Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1922-01-26
Seem Not to Mind Having "Some-
thing Put Over" on Them the
Least Bit.
PINK PAjAMAs FOR SHIRT
Mail Order Houses Find 1t Easy to
Make Substitutions Because of
the Cost of Making
Exchanges.
Copyright


IT was a famous American Snowman
who declared that the American people
love to be humbugged. That saying is
many years old now but sometimes it
seems that there is about as much
truth in it now as there was when it
was first uttered.
People as a rule do not like the idea
of having something put over" on
them, but from the way in which the
great mail order houses in the big
cities flourish it seems that a great
many people do not mind it bit.
The business man who, when he gets
q call for an article which he has not
in stock, attempts to substitute some
other article of a similar nature with
out telling the buyer of the substitu-
ton, is putting something over on
his customer. Few retail merchants
nowadays attempt to do thing Of that
kind. The great majority of merchants
do not do this for two reasons. One
reason is that they wouldn't do it If
they could and the other is that they
couldn't do it if they would. The man
who buys an article over the counter
and sees what he is buying before he
pays for it, is pretty sure to get what
he wants.
Ordered Shirt, Got Pajamas.
But there is another class Of mer.
chants, of which the same thing can
not be said. A man who has been close
ly connected with some of the big mail
order houses is authority for the state
ment that the heads of the various
merchandise departments OF many
mail order houses have standing orders
to substitute with the nearest thing
they have if the articles ordered are
not in stock and available for delivery.
It is related that in one instance as a
result of these instructions, man who
ordered a dress shirt from a mail order
house received pair Of pink pajamas
instead
It is easy for the mail order house to
get away with this substitution Of an
other article for the one that is or
dered for the reason that to exchange
an article received from a catalogue
house is a costly undertaking.
Exchanges Are Costly.
If mail order buyer is disappOint-
ed in his purchase, as he is very apt to
be when he compares the article upon
it's arrival with the picture and fiowery
description which appeared in the
catalogue, the wisest plan is to take
what he gets and make the best of it
for every time he sends an article back
to be exchanged, he is piling up the ex-
press or freight charges and even if
the article is exchanged as requested,
the buyer is not apt to fare much bet
ter on the second attempt.
The mail order houses are well
aware Of the fact that the majority of
their customers will not go to the trou-
BILE and expense of returning an ar
ticle if it does not come up to their
expectations and as result they can
work the substitution game to their
hearts content.
The home merchant, however, can
not do business in this way and, as has
been said, the majority of them would
not do it if they could The home mer-
chant, if he has not the article called
for, may offer another with the expla-
nation that it is of the same quality
as the one for which the customer
asked. Good merchants nowadays even
hesitate TO offer something "just as
good" to the customer especially when
the article called for is one that has
become well-known and popular
through the advertising done by the
manufacturer, but to attempt to make
substitution without the knowledge
or consent of the customer! Well, it
isn't being done by the local merchants
today.
Substitution Made Easy.
Substitution is made easy for the
mail order houses, also, by the fact
that they do not sell much Of what is
known as advertised" goods-that is,
goods that have been thoroughly adj
vertised by the manufacturers and
have become nationally known through
such advertising. A large part of the
merchandise which the mail order
houses sell purports to be manufac-
tured by them-although in most cases
little of it is made in their own plants.
Much of this merchandise bears only
the name of the mail order house and
it is easy to substitute one article for
another without the customer being
any the wiser.
The methods of the home merchant
naturally are different. With the great
development of advertising in recent
years much of the merchandise carried
by the retail merchant is advertised
goods. These goods are of familiar
brands, the names of which have been
made famous by the national advertis-
ing of the makers. This advertising is
a distinct protection to the buyer for
the latter knows when he goes into his
local store and asks for an article OF
this kind that he will get just what he
asks for if the merchant has it in
stock and that he will be told IL the
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