The Idaho Republican., 1915-10-01

GUS little town of about $500 inhabi
tants located in the heart of the
famous Big, Bend wheat country Of
eastern Washington. AS town il
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 Stetson sombrero, at
first glance you would be more apt
to label him a thoroughbred member
jof the old school racing fraternity
than what he is, hard-headed, sue
cessful merchant of the strenuous
present If 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.
Mail Order Competition a Joke
When l broached the subject of
mail order competition to him his
face broke into smile and the afore-
said 220 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
to 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 a placard on
them reading mail order samples. -
There he said, is the proof. In
every line l handle l 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 little lower than their price
in Seattle, and in no case is it any
higher. If my people want that quail
| Iity of goods can save them the
freight from Seattle, and, he laugh
ed, actually make larger percent
age of profit than on my regular
lines.
"Of course, never urge such sales.
in fact, discourage them, because l
know the buyer will not get satisfac-
ton. The only guarantee I give is
that in every particular they are the
equal of those sold by the mail order
house.
Advertises Mail Order House Prices
and Meets Them
| Although, as / said do not push
such sales, I 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
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
to give the identical article.
That kind Of advertising brings
customers to my store from towns
20 miles away, but as matter of
fact sell very few of such articles.
You will notice that l have samples
displayed in contrast to quality
articles of my own make or standard
lines of well-known factories. When
the buyer can actually see them side
by side and make comparison of
values the difference in price seems
to evaporate."
"Well," said, you certainly have
the right system. But how did you
figure it out? Where do you buy the
goods and how can you meet their
prices at profit?"
Buys From Same Factories
That, young man, is another
story. ! have been in business here
in Ritzville for 20 years and it took
me ten Of them to work it out. First
u studied their catalogue. Then l
bought several of their articles that
we're the hardest competition for the
standard lines l carried, and care
fully analyzed them to the smallest
detail. then drew up specifications
and sent them to every jobber and
manufacturer OF that line in the
country with request for quota