The Dickinson press., 1889-04-20
BUYING ON MONTHLY PAYMENTS.
Purchasers Pay Well for tho Privilege of
Securing Goods Oh Timc.

Purchasers Pay Well for tho Privilege of
Securing Goods on Time.
In general way tho monthly payment
stores afford good index of tho prosperity
of tho middle and lower classes Hard times
and lack of employment invariably mako
themselves felt in delay or stoppage of pay
mcnts, and the duration of stringent circun-
stances can readily he measured by tho way
the payments arc resumed A furniture
dealer was interviewed by n reporter:
What course do you take i'll case of dclll-
qucncy in payment!"
"Therc is only one advisable course. and
that is to tide over those who can't take up
their monthly notes. The public, think, has
distorted views about tho monthly payment
stores There are, doubtless, some sharks
among AS, but most of us aim to do n fair:
legitimate business, charging but 10 per cent
more for our goods that the men who sell for
cash do Taking back Of goods is always
avoided, Tor there is no money in Il sale if the
stock has to bc taken back and turned over to
the auction stores. 1t is only the mouthly
payment stores which keep second hand fur
nitllie that can profit by the utter failure of
their patrons. We have families that We
have carried alnnga year, and | doubt not
thit other monthly payment stores havo like
wise 10 harasS patrons would be to work
against our own interest So far as rates of
profit are concerned, the only clement of in
Justice i'll them is one of which the public
rarely thinks If the account runs n year the
~ per cent. extra we charge is fair, for the
risk. the cost OF collection, and the loss of in
tercst from having money outstanding is fully
rquaI to the additional rate of profit we
charge. Our margin Of profit is computed SO
rs to include a years interest on the regular
prices of the goods but many. possibly the
greatest NUMBER of our accounts are closed
in n shorter time-six months, say Thus on
u purchase of $50 or s75 worth of goods ar.
ranged so as to be settled in six months, the
buyer pays 90 per cent. interest on the
amount of the bill for the whole period while
he actually makes payment of u sixth Of the
bill when hegcts tho goods and similar pay
ment every succeeding month When the nc-
count runs for n year the burden is not so
heavy If people can pay cash they should.
and every honest dealer in our limo of bust
ness will tell them 50.
ut is unqucstionably true that the form of
payment is temptation to purchase beyond
the means to pay. We have no trouble in
selling. Our greatest difficulty is to keep the
bill down to what We consider a safe limit
People do not stop to thinl; that they pay for
their privilege of making installncnts at a
tolerably high rate. One reason of this lack
of judgment is probably because women do
SO much of tho buying at the monthly pay
ment stores They often fail to estimate
carefully what they can do, and the result is
that they become n source Of trouble to
themselves and us. Often, too, men who
were drawing good salaries at the time of the
purchase, get out of work soon after, and
any mlscalculation on their part makes pay
mcnt an uphill work. The spread of tho
payment stores has been surprising. Almost
every large city now has a number of such
concerns, which seem to do more than
their ordinary share of business. In Chi
cago l doubt if there are as many
as there were two or three years
ago. Tho reason of this is not that the scheme
does not work successfully, or that there have
sprung up too many for the population. The
capital required for such u business is much
greater than that which is requisite for n cash
trade. 1t was common practice for dealers
to realizo on their monthly notes at 9 or 3 per
cent. q month. They were unable to carry
their own paper, or borrow at legal rates, and
tho result was that number of concerns have
failed during tho last year or two. think it
is ali nonsense to talk of tho monthly pay
ment stores cutting into the regular trade
Gisastrous)y. We catch class of patrons
who would not deal ut Il cash store, since they
would not be likely to save up tho necessary
money. | believe that monthly payment
stores arc an incentive to thrift and economy,
second only to the building associations. -
Chicago News