The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1915-10-29
BY David Powell

pairing the prices quoted in the cata
tlogue with those charged by his home
merchant, is the very important one
of transportation charges. The cata
logue says, Here it is, come and gel
it," and your local merchant says
l"I have been to the expense of bring.
ling it here so that you can inspect
lit before buying, and include that i'll
the price"
There has been no way yet devised
to evade transportation charges and
the consumer is always the man that
pays it, and it is right in this con-
nection that the catalogue houses put
over their biggest business-getting
lemon. In the explanation of how it
lis done will be given an illustration
of one of the many ways they use
to create the impression that they
sell cheaper than regular retail mer-
chants.
All classes of merchants through
out the country, big, little, honest and
dishonest, at different times put on
sale what are called leaders some
article of common use priced at or
below cost This is a perfectly legi-
innate practice and is followed by
your local dealer IS we'll as by the
catalogue houses and big department
stores of the large cities.
Keen Buyer Can Save
! Its purpose, of course, is very evil
dent. A merchant hopes by this
means to draw you to his store, be-
lieving that he can sell you enough
other articles at regular prices to
warrant the loss on his leaders "
If you wish, you can step into your
local store and buy the leader and
nothing else, and really save some
money at the expense of the dealer
advertising fund. But how does it
work with the mail order concerns?
1t is a fact well known and admitted
by every student of the subject, that
in the catalogues of few of the
larger concerns doing an exclusive
mail order business are many articles
priced less than your local dealer
could buy them direct from the fac
tory.
These. of course, are leaders, If
you care to take the trouble to run
through one of their catalogues and
pick out these articles, you will be
very forcibly struck with several sig
nificant facts. First, you will note
that they are all articles of general
use or consumption in practically
every home in the land. Next, that
they are articles of staple standard
price carried by every store in the
country; prices with which every
farmer and housewife are perfectly
familiar. And, further, that such
articles are always of small value and
small weight, very rarely exceeding
so cents and weighing but few
ounces
Offer Bait on Barbed Hook
Here is where the catalogue houses
have undoubtedly the best of the
regular merchant You cannot walk
into their store and pick out these
leaders" and put them into your
buggy and drive home with them like
you can the sale snaps you can oc-
casionally pick up in your local
stores. You have to have them ship
ped to you by either freight, express
or post.
BY an easy mental computation 1t
is at once apparent that the charges
for shipping by any of these means,
added to the catalogue price, would
make the articles cost much more
when it reached you than would be
charged by one of your home mer-
CHdHJS. mere 10 Tic HlS6cI III Tic
wood pile" They we'll know that for
the thrifty housewife or farmer to
really benefit by the low price of
their leaders" they must have them
shipped with enough other goods to
make up minimum freight package,
knowing that the bulk of such orders
in most cases, would be composed Of
what is known to the trade as blind
stock" Goods that the general pub
lie know little about either as to
quality or price.
Farm to Farm Salesman Pull Clever
Stunts
Still another class of so-called mer-
chants who profit by the general ig-
Inorance on the part of the public as
Ito true values, is the farm to farm
solicitor who represents himself to
be connected with some wholesale
grocery house in distant city. These
kchaps are most always Single trip