The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1889-11-15
TRICKS IN PRlCE-MARkS
A Shrewd Customer May Sometimes Lear
the Cost of the Goods offered

TRICKS IN PRICE.MAhkS
Shrewd Customer May Sometimes Learn
the Cost of the Goods offered.
Recently Western merchant came
to large wholesale cloth house in
New York to buy goods. He was
known as very shrewd and rather
tricky merchant, who had fondness
for learning the prices at the various
houses, and then trying to beat them
down. Knowing this, the salesman
who waited upon him put an extra
price on every article that he showed
him. In no case was the price made
SO large as to arouse suspicion. The
buyer seemed very much disappointed.
and his brow was knit in way to
show that he was very much puzzled
over something. When he had gone
away the clerk turned to the writer
and observed:
Il think | have blocked that fellows
game very nicely. You saw what he
was trying to do, didn't you?'
The writer admitted his ignorance.
WELL" said the clerk, che was try
Ing to discover our secret mark. )"
As he spoke the clerk pointed to a
little tag attached to a piece of cloth
in his hand. on which were inscribed
three different letters.
That mark. he said, ''means So. 80.
If | had told him what it was he would
have very easily learned by comparing
the various marks on different pieces
of goods just what our mark was. For
instance. if X. L. M. meant $3.50. he
would know that X. was 2, L. and M.
0. By then inquiring the prices of va
rious pieces of cloth he could easily
select those which would have differ
ent sets of letters on them, and he
would soon have gotten at the whole
secret. told him the price was 81. IS,
and according to that the X. was and
L. 6 and the NJ. was 5. also changed
the Interpretation of each mark, and
the result was that if he arrived at
any conclusion it was a very wrong
one.
There is nothing particularly dis
honorable about this, for merchants
try it very frequently, and as a rule
they succeed in learning the mark.
Every business house has a private
mark of this kind. The ordinary
buyer in the retail house would never,
of course, learn this, but in Wholesale
houses where buyers frequently see
the same characters, and can compare
them. it is a matter of great difficulty
to prevent their learning the firms Sc
cret. Where firms are especially anx-
ious to avoid discovery they change
the marks frequently. A mark may
be a name, a combination of arbitrary
figures or characters. Some firms use
the Greek alphabet. Some use the
firm name changed slightly.
The most intricate marks are made
with what are known as repeaters.
That is, there will be one or more
characters, each of which is used SIM
ply to repeat the character Immediate
ly preceding it.
II remember case very similar to
this you have witnessed, where a fell
low from the West came in. Our
mark at that time had two repeaters
He recognized the first one very soon,
but became completely mixed up when
he came to the second. He afterward
acknowledged this and made him set
up bottle of wine. Sometimes these
marks come in very handy, as in the
present instance. Whenever we get
hold of a customer who is known to
have the habit of beating down prices
we simply put a fictitious value on the
goods.
THE mark always contains ten char
tiers. at least, and as many more as
there are repeaters. An arbitrary
phrase such as John stands could be
used just as well any thing else. and
is as little likely to be discovered. j.
II. S. would in that case mean $135, or
it might mean $1.35. Where it would
be desirable to represent the figure
1873, it would be more the rule to use
the j. H. and repeater than to write
it j. II. H.
Among the merchants in any one
city the marks, unless frequently
changed, are soon known by the differ
ent statesmen. Retail houses frequent
ly have their retail prices marked in
plain figures, while the cost is repre-
sented in characters. Where this is
the case the statesmen of one retail
house soon learn the cost mark of an
other While this is frequently not
desirable, the main object with retail
houses is to keep the customer from
learning the cost. In the largest re-
tail houses, where there is only one
price, the cost mark is seldom put on
the goods, and it is only where it lies
within the discretion of the salesman
to reduce the price that cost mark is
used. Boston Globe.
Christian for Reven,,o OrI,,