The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1917-03-02
Who Pays the Advertising Biz

and unknown products always tells the
customer that his goods are sold cheaper
because they are unadvertised. His
argument is always that his product is
Just as good as the standard product.
but that by buying his you save the
money spent in the newspapers bs the
manufacturer making the advertised
line.
The merchant who tells you that is
doing one OF two things. He is either
lying to you or he is deceiving himself.
The most expensive products you can
buy are products not advertised. Here
is the proof
No matter whether product is ad-
vertised or unadvertised its price is
determined by two items OF expense.
The first item is the cost OF manufac-
turing. Since the merchant selling the
unadvertised line never claims that it
can be manufactured cheaper than the
advertised product it is logical to con-
clude that it can't. Manufacturing
costs remain about the same. So in
the first item Of expense neither the
advertised or unadyertised product has
any advantage.
Now the second item Of expense that
enters into the price Of every article is
the cost Of selling. Regardless Of how
an article is sold there will be selling
expenses.
The cheapest method Of selling
known to the business world is BY adj
vertising.
For the expenditure Of less than two
percent a manufacturer can reach from
$50 to 1900 people. He can tell
them about the merits of his product
and where it can be purchased. He
furnishes information that permits in
telligent and easy buying.
For the man who does not advertise
there remains only one way to acQuaint
people with his products. That way is
through statesmen. Do you believe
that a salesman, hired at the very
lowest salary and with the very smallest
travelling expenses, would be able to
talk to even 100 people at cost Of
less than two cents7 OF course he
can not 1t costs the non-adver,iser
dollars where the advertiser spends
pennies to make his sales.
How does the non-advertiser meet
this competition. First OF all, he turns
out product Of inferior quality and
claims tina, i. is Just as good" He
never claims 1t is better. It is
significant that his contention is always
that it is just as good" He then
brides the merchants to push his
product by giving him price that
enables him to make high profits. The
results is a greatly inferior product that
is sold at a price that is just barely
lower than the price OF the advertised
product.
II the quality remained the same
the price would be from 90 TO 100 per
cent higher than the advertised brand.
This is not theory. II you will stop
to consider some highly advertised ar
ticles like cloths, farm machinery and
similar staples you will recall that the
price Of these articles has constantly
decreased while their quality has in
creased.
Automobiles are another good ex-
ample. When the first cars we're man
ufactured they sold at much higher
price than they do today. The cheap
est cars on the market at the present
time, quality and price considered, are
the ones that are the most highly ad-
vertised, like the Overland, Dodge and
Maxwell. II advertising increases the
price OF a product then these cars
should be twice as high as they we're
1--WE years ago.
But they are not. They are so per
cen, cheaper. Present day prices Of
automobiles prove beyond the shadow