The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1917-12-15
"S|GHT UNSEEN"
TRADE IS GAMBLE
Consumer Takes Long Chance
When He Buys From the
Mail Order House.
GENERALLY IS LOSING GAME
Method Of Doing Business 10 Very
Different When You Purchase
Goods From Your Homo
Merchant.
(Copyright.)


Merchant.
(Copyright)
When you were youngster did you
ever make a trade, sight unseenT
Of course you did. What boy has not
risked his jackknife or his choicest mar
BILE on such proposition and how Oft
en- has he repented Of his rash deed
when he discovered what he got in the
trade? He generally found that the
deal turned out to the advantage OF
the one who made the proposition.
There is little of the gambling In
stinct In the blood Of nearly every man,
woman and child. but even the hard
ened gambler likes to get run for
his money" The "sight unseen" prop
osition doesn't appeal to him In the
least. There are thousands Of people,
however. who would be properly lndig'
nant II they were accused OF being
gamblers. who every day take chance
on the greatest gambling game In the
world. And worse than that, they are
risking their money on "sight I'M
seen" proposition.
When one Of the thousands Of per
sons who build up and keep up the
great mail order houses of the countr.
sends his money away to pay for some
article that he has selected from the
mail order catalogue, he Is taking
chance on getting what he expects to
get. The mail order house may be
perfectly honest and still the purchas'
er stands good chance Of not get.
ting what he expects to get. The mail
order catalogues are filled with pie
lures that catch the eye. The de.
scriptions are brief. as they must be
when thousands Of articles are to be
described within the confines Of one
book. No matter how hard the mai
order house might try to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the
truth. 1t would be an impossibility
The buyer is simply taking a chance
Buying "sight Unseen"
How much more satisfactory 1t Is
to walk into store In your home town
and ask to see an article which you
may have seen advertised In your
home paper. What would anyone
think of your business ability or your
common sense II you walked into II
store at home and said: Il saw Il
picture In the paper today of suit
which liked very much. Please wrap
up one for me. Here's the money
The merchant would think that you
were crazy, but that Is exactly what
you do every time you send an order
to mail order house. You buy "sight
unseen and you haven't ghost Of a
chance Of getting your money back II
the article Is unsatisfactory when 1t
reaches you.
How different Is the proceeding
when you go into the store In your
own home town to buy suit OF
clothes, or a stove or yard Of ribbon.
You may have seen q picture Of 1t in
the merchants advertisement in the
home paper and you know that as the
merchant IL reliable, you can count on
the goods being as he represents them
In his advertisement. But does he ask
you to take his word fdf everything?
Does he hide the article behind the
counter and tell you that you can't
even see 1t until you buy 1t and pay
over the money for It? Hardly. II
the article Is not already In plain sight
on the counter, the merchant produces
1t for your inspection. II 1t does not
exactly suit you, he has others that
are little different and that he IL glad
to have you inspect.
Get Merchant's Guarantee.
Then, If 1t Is a suit of clothes you
are buying. or q piece Of dress goods
or pair Of socks, you may ask II the
merchant will guarantee that 1t will
wear as long as an article of that kind
could be expected to wear and he will
tell you either that he will guarantee
II or that he will not. II he tells you
that he will guarantee It you will know
that You will get your money back or
another suit or another pair Of socks
In its place Il II doesn't wear like 1t
should. for the merchant, besides be-
Ing an honest man In most cases, can
not afford not to make his word good.
He Is dependent upon your business
and that Of others In his own cOmmu-
nifty and he cannot afford to misrepre-
sent his goods.
After having all this opportunity to
see what you are buying. you take your
suit or your stove or whatever 1t Is
YOU buy home or 1t Is sent home for
you without any delivery charges. and
after you get home and take another
look at 1t and decide you don't want
It after all. you send It back.
You are not buying something 'sight
unseen" when you buy from your home
merchant. You don't look at a picture
Of an article In newspaper. read a
short description Of 1t, go to the post
once and buy money order and send
It to the merchant with the instruc.
lions, "6end me q suit Of cl0thes"-or
stove Or whatever It may be-"and
III pay your delivery man 50 cents for
delivering It to me"
There's world Of difference In the
two methods Of doing business and Its
not hard to figure ont which IL the best
Tor the man who Il doing the buying.
~ ~ eel<Iy lberlan.