Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1884-08-05
A WORD OF CAUTION.

gard to patronizing peripatetic peddlers ant
auctioneers of jewelry and silver-ware. Should
giving this caution, think a careful perusal o
what have to say will not only convince yol
| to the contrary, but that am acting in you
interest Ill give a handsome present to any
one who, after reading what have to say, will
| show me that have made any misstatement
have been engaged in manufacturing, re
years. 1 have carefully studied the Jewelr.
business in all its details, and think my ex
perience entities me TO SPEAK upon this suo'ec
| II is the duty of everyone, In making his pur
chases in any line of goods whatever, to buy Q
the person who will furnish him the best good
for the least money. Both merchants and con
| ers should act upon this principle. Tn
honest merchant, before making his purchases
will be careful, both in his examination of TIN
| goods and of the character of the man of whom
| he buys. If he is offered goods below their sup
posed value, he will not part with his money
until convinced by careful invest1ga ton tina
he who offers them is truthful in his statement
and that the goods are of that quality which h'
/ represents them to be. Were he to act other
4 wise his own reputation for honesty would
4 soon be blasted, by selling fraudulent articles
i which he supposed were genuine, or else be
] would soon find that he had been swindled
I and would be forced to sell, at great loss t(
4 himself, goods of an inferior character, which
4 he supposed were superior in quality.
| Now a word of caution in regard to buying
goods from auctioneers and peddlers. Please
bear in mind that what have to say does not
apply tora bona tide sale at auction OF the goods
of a local merchant, who sells for the purpose
OF retiring from that particular line of business
to. which the goods offered belong.
Have You ever asked yourself these questions
in regard to these perip2tetic peddlers and auc-
ito peers ofjewelry and silver
81 Who is this man." where did he come
fron ?" What is his character for truth and
good 8 where he is known!" why does he
bring class of goods to sell the real value OF
Wh put an a eey bn bs
bare s, atement?" IF buy these goods and
they rove to be worthless, or much less In
value han represented. where will he be when
/ have found this out7" 1t will be too late to
ask the Sc questions after you have been swim
died. an q the smooth tongued sharper has gone
in scare of fresh victims. Let me call your at
tention two cases that recently occurred in
this city gentleman brought me watch
which he bad bought at auction, and requested
me to test, it. stating that the auct1oneer had
sold it to aim for IA karat gold watch ASSERT
ing in the most plausible manner that it could
not be bong ht at retail for less Than segeatyge
and profni sing to refund the money in the
event it di d not prove as represented. tested
the watch Al I'd showed him that the case was on
Iv karat on worth fifteen dollars. and that the
movement W as worth only five dollars, making
the entire ,ralue of the watch only twenty dol
lars-for W aic he had pdld Maafl,-tUo dottoTS or
twelve doll airs; more than he could have purchas-
ed the sam atch of a regular Jeweler. He re-
turned it W 18th the intention or making the oily
topgued au ctioneer take it back, Did he do IL?
No. but VIII at he did do was to persuade the man
to keep the watch. From his action in the case
1t seems tn: III he D6llGV6Q WudJ lie uukuOWu
but smoot b -tongued auctioneer told him, and
doubted, If he did not disbeifeve, what l had
assured him. in reg ard to the value OF the watch.
Be this as it may, the o1ly-tongued auctloneer
outta ked rae as he can any other legitimate
dealer. Hi trade depends not upon the value OF
his goods, ut upon the glibness of his tongue
and the crt,dulity Of those to whom he talks.
Another party who had been talked into buy
ing o watch by this same auctioneer, who re-
wth the
nv sta ting that he had bought it for thirty-two
dollars, &C. When informed him of the real
value OF the watch. he returned and demanded
his money. A crowd being present, and doubt
less wishing to favorably impress them with
the fairness OF his offer, and at the same time to
facilitate his sales, he readily complied.
The watches to which refer were made spe-
cially for auction trade and when sold by re-
be just what they are.-cheap. six or eight karat
gold cases-ju.st gold enough in them to give
them the nalne.-and when sold by regular
jew elers, are neuer recommended: These glib
tol,gued auctiCneers generally before making
sa lie boldly state that any one buying their
goods is at liberty to have them tested: and If
thew a re not as represented they will refund the
money Now this looks fair, but what is the
result? Probably not one In fifty who buys
these auc lion goods Will go to a competent and
reliable lie weller to have them tested. Why? In
the first pla CO. very few people like to have their
Judgment q qestioned. They will admit that
th ey are inez perlenced, but they a0iU not admit
thattheir iuds naent is at fault.
