The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1917-03-30
THE CONSUMER MISCALCULATES
Often Pays More For Catalogue House Goods
One Farmers Experience

10 a Reckless Form Of Gambling.
See the Goods Before Purchase.
Copyrighted, 1914. by Thomas ]. Sullivan.l
Figures do not always indicate the
price OF goods sold by mail order
houses as scheduled in their price lists,
as the catalogue houses are careful
not to mention the extra" cost Incl
dental to placing the order and the de-
livery Of the article ordered.
The consumer is governed by the
low catalogue price rather than the
delivery cost, the latter means, Of
course, being the correct way Of deter
mining the cost of the article.
Consumer Buys Costly Saw.
As an example reproduce herewith
a conversation which recently took
place in a western town when a con-
sumner entered the local store and in
quired the price of saw. The price
of the saw was 81, the merchant told
him.
Great gunsr' declared the consum-
er. IL can get the same article from
a catalogue house for $780,"
II can't buy it for that price," said
the merchant, "but I will give it to you
ON the same terms as the mail order
house. just the same"
"All right" replied the consumer.
"You can wrap it up and charge it to
me, and when settle In the fall will
pay for it."
"Hand Over the Cash."
"Oh. no, you don't" said the dealer.
eve are doing business on the same
terms as you do business with the mail
order house-no charge accounts. Hand
over the cash. please"
The consumer handed over $3.50.
"Now," said the merchant. IS cents
for the money order and cents for
postage"
what the
But you must send letter and
money order to the catalogue house in
order to get the saw. you know"
The consumer, although desiring TO
bolt kept bravely to his agreement
and paid the cents.
"Eow the express charges, As cents,
If you please"
well. by graclousp' he said and
gamely paid 1t, with the remark, "Now
that 1 have met all Of your demands
hand me over my saw"
Man Made Mistake.
"Hand you the saw! Why. man,
where do you think you are? just rec
ollect that you are in Texas and l am
located In Chicago. You viii have to
wait about fifteen days for me to make
the delivery" And, backing up bis
words with actions, he pocketed the
money. put the saw back on the shelf
and smilingly turned to wait on the
next customer.
The consumer pondered, and after he
got through with his deductions he
said 1.-THE saw will cost me $203.
That is cents more than could have
bought 1t for in the first place. and
am deprived of its use for fifteen days
besides. No more mail order house for
mel
incident Worthy Of Emulation.
The incident related above is one
which both the merchant and the CON
sumer may read with profit. and If
more of the merchants adopted the
same tactics as did the Texas mer-
chant they would have fewer mail or
der buyers among those who should be
their customers.
And there is much more to this
question than price and delivery; there
are often dissatisfaction and inferior
and damaged goods to contend with. In
the case of goods being damaged en-
route the buyer has either the prospect
of a lawsuit with the railroad com
pany or correspondence fight with
the catalogue house. neither Of which
is very inviting
Not infrequently does the buyer,
ratner tnHn 10 20 10 all tue expense
and trouble incidental to the exchange
of the article. allow himself to be i'm
posed upon by accepting the inferior
and often yalneless article. an article
which he is actually ashamed TO own
or use.
The Only Safe Way.
There can be but one right way to
buy goods. and that liz to have the
goods in view Of the purchaser. Buy
ing from II picture is reckless form
of gambling in which the advantage
is entirely with the seller. He knows
what your money is. You do not know
what his goods are. Hence 1t is heads
he wins and tails you lose
That the catalogue house always gets
the better OF the bargain is evidenced
by the fact that annually the large
mail order houses declare dividends
the enormity of which appalls and be-
wilders the conception of ordinary in
dividuals. who count their profits and