The Sauk Centre herald., 1906-05-17
A TALK WITH LOCAL BUYERS.
(Communicated)

Before you mail another post office
order or express order to help build up
firm in Chicago or some other large
city, at the expense of home dealers,
think of these things, and give your
local merchant and friend a chance
anyway.
A lady in Stearns county recently
sent to one of the department stores
for pair sf shoes, sending $1.69 with
her order. When the shoes came there
were freight charges of 25c, which she
paid. After she had takelDthe shoes
home she found they did not fit, so
she repacked them and sent them
back by express. The express charges
were 35c, which she paid. After few
days different pair of shoes came to
he1 by express, the charges being
35c. She took the shoes home and
found, to her dismay, that they did
not tit either. She had now paid out
$2.64, and did not feel like going to
the expense of sending them back the
second time. She finally concluded
to try and exchange them with one of
the home dealers. The next time she
went to town she took the shoes to a
St. Cloud local shoe store, and re-
quested the privilege of exchanging
them for pair that would fit her.
The request was of course refused,
and to add to her disgust of the whole
transaction, the dealer showed her
shoes that were equal, if not superior,
to those she paid the maiI-order house
$1.69 for, which he had been selling
right along for $1.5O.
Unless the unfortunate woman can
find lady friend whom the shoes
will fit, and who will take them off
| her hands, she will be out $2.64, and
all she will have to show for the ex-
penditure will be pair of shoes which
she cannot wear. 1t is safe to say
that this lady will hereafter do her
trading at home. This is only one
instance of multitudes.
We hear little of them because in
dealing with outside concerns there
is generally not much chance to get
justice when swindled in what you
buy. The catalogue houses certainly
are not in the business for their
health, and they must cut in quality
when they make prices that every
dealer knows are too low for profits.
| A travelling man told us the other
day, of an experience he had had with
large catalogue house. He is travel
ing for an implement firm. He said
that in taking an order for barrel-carts
for farmers, low price was demanded
with the remark, "Put in any kind of
old stock you please. We sell to the
farmers and they will never kick on
what they buy from us because they
are too far off,
The result, no doubt, was the turn
ing out of lot of carts with possibly
pine axles and sappy wood, but all
nicely painted to catch the trade of
unwise buyers. 1t is an unfortunate
fact as we'll as showing the entire alb
sence OF any sense of right and justice
that great many people seem to re-
gard their local stores as though they
were established merely for accomoda-
ton.
When these people have cash to
spend it goes to the mail-order house,
but when times are dull, and when
they are out of work, or during the
season when farmers are not turning
their produce into cash, what do they
do? Do they write to the mail-order
house and ask for a little time as a
favor? If they do they fail to get it.
These concerns must have cash; must
have it in advance, and must have it
before you can see the goods. People
send their money and then wait until
the mail-order house gets good and
ready to fill the order. Now when
people want credit or favors of any
kind they go to their home merchants,
very obligingly order what they want,
and tell him to put it on the books,
expecting him to wait from one to six
months for his money. They seem to
lose sight entirely of the fact that the
merchant has to pay for the goods he
buys, and that it takes money to con-
duct his business, rent, clerks hire,
lights, taxes and insurance.
But there is an even worse phrase
to the question. These very people
who are carried and favored by the
merchants will, when they do get
some cash, send it to the mail-order
houses instead of paying their obliga-
tions or giving the home merchant
any consideration whatever. This is
matter which in most cases has not
been given thoughtful consideration
hv MANY 0f orr roodorc Whon tboy