The Tupelo journal., 1908-04-10
WHO IS TO BLAME?
SOME PENNY-WiSE AND POUND
FOOLISH METHODS.
WANTING TOO MUCH PROFIT
Reasons Why People Sometimes
Turn Their Trade from Home
to the Mail-Order
Houses.

With price cutting, short weight
packages, trading stamps, advertising
fakirs, box-car merchants, mail-order
houses, dead beats and numerous
other burdens to carry and contend
with, the life of the storekeeper is
far from a happy one. He rises in the
morning with the tune Of the lark,
works hard all the day long, and goes
to bed at night not knowing whether
| the price of oil will be raised on him
the next day or not. Then there is the
home paper that the merchant some
times reads, and it makes him tired
to learn that he has been for years
acting the chump by not advertising
in its pages in the right way. There
is a lot of retailers who kick and howl
about people sending to mail-order
houses for goods and never once think
hat they, the merchants, are to blame
for the matter.
The other day the writer met a far
mer. He was an interesting kind Of
chap, pretty well up in the ways OF the
wicked world, the methods of the box
car merchants and the of the
local storekeepers. He said that he
had been buying goods from a few Of
the mail-order houses for the past few
years. He commenced patronizing
them in this way: He wanted to buy a
small rife for his son at Christmas
time. He went to his local hardware
dealer, found that the rifle would
cost him $3.50. His son had seen the
same thing advertised by a mail-order
house for $1.10. He told his father
that he could buy it for that. The
storekeeper wouldn't come down 4
cent on his price; in fact, told the mar
to send away and get it. He did So.
The rifle cost him, laid down, $1.35, or
$1.15 less than he could have bought it
at home. This is a poor argument in
favor of the home store. The dealer
could have sold the rifle as low as the
mail-order concern could lay it down
in his town, but he wouldn't. The re-
suit was one more man became a buy
er on the mail-order house plan.
This same man told me that he
went to his local drug store to buy a
rubber fountain syringe. He paid the
druggist $1.75 for one. A few months
later he wanted another one of the
same kind. He found it was adver-
tised in the big book for 60 cents. He
sent for it, cost him Y cents laid
down to him by the rural mail car
rier. Another case where the drug
gist was not up to snuff and wanted TO
make a profit out Of all proportions to
what legitimately should be made.
This farmer felt that he was being
overcharged for these little things and
could see no a why he should not
save a little money by sending away
from home for what he wanted. This
same farmer knows that he should
buy goods just as low from his home
storekeeper as he gets them from the
mail-order house. He also knows
that in many lines he can buy goods
cheaper. The only trouble is that
some merchants carry a small line IT
merchandise on which they think they
should make 200 per cent. profit or
more There is little call for this
class, and when a sale is made they
want too large profits. Their custom
ers don't like this treatment. They
feel it is not the right kind Of a deal,
and are sore over it. 1t doesn't pay
the merchant 70 mark his special
goods so high, for it is just on this
class Of goods that the catalogue
houses make low prices to attract at
tention and make the people think
they are selling goods cheap.
d. M. CARR.