The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1915-01-13
COME ssio11s s a
Mail Order Man
By Mr.. NJ. o, x.
Revelations by One Whose Experience 10
the Business Covers q Range From.
of6ee Boy to General Manager
SOME TRICKS OF THE GAME.

proposition, it is impossible fol. any
concern to give customers anything
unless there is a payment Tor it.
In other words, nobody gives any.
thing for nothing.
1t isn't possible to give more than
q commercial value in merchandise
for the amount paid. It isn't possible
to do q profitable business unless mers,
chandise ia sold for. a price that Is
greater than the cost and the expense
of handling. A profit must be added
In all cases.
Some concerns can buy goods at q
slight advantage over others. 1t de-
ponds on the quantity ordered at one
time more than anything elss. No
manufacturer will sell merchandise to
one concern cheaper than to another
unless there Is some compensation.
These price concessions generally
consist Of a small cash discount. or a
small discount fo. large, quantities.
II was always my custom when con-
Etracting for any article to make q
price contract for an, enormous guam
tity. l always paid cash, with your
money, therefore this was possible,
and / obtained also a cash discount.
In this way the manufacturer, or the
jobber, had no selling expense, in
mary instances the manufacturer dis
posing on this sort Of contract 70 my
concern of Ills entire output. These
discounts and price concessions on
l@smalI articles frequently did not
amount to more than a fraction Of g
cent on a single article. But In buy
ing I was oilt to get the very best
prices and make the very best deals
4 could. ~
But I worked out ways for making
even more money for my mail order
concern. I cut down the value Of the
article in the making. I arranged
with the manufacturer to produce an
article, looking in every way TO- the
person who knew no better, like the
genuine article. but 1t wasn't.
I produced what were practically
c%ounterfeits. i cheated the people
who bought those articles.
Here's how I did It. Take, for ex-
iample, q tin cup, q tin pail or q tin
plate--in fact any article made OF tin.
l would figure it out like this In
THE first place we would use tin ',f a
certain less weight, thinner and not
So good. Where the, top curla over
the manufactures formerly put q
wire around, hidden from View, but 1t
was there. This wire made the ar
ticle stronger. It would stand wear
better and longer.
/ would take the wire out. 1:wduid
make a lighter. handle or, in some
way cut down both the quality and
the quantity OF material used in max
ing the article.
So in this way / cheapened the
article / lessened the cost Of max
ing, which made a better profit for me.
OF course, the article was not 80 good,
and would not veal SO long as the
honest, old.fashioned kind-such as
your local dealer buys for his stock.
But in my catalogue the illustration
made 1t look 'just rs good" and that
was all that / cared for. :
Certainly, the sooner 1t wore out, or
got smashed or broken, the sooner you
would be compelled to send for an
other. Oh, yes, I thought that all
out, too.
In wooden ware L figured the same.
Ii would order q quantity, making
them up from a cheaper grade OF
wood. IL it had hoops I would have
1t made with a hoop less. The sides
and bottom would be thinner. In
some way I would cut down the guam
tity and value of the material used
for the making, so it would cost less.
$50 this is how l could cut prices
on such things. I did cut prices
on some. articles, things like these
and because of the manner in which
they we're made. But the manufacture,
err would not put his brand ON such
stun. Not he. He would say: I'll
put your brand on that article. I'd
be ashamed to have my brand OH 1t.
I'd be ashamed to let anybody think
that I'd turn out that kind Of junk"
Then he would. stamp my brand
ON it.
What did I care. / got your money
In advance as payment for the ar,
ticle and what would you, way out
in the little country town, know
about how it should be made? 1t
would last all the quicker" and then
you would order another. Surely,
that's how 1t vas figured.
Now; think it over. Look on some
of the articles you have bought and
see If the name Of the manufacturer
Is stamped on 1t.
I nearly forgot one thing. / beat
that game, too, in a certain clever
manner, because there's more than
one way CT fooling you.
! would create a fancy name tor
a fake manufacturer. There would be
70 such concern. / would stamp
BLANK Mfg. Co." or Moon Mfg. Co."
or some such fancy name, because I
was kind Of ashamed to have even
my name stamped on some Of the stuff
I sent out.
contracted for canned goods with
manufacturers and would create brand
$4,000 II .aa..li la1ta nratEM fala.