The Idaho Republican., 1915-09-24

GUS little town of about $500 inhabi-
tants located in the heart of the
famous Big Bend wheat country o.
eastern Washington. AS town II
differs in no particular feature from
thousands of others similarly situat.
ed, but it does enjoy the peculiar dis.
tinction Of numbering among its citi-
zens a merchant of unusual genius;
a man who, SO far as his line is con-
cerned. has succeeded in putting the
mail-order catalogue on the run in his
community. His name is w. r.
Peters and he specializes in the sale
Of harness and horse fittings.
His 220 pounds of smiling geniality
being topped off with the face Of a
cherub and a Stetson sombrero, at
first glance you would be more apt
!. to label him thoroughbred member
Of the old school racing fraternity
than what he is, a hard-headed, sue
cessful merchant of the strenuous
present. II had first met his frank
gray eyes and silvered hair over the
withers of likely three-year-old in
some one of New England's rustic
lanes, | would have staked my last
jitney that David Harum really stood
before me.
MaQ-order Composition Joke
When / broached the subject of
mail-order competition to him his
face broke into a smile and the afore-
said 22O pounds all seemed to laugh
at once.
"Mail-order competition" he said,
there isn't any. It's a joke. Just
come along with me and I'll prove it
70 you"
He took me to a section of his store
where light buggy harness was dis
played and pointed out to me half a
dozen STYLES that had placard on
them reading "mail-order samples"
There" he said, ''is the proof. In
every line handle / carry similar
samples, and they are the exact coun-
terparts Of the same articles sold by
the big mail-order house in Seattle.
On many of them my price, delivered
here. is a little lower than their price
in Seattle, and in no case Is it any
higher. If my people want that quail
itv of goods can save them the
freight from Seattle, and" he laugh
ed, actually make a larger percent
&c Of profit than on my regular lines.
"Of course never urge such sales,
in fact discourage them, because I
know the buyer will not get satisfac-
tion. The only guarantee I give is
that in every particular they are the
.qual of those sold by the mail-order
house.
Advertises Mail-Order House Prices
and Meets Them
Although, as / said do not push
such sales, do however, use my
ability to meet mail-order prices as
my main advertising feature. Here"
he said. as he handed me a bundle
of half-page advertisements clipped
from the weekly paper, "is the way I
hand it to them. AS you can see, l
not only use the name of the mail
order house in my ad, but also quote
their catalogue number and Seattle
price along with mine and guarantee
% give the identical article.
"That kind of advertising brings
customers to my store from towns
twenty miles away, but as a matter
If fact / sell very few Of such ar
.icles. You will notice that have
the samples displayed in contrast to
quality articles OF my own make or
standard lines Of well-known factor
les. When the buyer can actually see
chem side by side and make COM
parison of values the difference in
price seems to evaporate."
WELL" I said. "you certainly have
the right system. But how did you
dgure it out? Where do you buy the
goods and how can you meet their
prices at a profit?"
Buys From Same Factories
THAT, young man, is another
story. have been in business here
In Ritzville for twenty years and 1t
took me over ten of them to work 1t
out. First, studied their catalogue.
Then I bought several of their ar
ticles that were the hardest competi-
ion for the standard lines / carried
and carefully analyzed them to the
smallest detail. then drew up speci-
lfications and sent them to every job
ber and manufacturer Of that line In
the country with request for quota
tions. I knew by that means my in