hey 90 to \ jeweler to have watch, piece
VERY or tbey l fee that W6i ei aney
MEM is BEING call I'd into question. or it may be
that they are asha med TO ask their jeweler to
The quail " * s sne
tongued auctioneer: V2d one knows this fact
better than the auctio ueer himself
is small, will say: "Wel l. if carry this article
to the jeweler, he will be mad because did not
buy it Of him and he will say u Is woa'nIess;
small minority that will est the truthfulness
Of the auctioneer in regard TO the quailiy and
value Of the goods he sells; ara as SEED tine bne
case OF the first party to wht VI! referred, IneS
will not always heed the ad vice OF regular
e'Heler, whose very business e. x1stence depends
upon his reputation for hone 81. ana lntsgrity.
Some being timid, will ot demand their
money for fear of becoming invo lved In a diff
ficulty Notwithstanding they are saIisdeo that
One thing you may be certai Oh the plausi-
ble smooth talking, per1patetc pee uler ol auc
tloneer IS bent on setng ms goodS d ~ ossessnn
be assured he will try to hold 1t.
The unprincipled auctioneer has fulE ' as Wlue
field for deception in silver-plated wa re as ne
has in watches and jewelry. There are several
firms that make this class OF goods spec1a ny lor
the auction trade. Some OF them carry tnelr
own goods through the country. they bell
such an inferior quality that even other a NC,
tiOneers do not care to handle them. They III
also have goods bearing some familiar nam .,
to be of the best quality, or, by quoting the
name, they know that you will
Of course they represent their own goods to be
of standard quality. otherwise they could not
sell them at a profit.
represents as being worth, or such as regular
dealer would charge, fifty or sixty dollars for, is
put up You bid thirty dollars for 1T, and get 1t,
thinking you have a bargain. Now If you will
take that set to any regular jeweler, 1 will
guarantee that he will duplicate it for tUenty
dollars, and make money by the transaction,
but he will tell you just what the goods are
Just as 1t is with all the goods he sells. An ice
pitcher, that you can buy of q regular dealer at
three to five dollars each, you will pay the oily
tongued auctioneer from six to ten dollar for
Knives that no merchant would charge you
over two dollars a dozen for. he will get from
two dollars and a half to three dollars and a
half for; and just SO it i9 with everything he
sells, he makes much larger per cent. on the
cost of his shoddy wares than any regular deal
cities have a reputation for being good patrons
of these peripatetic auct1oneers, the conse-
quence is, they are afflicted with them every
year.
For the qualification of those who desire to
see the quality of goods sold by these 1tlnerants
l have procured some of them from party who |
makes the best quality of auction goods that |
are in the market Here in my store. you can |
compare them with goods of the best manufac- |
turers. In the auction house you see nothing |
bat auction goods, consequently you have
nothing to compare them with and no expert
enced judge to show you the difference between
them and goods of the first quality,
l have seen goods said to have been bought at
auction little over year ago, that are looking
1O0rSe than first class goods should look In nj
teen years constant wear. Nor were these goods |
bought for one-ffteenth the price of good goods.
No, but the parties paid ouer one-halfthe value
of the best goods that are made, and from fifty
to one hundred per cent. more than any jeweler
would have sold them the same quality of goods
for;-Lhis is why these oily tongued aucttoneers
thrive as they do. would like to add much
more to this article, but have already made 1t
much longer than intended when commence
ed. could give you many instances tllustra-
tive of how these Oily-tongued itinerants get
away with the peoples money. In conclusion
let me call yaur attention to the following ar
ticle taken from the JeaUelers Circular and
Horologieal Journal or August 1882 the recognize
ed highest authority in the jewelry and kindred
trades. Mr.. Hopkinson its editor is one of those
upright, conscientious men that
never fear to expose fraud and rascality, no
matter where found:
"AUCTIoNEERS AND PEDDLERS.
Retail jewellers have many difficulties to over
come to secure the patronage of their custo- |
mers. Hundreds of ways are devised by I'M |
jobbers and manufacturers to divert |
the trade of the consumers from.the regular |
channels, and so rob the retailers of their share
of the profits of the business. But the greatest
nuisance % the retailers, and the most pestifer-
GUS elem emit that steps between them and their |
legitimate customers, Is made up of auctioneers
and peddlers. The first OF these is the worst
for the auctioneer who deals in jewelry is gen.
orally thoroughly uncfupulous, Is glib of ton
que, is better at coming lies than telling the
truth, and adopts various means for attracting