Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1921-12-15
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

fAtuOo Jul 1diSc CSOuOIuy Is uO uOTc
a virtue than anything else that is
false. To be able to economic 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 a false economy which is
worse than wilful waste.
For instance, the man who buys a
stove from mail order house for SO
because he thinks he would have to
pay $40 for one if he purchased it
from his home merchant, is practicing
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 a whole is built upon
cheapness. In order to attract GUS
toners the catalogue houses must sell
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 SO 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
distinguish between price and quality.
Thinks He Is Economizing.
The man who buys the SO stove
from the mail order house probably
would not buy a SO 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
q 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 a dollar or two by
buying this stove instead Of paying
$40 or 81 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 a 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 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 at 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 low price,
while there is no such assurance when
1t 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 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 theil
customers.
The mail order houses have CAPT
talized the desire to economic that Is
inherent In almost every one. By plac
Ing price above quality and making
cheapnesS the fundamental element II
their business they have inculcated II
the minds of their patrons the ides
that they are economiEing when theJ