Imperial Valley press., 1920-10-11

Copyright, 1917, Western Newspaper Union.)
Economy is one of the greatest OF
virtues but false economy is no more
a virtue than anything else that Is
false. To be able to economize wisely
is one of the greatest blessings that
one can have, for it is the prerequisite
to thrift and well-being. Too many
persons, however, who think they have
found the secret of true economy are
practicing false economy which is
worse than wilful waste.
For instance, the man who buys a
stove from mail order house for S.
because he thinks he would have tC
pay $40 for one If he purchased il
from his home merchant, is practicine
a false economy, for the chances are
that he would save more than 81 in
the end If he purchased the $40 stove
from the local hardware leader.
There are several reasons why this
Is false economy. The first one is that
dollar for dollar, the greater part of
the merchandise sold by the mail or
der houses is 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
er, like retail dealers in other lines,
probably can match the prices Of the
mail order houses. He probably has
a 50 stove which he can sell to the
man who wants to get stove for So
The trouble is that the man who buys
from the mail order house does not
Thinks He Is Economizing.
The man who buys the 50 stove
from the mail order house probably
would not buy 50 stove from his
local merchant for in the latter case
he would see just what he was buying
and might realize that the 50 stove
would not meet his needs. He orders
a 50 stove from the mail order house,
however, just because the price is SO
and not because he has any assurance
that the stove will meet his needs. He
thinks he Is saving q dollar or two by
buying this stove instead of paying
$40 or $11 to the home merchant for
one that he has seen and knows will
give him satisfaction. The chances
are that when the stove. arrives and
he has used it for short time he
will realize that he has practiced false
economy-that it would have been
more economical in the end for him to
pay a 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
ton 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 ut 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 at
home one can be reasonably sure that
the article purchased at q low price,
while there is no such assurance when
it is bought by mail on the "sight I'm
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,
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 per
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
customers.
The mail order houses have capt.
| talized the desire to economiZe that is
| inherent in almost every one. BY plac-
ing price above quality and making
cheapness the fundamental element in
their business they have inculcated in
the minds Of their patrons the idea
that they are ecoDomizing when they
buy cheap goods at cheap prices.