling through a string of intermediaries.