The weekly Iberian., 1918-04-06
FALSE ECONOMY
HAS NO Value
BUYING Cheap Goods lust Be-
cause They Are Cheap Does
Not Pay.
QUALITY OFTEN OVERLOOKED
Instance Seen In Case Of Mail Order
Houses Which Make Their Ap-
peal Solely on Basis OF
Price.

Economy Is one of the greatest of
virtues hut false economy Is no more |
a virtue than anything else Tint Is |
false. To be able to eCononize wisely |
is one of the greatest blessings that |
one can have, for II is the prerequisite |
to thrift and well-hping. Too many |
persons, however who think they have
found the secret of true economy are |
practicing n false economy which Is
worse than wilful waste.
For instance, the man who buys u
stove from mail order house for $e
because he thinks he would have to
pay $40 for one II he purchased II
from his home merchant, Is practicing
n false economy, for the chances are
that he would save more than ST in
the end If he purchased the so stove
from the local hardware leader
There are several reasons why this
is I've economy. The first one Is that
do,iai for dollar. the greater part Of
the merchandise sold by the mail or
der houses Ia of less value than that
sold by the retail merchants Of the
smaller communities. The mail order
business. as whole Is built upon
cheapness In order to attract Gus
toners the catalogue houses must sell
goods cheaply and in order to do that
they must sell cheap goods Their
business is built up on price and not
on quality. The retail hardware deal
or. like retail dealers In other lines
probably can match the prices of the
mail order houses. He probably has
n 50 stove which he can sell to the
man who wants to get a stove for 50.
The trouble is that the man who buys
from the mail order house does not
distinguish between price and quality.
Thinks He Is Economizinu.
The man who buys the SO stove
from the mail order house probably
would not buy SO stove from his
local merchant for in the latter case
he would see Just what he was buying
and might realize that the SO stove
would not meet his needs. He orders
a so stove from the mail order house,
however, just because the price Is w
and not because he has any assurance
that the stove will meet hisSeeds. He
thinks he is saving dollar br two by
buying this stove instead q'of paying
$40 or S11 to the home n)axchant for
one that he has seen AND knows will
give him satisfaction. The chances
are that when the stove arrives and
he has used ite for short time he
will realize that he has practiced false
economy-that 1t would have been
more economical in the end for him TO
pay dollar or two more to his home
merchant and get an article that was
guaranteed by the dealer.
The patron of the mail order house.
also, often fails to take the matter of
transportation charges into considera-
tlon when making his purchase. He
sees only the price of the article as
listed In the mail order catalogue and
does not think of the express or freight
| charges. which with the cost of a
money order and postage often make
| the total cost of the article greater
| than the price Mt which the same thing
| could have been purchased at the local
| store. Another case of false economy.
Buying merchandise of poor quality
| because the price Is low Is often false
economy when the purchase Is made
| at the home stores but it is doubly so
when the merchandise Is bought from
| a mail order house. When buying Mt
| home one can be reasonably sure that
| the article purchased at low price,
| while there is no such assurance when
1t Is bought by mail on the "sight un-
seen" plan.
Idea Is Exploded.
| The idea that the mail order houses
| sell the same quality of goods at lower
| prices than the home merchants is
quickly exploded when one learns of
the large profits that are made by the
| majority of the mail order houses and
| the large selling expense to which they
are subjected. The large mail order
| houses spend hundreds of thousands
Of dollars annually for advertising and
the selling expenses of the smaller
concerns are proportionately as large
| Their other expenses, such as rent
F, taxes and labor, are also higher than
those of the local retail merchants, In
| proportion to the business which they
do. In spite of these heavy expenses
the mail order houses distribute mil
lions of dollars In dividends among
their stockholders. In one large mail
order concern the profits of the stock
holders, In cash and stock dividends
have aggregated as much as 1000 pei
cent on the capital invested In the
SHORT period of nine years. This does
NOT Indicate that the mail order houses
are In business for their health and
are giving away merchandise to their
J customers.
| The mail order houses have capi
| talized the desire to economize that Is
inherent In almost every one. BY plac
ing price above quality and making
cheapness the fundamental element ir
their business they have inculcated II
the minds of their patrons the idea
that they are economizing when the,
huy cheap goods at cheap prices.