Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1897-10-15
ABSURD TRADE DISCOUNTS.
Printed Price Liss Are No Longer
Any Guide to Purchasers.

l rrinteu f~riCe LIS 8 arc NO Longer
Any Guide to Purchasers.
The ridiculous complex system. of
single double, triple, quadruflc,
quintuplc, and even in some cases sex
tuple discounts from printed price
lists now prevailing in some trades
where competition is keen has reached
a height Of absurdity which it is hard
to believe can actually exist in any
business conducted by sane persons.
In the gas pipe trade, for example,
"57 per cent. off the price list" may
seem to the uninitiated quite a liberal
discount; but there are "trailers'
added to this, like knots on a kites
tail, increasing in number according
to the size of the order and the stand
ing Of the customer.
"Fifty-seven per cent. and six tens
off" is a familiar quotation in this
trade; and as we presume that the
majority Of our readers will not under
stand the meaning Of the technical
phraseology, we will do the arith-
metical sum for their benefit. Thus
an ARTICLES listed perhaps at one dol
lar; 81 per cent. off leaves 40 cents net;
10 per cent. off of 43 leaves3S. z cents;
10 per cent. off of 3S.7 leaves 34.S3
cents; 10 per cent. of of 1888 leaves
3l.35 cents; 10 per cent. off of 31.35
leaves 1922 cents; 10 per cent. off of
1922 leaves 25.40; 10 per cent, off of
25.40 leaves 22.SG-the net price of
the article!
The Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter,
in discussing the condition Of
the plate-glass trade, says: 1T is
not believed that there is much profit
in selling at tire present low price of
90 per cent. off the list" Further on
I'VE read: ct is thought by some peo-
pie interested in the business that the
end is not yet, and that 90 and 10 per
cent. will be reached before the war
is over" Discounts of $50 and 20
and 10" per cent. are allowed by man
facturers Of steel screws; and we're it
not for fear of confusing our readers,
we might penetrate still deeper into
this maze Of discounts.
What is the explanation of such
seemingly puerile, or rather imbecile,
proceedings? There appears to be a
magic charm in discounts. The GUS
toner supposed to believe, and often
docs, that some occult reason the sell
err is giving him peculiar favors. No
matter how transparent the trick
may be, the purchaser seems to be in
capable Of penetrating it; he is hypno-
tized by the mystic charm of the SEX
tuple discount. This is the more re-
markable when we reflect that the
purchaser is, perhaps, also a manu-
facturer engaged in playing the same
game himself One obvious result of
this method of transacting business
is to wipe out the small retail traders,
who cannot obtain the seXtuple dis
counts which large dealers insist upon.
The discount system has penetrated
almost every trade, from the selling
of pOnderous power punches to little
pills; and the only advantage of a
printed price list is to beguile the UNI
initiated retail purchaser into the be-
lief that he is securing bargain when
he buys an article at a cost less than
the printed price list.
A few years ago, before the de-
partment stores embraced so wide
range of sales, the book publishers
sold books at retail often at the full
list price, and the catalogue with
prices attached was conspicuously
displayed and consulted for the pur-
chaser's benefit. If the purchaser,
however, "knew the ropes" he could
always obtain at least ten per cent.
discount, and often a great deal more
than this. Now the purchaser is re-
lieved of the necessity of this coun-
ter play by purchasing the book at a
fixed price at department store.
When the department store first began
to sell books the retail purchasers
could actually obtain new books
cheaper at their counters than by buy
ing directly from the publishers.
Book publishers do not now seem to
be able to meet the competition Of
rival retail sellers Of their own prod
ucts, and are giving up the attempt.
1t is evident that trade discounts have
attained such a height of absurdity
that the whole system has become
top heavy, and is liable to fall at any
moment.-Philadelphia Record.